End of Saga

The Good Times - Singtel League Cup winners 2007

The saga began...

The punters' complaints

Blasted by the media as well...

The verdict

The aftermath - inputs from all quarters

A fine of $30,000 in total...

Ok, end of the story full stop

Just to say that it's pretty odd to react in this manner when you still had 30 minutes to rescue the game.

By walking out of it, totally made no sense and gave an impression of "giving up too easily".

What a letdown.. :(

西游记 (Journey to the west)

Prelude: "Ok, ok... Let's just say if I'm resident staying in western part of the island, I'll find it FAR too , to travel to Toa Payoh, if the national team choose to play in the central region... Fair?"

So, Jurong West here I come...

Fear the idea of getting stuck in the train jam, so I thought it was a safer option to book a cab (oh well, sometime you really need to spend to avoid any mishap.)


Hmm... Your typical SSC stadium, which is not always football priority.

The MRT viaducts (or commonly called "tracks") should serve as a good marker, if you intend to make your way to and fro Boon Lay MRT station. (P.S: the tracks are meant for the Boon Lay line extension, which scheduled to be ready in a year time)


Both teams warming up for the fixture....

Crowds were streaming in slowly...


The cameras getting ready...The handshakes prior the start, after the national anthems played.

The western folks certainly appreciated what they saw (at least we drew against one of the Asian powerhouses eh.)

It was a long journey home for me (for sure)....

Which ended at 10.55pm at Braddell...

Why should I??

"Come back to Liverpool, leh!" he said.

"Not in the near future or never at all..." I said as I bid farewell to a new friend who I met at a pub near Suntec City.

(Picture)The pub's plasma was showing the live telecast of an EPL match between Liverpool and Derby County.

This new friend is a Liverpool supporter, while yours truly USED TO be an Anfield faithful.

"Used to be" in a sense that I am not longer have that "feel" or "attachment" towards the most successful English football club since early 90s'.

It was an awakening call when I realized what the Reds mean to me? - NOTHING...

Nothing at all... They don't actually know who we are, where we are from, but when to pay rise we "contribute generously" to them via the high cable TV subscription charges we need to fork out every month.

Bah! As I recalled months back the cable operator was going to increase the sports channel subscription that I wasted no time and rung up to cancel with immediate effect.

Simply the fact that I had enough! Why subject ourselves being skinned by these already wealthy folks?

On the same day, just few hours prior to the pub session, I was at the Nike outlet inside Marina Square.

"Do you sell THE NATIONAL TEAM jersey?" I asked.

"WHICH national team?" the puzzled sales person replied.

"Singapore one lah!" I said.

"Sorry sir, we don't have it here." confirmed the sales person.

Pretty disappointed as it seems we still have folks regard England as their "national" team despite being a sovereign state for 42 years.

The government must be sad to hear this, as it could have signal the failure of the "NATIONAL EDUCATION" policy?? (hope I don't sound serious)

I am not a marketing man (Part 2)

(Sorry for the slight delay....)

As mentioned in the previous entry, it's up to the players and the clubs' administrators to build up from where, if they are to elevate to by those marketing stunts.

Having missed out on two previous occasions (i.e.: (1) the launch of the league in 1996 and (2) the start of the legalized betting) that saw the surge in attendance, we must not let the third to slip through our fingers, if there's even going to be a third miracle.

I can't advise on how the players to improve their plays and skills as I'm not qualified, neither how to run the clubs as I thought there are qualified managing gurus.

Having observed the way things handled after a decade, I thought I should input some of my "unproven" ideas to alter how the things should run.

Some ideas to share

Isn't a waste to have those unoccupied seats at the enclosed area during the matches (above)?

To this day, only holders to the relevant passes or invited guests are allowed to seat in this area (above), while having their half time refreshments at places like this

Except for stadiums like Jalan Besar (above), Bishan, Choa Chu Kang, Jurong West, other stadiums don't have an enclosed viewing gallery for people to watch the game in comfort.

Till this day, some clubs practice the voucher system, where only those given a voucher are allowed to enter this enclosed gallery.

Hospitality through corporate sponsorship

Some examples of the hospitality packages I came across over the internet of those lower-tier sport clubs in England should offer some insights, if clubs seriously want to venture to that business.

Here we are talking about the clubs hosting privileged guests (sponsors) on match days.

Some packages I came across over the internet detailed the concept as:

• An opportunity to entertain your business associates, clients.
• An place to build up your network and contacts.

It's interesting to note their sponsorship opportunities are not restricted to just "main club sponsor", "apparel sponsors" and selling of advertising spots (i.e.: billboards) on match days, but in the form of "match sponsor" and "match ball sponsor" as well.

There are boundless of opportunities to be explored, only if the administrators choose to think "out-of-the-box".

So what could be the reasons behind the holding back?

As a concerned fan, I wonder why?

After all, clubs facing cash flow problems are something not new, it just that the current means to generate the much-needed income seem limited (no doubt, some clubs are operating betting outlets at their allocated stadiums but end of the day, the income from these outlets are drastically reduced due to the high taxes they need to pay to the pool operators).

Nurturing the sense of belonging

The clubs got to realize how important marketing themselves well is crucial to their survival, which is something sorely neglected.

Being part of the community, there is definitely a need to strengthen the bond between clubs and the vicinity they based.

We had some clubs working with their regional CDCs, neighbourhood schools conducting some football clinics, but on ad-hoc basis.

I would love to see more community involvement by the clubs other than conducting football clinics (correct me if I'm wrong).

Clubs should therefore align themselves with the RCs and other community based organizations; by participate in more community events like "block parties", "get-together" sessions and etc.

Through these events, would help to raise the awareness not only for the clubs and players, but also help the residents to define their neighbourhood focal point - the clubs, of course.

Conclusion

Having said all these, I would just like to conclude I am not a marketing man, still.

But somehow, if things still remain stagnant like now, I fear the day that we don't even know who are players in the national team, let alone the clubs'.

(Open up for discussion.. feel free to contribute more ideas ..please.. thanks)