BFC around the world: the Phuket club
More or less 9147 kilometres. The distance between the Dall’Ara and Patong Tower, the tallest building on Phuket, Thailand’s biggest island.
It was on the 13th floor of this skyscraper, facing the Indian Ocean, that the Bfc Phuket Club was born, in the Autumn of 2014. Stefano De Lucca, a Bolognese by birth and now living in Thailand, told us the story: “The idea of founding a rossoblù club in Phuket came to me in 2014 when, shortly before moving to the west coast of Thailand, I attended a Bologna Club Niccolò Galli di Castel San Pietro dinner with my family. I knew that I would miss the team, the stadium and the away days (my first was away at Roma in the final of the 1974 Coppa Italia) and I realised that I should do something to bring part of the Rossoblù colours and atmosphere: and so, not long after arriving in Phuket, I decided to found the Club.”
For Stefano and the other members of the Club, it isn’t easy to follow Serie A from a country where the national sport is Muay Thai but there is a large focus on all martial arts and other sporting disciplines such as rowing and kiting. “Here in Thailand until about five years ago, Serie A was quite popular, even if there was competition from the Premier League, Bundesliga and La Liga. But then the sports networks sort of lost interest and in the last few years there is only one network left that broadcasts Serie A fixtures, and they don’t even do all of the games!”
There’s no absence of enthusiasm, however: “From Patong Tower, we then started to meet in a few locals – the Super Sport Bar and the Drink Bar – which broadcast matches from various leagues. On matchdays these places were always full of fans of the many different teams so it was very engaging, we usually turn up wearing the official jerseys and personalised hats from the Phuket Club.” The group is small but tightknit: “There are 13 of us, including two Thais and one Irishman who found our enthusiasm contagious. We all do different things for day jobs, including real-estate restoration and brokerage, but whenever Bologna play we always meet on Sundays for brunch, and only to chat together about pre-match thoughts or how our dearly loved team is performing.”
The Bfc Phuket Club still doesn’t have a social media page but “We’re thinking about it,” assures Stefano, who has to put up with a time difference of seven hours to follow the Rossoblù: “When the lads are playing at 20:45 we meet at 3 o’clock in the morning, but we do it with so much joy and passion because Bologna is a religion to us. How do we celebrate victories? With a walk on the beach with our banner, a round of drinks for all, and then we jump in the water and play some football, with all our clothes on, of course.
When, on 25 May 2019, approaching coming 10th in the league, we beat Napoli 3-2, we went on a parade of the streets of Phuket in an entourage of five cars and two pick-up trucks, armed to the teeth with flags. The party finished on the beach, with a classic morning swim in the sea.”
In the photo: the Bfc Phuket Club fans with the former Rossoblù Frederik Sørensen.