Khon Kaen F.C.

Khon Kaen Football Club (Thai: สโมสรฟุตบอลจังหวัดขอนแก่น) is a Thailand professional football club, based in Khon Kaen province, a city located in the heart of the North Eastern Region of Thailand. The club currently plays in Thai League 3. In 2011, they achieved promotion from Thai Division 1 League to the Thai League 1 for the first time in their history, by finishing runners-up in the Thai Division 1 League.

Khon Kaen
ขอนแก่น เอฟซี

Full name	Khon Kaen Football Club สโมสรฟุตบอลจังหวัดขอนแก่น
Nickname(s)	The T-Rexs (ไดโนเสาร์พิฆาต)
Short name	KKFC
Founded	2005; 20 years ago (2005)
Ground	Khon Kaen Provincial Administrative Organization Stadium Khon Kaen, Thailand
Capacity	7,000
Chairman	Kasom Chanawong
Head Coach	Apisak Asayut
League	Thai League 3
2024–25	Thai League 3, 2nd of 11 in the Northeastern region
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Khonkaen play their home games at the Khon Kaen Provincial Administrative Organization Stadium. They traditionally play in black and yellow, and their nickname is commonly known as The T-Rexs which came from the famous rich dinosaur fossil excavations of the province.

History

Khon Kaen Football Club was publicly formed on 21 June 2007, before that time the club played in the Provincial League which largely consist of regional football clubs, nonetheless, the league was not recognized by the Football Association of Thailand.^[1]

In 2007 the league was merged into Thai Premier League and Thai Division 1 League and the club was registered to be professional football club in this year and was allocated into Thai Division 1 League Group A, the club was close to promotion by finishing at the fourth place that season.

In the 2008 season, Khon Kaen was not performing as well as the previous season as they could only finish the season in 8th place, nevertheless, the club proved themselves, being one of the favourites for promotion in the 2009 season, however, they lost the promotion spot to Sisaket in the last week of the season.

In 2010, the club was finally promoted to the Thai Premier League after finishing runners-up in the league table which was the first time for the club to participate in the top flight of Thai football.

However, their brief TPL tenure ended disappointingly as they finished bottom of the table. Any thoughts of yo-yoing straight back never emerged in 2012 with the T-Rex finishing in the bottom half of the first division.

In 2014, the Club got 17th of 2014 and relegated to 2015 Thai Division 2 League North Eastern Region into North-Eastern zone.^[2][3]

In 2022, Khon Kaen competed in the Thai League 3 for the 2022–23 season. It is their 17th season in the professional league. The club started the season with a 3–0 away win over Nakhon Ratchasima United^[4] and they ended the season with a 1–0 home win over Nakhon Ratchasima United.^[5] The club has finished 4th place in the league of the Northeastern region. In addition, in the 2022–23 Thai FA Cup Khon Kaen was defeated 2–3 by Phrae United in the third round, causing them to be eliminated^[6] and in the 2022–23 Thai League Cup Khon Kaen was defeated 0–1 by Khon Kaen Mordindang in the second qualification round, causing them to be eliminated too.^[7]

Stadium and locations

Coordinates	Location	Stadium	Capacity	Year
16°24′46″N 102°49′38″E	Khonkaen	Khon Kaen Province Stadium (Khon Kaen PAO. Stadium)	10,000	2007–2015
16°28′36″N 102°49′03″E	Khon Kaen	50th Anniversary Stadium of Khon Kaen University	8,000	2016
16°24′46″N 102°49′38″E	Khonkaen	Khon Kaen Province Stadium (Khon Kaen PAO. Stadium)	10,000	2017

Season by season record

Season	League									FA Cup	League Cup	T3 Cup	Top goalscorer
	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos				Name	Goals
2006	Pro League	30	9	8	13			35	11th	Opted out
2007	DIV1 A	22	7	8	7	25	25	29	4th	Opted out
2008	DIV1	30	11	8	11	32	34	41	8th	Opted out			Issarapong Lilakorn	11
2009	DIV1	30	16	7	7	49	36	55	4th	R4			Sarawut Vichien	12
2010	DIV1	30	15	9	6	51	35	54	2nd	R3	R2		Surachat Singnhon	10
2011	TPL	34	6	9	19	33	68	27	18th	R3	R3		Khampheng Sayavutthi	4
2012	DIV1	34	12	6	16	35	49	42	11th	R3	R2		Matías Recio	7
2013	DIV1	34	8	12	14	40	54	36	16th	R3	R3		Matías Recio	20
2014	DIV1	34	6	10	18	23	45	28	17th	R3	R1		Junki Yokono	8
2015	DIV 2 Northeast	34	17	10	7	54	26	61	6th	R2	QR1
2016	DIV 2 Northeast	26	12	8	6	40	26	44	4th	R1	R2		Thanapol Srithong	10
2017	T3 Upper	26	18	5	3	53	18	59	1st	R2	QR1		Thotsaphon Yotchan, Darko Tasevski	11
2018	T2	28	14	7	7	52	30	49	4th	QF	R1		Marc Landry Babo	16
2019	T2	34	13	10	11	40	48	49	8th	R1	R2		Seiya Sugishita	12
2020–21	T2	34	11	8	15	34	38	41	10th	R1	Opted out		Seiya Sugishita	12
2021–22	T2	34	5	9	20	32	60	24	17th	R1	QRP		Chakrit Rawanprakone	7
2022–23	T3 Northeast	24	11	8	5	36	21	41	4th	R3	QR2		Judivan	12
2023–24	T3 Northeast	24	12	7	5	29	19	43	5th	QR	QR1	QR2	Alberto Moreira Gouvea	8
2024–25	T3 Northeast	20	12	4	4	32	14	40	2nd	R3	QR2	QF

Champions

Runners-up

Third place

Promoted

Relegated

P = Played W = Games won D = Games drawn L = Games lost F = Goals for A = Goals against Pts = Points Pos = Final position

TPL = Thai Premier League

QR1 = First Qualifying Round QR2 = Second Qualifying Round QR3 = Third Qualifying Round QR4 = Fourth Qualifying Round RInt = Intermediate Round R1 = Round 1 R2 = Round 2 R3 = Round 3

R4 = Round 4 R5 = Round 5 R6 = Round 6 GR = Group stage QF = Quarter-finals SF = Semi-finals RU = Runners-up S = Shared W = Winners

Players

First Team squad

As of 20 September 2024.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  THA Teerasak Songklang 2 DF  THA Thanaphong Borikun 3 DF  BRA Jonathan Monteiro 5 DF  THA Chakkaphat Phumnuan 6 DF  THA Sarawin Saengra 7 FW  THA Thanaphat Phutnok 8 MF  THA Tadsawat Sriwilot 9 FW  THA Charin Boodhad 10 MF  BRA João Guimarães 11 FW  BRA Jhonata Santos 14 MF  THA Phommin Kaeosanga 15 MF  THA Taweesak Chanlee 17 MF  THA Kittichai Yomkhot 18 GK  THA Thanandorn Pasri 19 DF  THA Ratthaphon Phoopharot

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 FW  THA Punyachotc Namjatturat 21 DF  THA Natthjawut Srimongkol 22 FW  THA Piyapong Srikaew 24 FW  THA Cholakran Chueaprasat 25 DF  THA Nutdanai Ketpaen 26 FW  THA Worawaran Pholuea 27 MF  THA Kitchaphum Monthianart 30 GK  THA Bunditvicha Nongngok 31 DF  THA Chawit Daengsopa 32 GK  THA Nattapumin Nongbua 33 MF  THA Kitsada Hemvipat 40 DF  THA Ratchanon Khotchana 70 MF  THA Amnawat Pasotiyang 80 FW  THA Suphakit Thongthawee 98 FW  THA Aphiwat Mitrak 99 FW  THA Jakkrit Jitsabay

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player

No. Pos. Nation Player

Note: The official club website lists the supporters as player #12.

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Apisak Asayut
Assistant head coach	Pattanapong Sripramoj Nirut Surasieng Chakkrit Boonkham
Goalkeeper coach	Sthiti Phaengma
Fitness coach	Wattana Nuttat
Physiotherapist	Dr. Acira Hiruntrakul
Physiotherapist	Sittisak Sriwijarn
Team Officer	Veerasil Wongveerachai Noppadol Intako Kraisorn Supsin Nuengruthai Praikhet

Honours

Domestic leagues

• Thai League 3
  • Runners-up (1): 2017
• Thai League 3 Upper Region
  • Champions (1): 2017
• Thai Division 1 League
  • Runners-up (1): 2010

Affiliated clubs

• Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo