Chonburi Football Club () is a Thai professional football club based in the city of Chonburi, Chonburi province, that competes in the top division in Thai football, the Thai League 1. The team lifted the league title in 2007 which became the most successful season in their history.
Chonburi were founded in 1997 and their main rivals are Sriracha who are also based in Chonburi Province. The team is widely known by their nickname "The Sharks" which can be seen in the crest of the club.
History
Early years
In its early years, Chonburi Football Club was Assumption College Sriracha's football team. The team was managed by Annop Singtothong, Thanasak Suraprasert, Sontaya Khunpluem, and Wittaya Khunpluem. The team competed and were victorious in many youth tournaments, one of them including the Institute of Physical Education's youth football tournament.
In 1996, Sannibat Samut Prakan Association competed in the Khǒr Royal Cup and came in second place. The directors of the football team then negotiated for a merger which resulted in the creation of Chonburi-Sannibat Samut Prakan Football Club. The team then competed in Thai Division 1 League or Thai League 2 today.
Provincial League
Later, the Chonburi Sports Association had been given the chance to compete in the Provincial League in 2000. As a result, Chonburi's provincial football team was separated from Chonburi-Sannibat Samut Prakan Football Club which competed in Thai Division 1 League. The team that competed in the Provincial League acquired their players from Assumption College Sriracha and Chulabhon's College Chonburi. They ended their first season in the Provincial League in third place.
First major successes
In 2005 they won the Provincial League title by beating Nakhon Ratchasima at the Nakhon Ratchasima Municipal Stadium, and gained promotion to the Thai Premier League in the 2006 season with the Provincial League runners up, Suphanburi. This title was the first major success of the club. Chonburi then finished 8th in the 2006 Thai Premier League season.
In 2006 they were invited to play in the Singapore Cup and reached the final, defeating local sides Home United, Albirex Niigata Singapore and Balestier Khalsa along the way. In the final they lost to Tampines Rovers 2–3 in the extra time after leading 2–0.
In 2007 they were again invited to participate in the Singapore Cup, but were defeated in the first round against Balestier Khalsa, in a replay of the previous season's semi-finals. Chonburi lost 3–2 in normal play. They have formed links with Manchester City. In the end of this season Chonburi become Thailand Premier League champions for 2007 Thailand Premier League, This was the first trophy in major league for the club and head coach Jadet Meelarp got Coach of the Year awards and Pipob On-Mo got Player of the year awards.
In July 2008 they made another important big step into the future. In addition, the previous sponsor, Hemaraj Land and Development PLC signed a major sponsorship deal which comes into force from 2009. The contract will run for three years and will amount to the sum of 18 million baht (about 350,000 Euros). This may indeed be the largest completed sponsorship of a Thai football club which was ever completed.
At the end of the 2008 season, there was only enough for runner-up. The main reason for this was certainly the profligacy. With two games left in the season you still on the first place in the table, but a 0–0 draw against Samut Songkhram made to naught in the penultimate round of the dream title defense. Jadet Meelarp was dismissed. His successor is officially announced in mid-December 2008. Kiatisuk Senamuang, known as Zico, was appointed coach of Chonburi.
As Runner-up Champion 2008 the team is qualified for the 2009 AFC Cup and was drawn in a group with Hanoi ACB (Vietnam), Eastern AA (Hong Kong) and Kedah FA (Malaysia). Chonburi has to call to mind the Zeil set to be first in the group and win the AFC Cup in Thailand. The group stage was confident survived with only one defeat in six games. In the second round Chonburi PSMS Medan in Indonesia defeated 4–1 before retired in the quarter-finals against the Vietnam representative Bình Dương 2–4. The game against Medan was also the last game of Surat Sukha, who moved to Melbourne Victory.