Well my stadium galavanting is continuing, with me once again returning to what is notoriously the worst stadium in Siem Reap, Svay Thom…..
Check our our article on the AIA Stadium.
Football in Siem Reap
For a relatively small place there are quite a lot of football clubs in Siem Reap, namely Angkor Tiger FC, who are bottom of the Cambodian Premier League and play at the fairly good Hanuman Stadium.
In the Cambodian Second League there is Siem Reap FC and Angkor City FC, that later of which I partly own. Both of these clubs share Svay Thom Stadium.
Oh and to make things even more complacent Siem Reap United, who are not yet in the league actually own the Hanuman Stadium that Angkor Tiger are in, but are building a new stadium, which Angkor Tiger are also doing. Oh and the Siem Reap government are doing the same.
Yeah its hard to keep up…..
Where is Svay Thom Stadium?
Svay Thom stadium is in the are end of nowhere taking about 25 minutes in a TukTuk and being in the countryside/ Don’t believe me? There were cows next to the stadium, or maybe they were buffalos.
Sadly its distance from town compared to the Hanuman Stadium means that ut is hard to get fans out here, with those who do show up tending to be local students, but I digress.
The facilities at Svay This Stadium
Not all that much, with there being one proper stand and standing/seating area without cover that looks more like you are in a colosseum, or a Khmer temple than actually in a football stadium.
There are also multiple entrances which basically means that anyone can get in and getting people to pay for tickets is fairly hard.
They do though have home and away dressing rooms, which is nice.
Is there Street Food at Svay Thom Stadium?
I was somewhat disappointed by what was own offer by the street food vendors here, with this being no National Olympic Stadium.
There is though one couple with one street food cart that sells coke, engird drinks and potato chips. Generally I need a bit more from my my football stadiums.,
And the pitch?
Apparently they had allowed American Football to be played here before the match’s high meant it ws pretty much a piece of shit by the time we arrived. And then it rained.
Now when I say rain I do not mean a girly little dribble, but monsoon rain. The game turned into a farce, but perhaps helped keep the score down. Angkor City FC 0 Tiffy Arms B 3 – it really could have been worse.