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Transport United Football Club is a Bhutanese professional football club based in Thimphu that competes in the Bhutan Premier League, the top level of Bhutanese football. The club was founded in 2001 and plays at the Changlimithang Stadium. Transport United has won five national championships, and was a dominant force in Bhutanese football throughout much of the first decade of the 21st century.
The 2005 season of the Bhutanese A-Division was the eleventh recorded season of top-flight football in Bhutan. The league was won by Transport United, their second title in a row. As a result, they qualified as Bhutan's representatives in the 2006 AFC President's Cup.
The 2007 season of the Bhutanese A-Division was the thirteenth recorded season of top-flight football in Bhutan. The league was won by Transport United, their fourth title in a row and only the second time a team had achieved such a feat since Druk Pol won their fourth title in a row in 1999.
The 2008 season of the Bhutanese A-Division was the fourteenth recorded season of top-flight football in Bhutan. The league was won by Yeedzin FC, their first ever title, and the first time a team other than Transport United had won the league in five years. Yeedzin qualified as Bhutan's representative in the 2009 AFC President's Cup.
The 2009 season of the Bhutanese A-Division was the fifteenth recorded season of top-flight football in Bhutan. The league was won by Druk Star FC, their second title. They qualified as Bhutan's representatives in the 2010 AFC President's Cup.
The 2004 season of the Bhutanese A-Division was the tenth recorded season of top-flight football in Bhutan. The league was won by Transport United, their first title. Transport United were Bhutan's representatives in the 2005 AFC President's Cup.
The 2010 season of the Bhutanese A-Division was the sixteenth recorded season of top-flight football in Bhutan. The league was won by Yeedzin, their second title.
Football is a sport with a comparatively brief history in Bhutan, having had an initial period of favour in the mid-twentieth century, when it was first introduced to the country by visiting teachers from India and Europe. It has only achieved significantly renewed popularity in the early 2000s, following the advent of satellite television broadcasting, with historically national sport being archery. Consequently, the domestic game was underdeveloped. After the establishment of an initial league in the late 1980s, little in the way of recorded competition took place until the mid-1990s when a formal championship, the A-Division, was created. Football became the most popular sport in Bhutan.
Chencho Nio is a Bhutanese international footballer, who currently plays for Luangmual in the I-League 2nd Division, the second tier of football in India. Having played in Bhutan for a number of years, he became the first Bhutanese player to become a full-time player when he moved to Royal Wahingdoh in 2010. He made his first appearance for the Bhutan national football team in 2009.
The 2011 season of the Bhutanese A-Division was the seventeenth recorded season of top-flight football in Bhutan. The league was won by Yeedzin, their third title and second in a row. The league was played as a single round-robin series of matches in anticipation of the commencement of a full National League; however, this was delayed by a season.
Biran Basnet is a Bhutanese international footballer, currently playing as a midfielder for Thimphu City in the Bhutan Super League.
Dzongree Football Club is a professional football club from Thimphu, Bhutan. They finished as the runners-up of the A-Division in 2003, but have spent most of their history either in mid-table in the A-Division or playing in the B-Division.
Nangpa Football Club was a football club from Thimphu, Bhutan, who played in the A Division between 2010 and 2012. They are one of the least successful teams to have played top-flight football in Bhutan, finishing last in each of the three seasons in which they competed.
Royal Bhutan Army Football Club was a Bhutanese professional football club based in Thimphu, that competed in the A Division. They won the inaugural season of top-flight football in Bhutan and competed regularly in the A-Division between 2002 and 2009 when they withdrew halfway through the season. They were, as the name suggests, the football team of the Royal Bhutan Army, which later joined Tensung FC.
Samtse Football Club was a football club from Samtse, Bhutan, based at the Samtse Dzongkhag Ground. They finished last in the inaugural season of Bhutan National League.
Ranjung United was a football club from Bhutan, based at Changlimithang, that played in the Bhutan A-Division, then the top level of football in Bhutan, but since replaced by a full national league.
Rigzhung Football Club was a football club from Thimphu, Bhutan, based at Changlimithang. Having won the B-Division in 2002, they spent a number of seasons struggling in the A-Division and regularly finished bottom or second from bottom only to gain a reprieve whether through relegation playoffs or because there was no relegation that season. After several years, they were finally sent down to the B-Division, where they were last recorded playing in 2013.
Choden was a football club from Bhutan, based at Changlimithang, consisting of players from the U-19 Bhutan national team, who played in the Bhutan A-Division, then the top level of football in Bhutan, but since replaced by a full national league. They finished fifth in the 2011 season, the last season where the A-Division was the top flight. Although they were not formally relegated at the end of the 2011 season, they do not appear to have taken part either in the 2012 A-Division, nor consequently the 2012–13 Bhutan National League.
RIHS is a football club from Bhutan, based at Changlimithang, who played in the Bhutan A-Division, then the top level of football in Bhutan, but since replaced by a full national league. They spent two seasons in the top flight of Bhutanese football before being relegated following a season that included the record defeat for a football team in Bhutan.
Druk Athletic was a football club from Thimphu, Bhutan, that competed in the A-Division, the highest level of football in Bhutan. They originally competed in the second tier of football, but eventually won promotion to the A-Division, there they remained for a number of seasons, although they almost perennially struggled against relegation, before finally succumbing in 2011.
References
- ↑ Schöggl, Hans; Abbink, Dinant (28 May 2014). "Bhutan – List of Champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
- ↑ Schöggl, Hans (2 August 2007). "Bhutan 2006". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation . Retrieved 27 June 2014.
- ↑ "Stage 2007 AFC President's Cup schedule and results". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation . Retrieved 16 July 2014.[ dead link ]