The TWO sides of it and depend on where you see...

Just came back from the S.League Fanfare held at the *SCAPE at Orchard Road (pictured above).

I think it was the first in years that the annual pre-cursor of the League being held in the downtown area with aim to use the music, the carnival atmosphere created to draw the attention of any random passer-by to take a peek what's going on and tell them the new season is going to kick-off in 12th February.

However, the general consensus around the place seems to be the fact that it's more of an "in-house gathering" with players, officials and loyal fans mingled around and just like a friend who sums this up by asking:"Why aren't there any publicity of this fanfare on the papers?".

To be fair, the media information of this event was issued only a few days ago (on 26th January 2011 which I duly put it up here), but that bags the question why not much publicity push to follow up on the mainstream media??

"There's nothing much to cover" said one of the "mainstreamers" who I happened onto and was there to just take a look, while at least I managed to see another who was there to put up a write-up for tomorrow papers.

But just like the end of the day, as a lot of people had always said it's the quality of football on the field that's going to draw the crowds in (a point that was affirmed by TODAY's Sports Editor Leonard Thomas in a live radio call-in program in the morning), event such as the fanfare is just a mere initiative to draw the attention of the public.

However, if pre-cursor such fail to fuel the bang we are always looking for in that sustainability throughout the long season, it could simply be a waste of effort, rather than the monies and time that were spent in it to organize in the first place.

Of course, thing can't be help when the weather was wet...

See you on the 12th of February then...

[Media Information] Courts Announce Landmark Partnership with Young Lions

(The content of this entry are provided by SPRG and Fulford PR, the PR agencies for Courts[Singapore] and Vanda Sports Group respectively)

(P.S: The copyright of the images depicted in this blog entry belong to Vanda Sports Group.)

(Pictured above) Members of the Courts Young Lions with their new jersey. From left to right – Faritz Hameed; Terry O’Connor, Chief Executive Officer, Courts; Zainudin Nordin, President of Football Association of Singapore and Mayor for Central Singapore District; Ian Mullane, Chief Executive Officer, Vanda Sports Group; Eugene Luo and Afiq Yunos

Singapore, 27 January 2011 – In what can only be described as a major development in Singapore football, regional retailing giant Courts announced today that it has signed on to become the official title sponsor of Young Lions Football Club, a team currently featuring in the S.League.

With immediate effect, the team will be known as the Courts Young Lions. The landmark sponsorship deal signifies a major shot in the arm for the S.League and at the same time, a major change in the face of investment in local football.

Courts, Singapore’s largest electrical, IT and furniture retailer, will commit S$1 million in cash and activation over a period of two years.

Under the deal, Courts will acquire naming rights to the team. In addition, its logo will be emblazoned across the front of the team jerseys and throughout Jalan Besar Stadium on match days for the next two years.

Courts Young Lions are an under-23 side comprising mostly national players and is the world’s only age-restricted football team competing in a professional league.

With Jalan Besar Stadium as its home ground, the team was set up in 2003 by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) to expose young players to top-level competition and to help prepare the team for international tournaments.

Describing the deal as one that is aligned with Courts’ history of supporting football, Terry O’Connor (pictured above), Chief Executive Officer, Courts, said, “Our partnership with the Courts Young Lions is truly unprecedented in local football. The deal represents forward thinking on the part of the S.League, and that is aligned with our own philosophy of innovation at Courts.

"Being highly passionate about football ourselves, we are committed towards using our resources, networks and expertise to add value to the team and the S.League. This partnership shows that brands and the league can work hand-in-hand to create a win-win situation. We hope that this will give other potential sponsors the impetus to show their support for the local sports scene as well.”

Courts’ involvement with the Courts Young Lions is the culmination of its sustained support of football in Singapore.

Over the last 10 years, Courts has continually engaged the local football loving community through initiatives such as its title sponsorship of Manchester United’s Asia Tour in 2001 and a two-year partnership with Liverpool FC which involved amongst other activities, bringing Liverpool players to Singapore and sending fans to Anfield to catch Liverpool matches from 2008-2009.

Courts will work closely with Vanda Sports Group (VSG) to ensure that the support goes beyond monetary benefits for the Courts Young Lions. The main objective is to produce a sustainable fan base and to generate attendance at matches by creating an unrivalled match day experience. Activities are also being planned to engage the community at a deeper level and to promote youth development in local football.

Zainudin Nordin (pictured above), President of FAS, said, “The FAS is delighted that Courts will support local football and the S.League through the inception of Courts Young Lions with this significant sponsorship deal over the next two years. The S.League needs as much support as possible from Singapore’s private sector to continue development and will ultimately benefit from more corporate involvement.”

Ian Mullane (pictured below), Chief Executive Officer, VSG, added, “Appointing a committed and dynamic sponsor for our club was a priority for us and represents a major milestone for Project Tribe. Courts will offer tremendous value as the driver for Courts Young Lions and we are pleased to have them on board.

"We also want football fans in Singapore to know that watching the Courts Young Lions at Jalan Besar Stadium will be a wonderful experience. We are committed to building a community, encouraging fan club membership, keeping fans up to date with all the latest news and engaging with them on various fronts.”

The Courts Young Lions will make their first appearance of the season against eight-time champions Singapore Armed Forces FC on 12 February at 5pm. The match timing has been brought forward from the usual 7.30pm kick-off time for the first time with the intent of attracting more fans to watch the games on weekends. All of the Courts Young Lions’ six Saturday home fixtures will be played at that time this season.

For more information, please visit www.courtsyounglions.com.sg which launches today.

You can also follow the Courts Young Lions on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare.

[Media Information] - S.League Fanfare to kick-off at *SCAPE on 29 January‏

(Media Information from the Football Association of Singapore)

SINGAPORE, 26 January 2011: The annual pre-cursor to the new S.League season is set to kick-off once again at *SCAPE (file picture above) this Saturday, 29 January. All 12 S.League teams, including newcomers Tanjong Pagar United will be out in full force as they vie for the prize of the Most Beautifully-Decorated Booth.

The highlight for this year’s event is the Futsal tournament where fan clubs from all 12 teams will take to the court for the coveted title of Futsal kings.

Adding to the twist this year, is an invitation to members of media who will get the opportunity to pit their skills against a team comprising celebrity coaches such as former Singapore internationals Robin Chitrakar and Terry Pathmanathan, as well as Guest-of-Honour, Associate Professor, Ho Peng Kee, Senior Minister of State for Law & Home Affairs and Advisor of Football Association of Singapore

At the various booths, clubs will be giving away match tickets, club memorabilia and recruiting fan-club members. Fans will also get the opportunity to brush shoulders with their favourite S.League stars.

Besides the club booths, a fun-filled day of entertainment and prizes awaits both the young and old as fans will be treated to a performance by recently crowned H-TWO-O Ultimate Move 2010 winners, Natri Bibi and Deborah Tan along with an acrobatic display of superior ball control by the Urban Freestyle Team.

There will also be buskers, face-painting booths and exciting games for the whole family so be sure to be part of the action as we usher in another tantalising Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League season.

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF SINGAPORE
26 January 2011

Where the ball feel like "kentang panas" in the first half

Let's not kid ourselves here.

We were never looked comfortable with the ball, as compared to the Malaysians in the first half.

Midfielder Irfan Fazail (number 7) triggered the scoreboard in the 23rd minute

While some fans were hoping the plastic surface of Jalan Besar would give the Cubs some advantages, but it was never the case.

With their much dynamic pacing and possession play, it was not surprise to see Harimau Muda chalked up two goals before the interval due to some hesitant defending.

Much better second half display by the Cubs with Coach Raddy replaced almost half the squad to show that Lions' fiery that fans were looking for.

And it seems to work in rattled the nerve of the Malaysians that coach Raddy (pictured below) remarked in the post match press conference that,"they (Malaysians) were chasing us and trying to attack us on counter-attacks."

"Although I felt that my team were 'too hurry' in moving the ball forward in the first half, which we should keep more of the possession." said coach Raddy when assessed the Cubs' first half performance.

"However, I'm satisfied with the work done and I hope to see better understanding between the players and self-belief in themselves." concluded the Serb tactician.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian coach Ong Kim Swee (pictured above) believes the Cubs can improve after "a month or two" during his meet up with the press after the game.

He opined that because his team have been together for a long time, thus there are better understanding among his players as compared to the recently-assembled Singapore squad.

"I believe we stand a great chance in making to the next round, although I think it's not going to be easy when playing against Pakistan in Lahore." concluded the ex-Sarawak player when being asked about his team chance in the pre-Olympic qualifier next month.

SOME THOUGHTS FROM A FELLOW FAN
As you guys may recommend Neo Chee Seong, who recently contributed two articles as a "guest columnist" to this blog shared his thoughts via the blog FB group. And below are extracts of what he thought...

"Fair enough, the first half team were mainly seasoned campaigners in the S.League, but it was due to woeful finishing which brought about this result.

There are way many positives to draw from this game. Shafiq Ghani, at such a tender age caused confusion in the Malaysian defence. Zulfahmi Arifin also dominated the midfield but to lose out due to the lack of support.

I really foresee a future with this team. But first things they need to focus on will be their final ball and their finishing, as well as their composure and confidence when they hold on to the ball."

"Another good thing I see about this cubs is the fact that those who got substituted, goes straight to the Malaysia bench to offer a handshake to each and single person on the Malaysia bench.

This is highly commendable. This gesture is really hard to come by."

FOR MORE PICTURES OF THIS MATCH, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

Short scribe on the Cubs-Harimuda Muda's pre-match presser

Was at the pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow's friendly match between Singapore's Olympic squad and their Malaysian counterparts.

Making their presence were Singapore coach Raddy Avramovic (pictured above, second from left) and his Malaysian counterpart Ong Kim Swee (second from right), as well as Cubs' captain Afiq Yunos (extreme left) and Mohd Affize Faisal (extreme right), the vice-captain of the Harimau Muda.

"It's a good opportunity for us to get ourselves prepare before the game against Yemen." said coach Raddy.

"It's a chance to allow young players to gain some match exposure against a good team like Malaysia." he added while admitted that the hastily arranged fixture has not allowed him to have many options to select the players he wants.

Concurring his counterpart's view, coach Ong (pictured above, while speaking to the media) agreed that result is secondary for the friendly fixture.

"It's about gaining the much-needed match exposure on international level that to me result is secondary.

"And we hope both teams will have a great game tomorrow." said the bespectacled coach.

Korean infusion for Jaguars?

As one of the key areas is to improve the quality of the foreign players playing in the S.League, Tanjong Pagar United are making sure they are not lagging behind in that area despite the short preparation notice given their re-entry to the S.League that was only confirmed middle of this week.
According to licensed FIFA player agent Abdul Halim of "Off-Side" Sports Management & Consultant, he had liaised with the Jaguars to bring in two young South Korean players for trial over the weekend.

Midfielder Kim Jong Oh (pictured above, aged 22) skippered for his university Yewon University in University Korean League and was accoladed the "University Player of the Year" in 2010.

While his fellow compatriot, 22-year old Hyun Jong Woon (pictured above) had been in honing his football skills in Brazil since the age of 13 that included a stint with top Brazilian side, Corinthians, is known to have the ability to make killer passes and excellent at dead ball and freekicks.

Pictures and information of players are provided by "Off-Side" Sports Management & Consultant

Officially - Jaguars are back and Cubs for SEA Games Final in 2011

(Pictured above L-R) FAS Sec-Gen Winston Lee, FAS president Mayor Zainudin and Jaguars GM Francis Lee hold the Jaguars' jersey.

RETURN OF THE JAGUARS
Only from the mouth of Mayor Zainudin Nordin, the president of the Football Association of Singapore that it's finally confirmed the returning of Tanjong Pagar United back to the S.League family after weeks of speculation in the local football fraternity.

PLAN FOR THE FUTURE
Also at the same media briefing session, the mayor shared with the members of the media the progress and the upcoming programs for the local football, which was recently thrust to the limelight following the shock disbandment of the Lions after a poor Suzuki Cup outing last month.

With the disbandment of the Lions, it was told youth players will be the cornerstone of the national team rebuilding process and Mayor Zainudin had set the target for the national U23 squad to make it to the final of this year's SEA Games football competition to be held at Palembang in November.

"FAS will rebuild the National Team with the core of the players aged Under-23. As I said before some experienced players will also be infused into the team to strengthen the National Team." explained Mayor Zainudin during the session held at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

The statement was echoed by coach Raddy Avramovic (pictured above right), who attended the session as well with FAS secretary general Winston Lee.

"I'm not happy with (Suzuki Cup's) result, and we are looking forward to introduce more new players to the National Team, mainly from the Young Lions." said the Serbian tactician.

"It is not something special, as we had done something like this before in 2004, when we made a new selection, we retained some of the experienced players to help those younger players then and we are just doing this again.

"But then again we can't do this (rebuilding process) if we don't plan this long before " added coach Raddy on the rejuvenating process of the Lions.

Despite the main core will be from the Young Lions (for being the base of the Pre-Olympic squad), coach Raddy assured that eligible players from other clubs will be still be considered, when he revealed that training session is actually on-going to get the squad prepared for the Olympic qualifier against Yemen in February with some of those not from the Young Lions.

RADDY REFUTED "RESIGN" CLAIMS
On the same occasion, coach Raddy set the record straight by reject the claims in the media that he offered to resign after the Suzuki Cup.

"(I think the) offer to quit as coach (as reported in the media) was not the case and at the end of the day, it's up to the FAS to decide whether I'm staying or I'm going."

"And I thought some media was unfair (on this matter) that I remained silent in some ways, it was like 'trial without jury' and some of the things said were not right." as the Lions' coach registered his unpleasantness over some misleading reports in the media following Hanoi venture which he claimed some of those eventually fueled negative public sentiments towards the team.

OTHER NOTABLE KEY POINTS OF THE BRIEFING

• The National Football Syllabus (pictured below) will be the main coaching manual that all youth coaches will use to develop young players from 8 to 18 years of age, this syllabus was endorsed and commended by FIFA and technical staff from both Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.
  
  
  
• The formation of 4-2-3-1 will be adopted for all the national teams (from the youth to the senior squads) as it's deemed the most "appropriate" tactics for Singapore football.
  
  
• All local clubs (except for the Tanjong Pagar United) must have COEs (Center of Excellence) for U16, U18 in place by this season in compliment with the national youth development program.
  
  
• MOUs with some of the leading football associations and top football clubs are in the process of finalizing to adopt best practices from these established bodies in areas such as coaching, youth development, refereeing, football science and medicine as well as attachment programmes for players, coaches and referees.
  
  
• "Beep" test to be introduced to all youth players to enhance fitness levels of these players to prepare them for international matches and overseas match exposure.
  

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Let's divorce S.LEAGUE from FAS!

Having seen for the past few weeks of all kinds of solutions, remedy put up by various concerned parties on whichever means to lift the local game from the slumps.

With much due respect, most of which we heard, read and seen are mere "recycled" suggestions that always brought to attention in any kind of mis-happenings.

I think we been hearing stuff like "go back to basic", " start from the beginning", if that's the kind I would like to make this suggest - SEPARATE the S.LEAGUE from FAS.

With two operate separately as individual of another, just like in the old days until the two organizations were merged to streamline the operations of running the game in Singapore with the league being operated as a business unit under the umbrella of the FAS.

However, time had proved it has not been the case for large part of the time to improve the game's standard in Singapore.

Such arrangement is not uncommon as it is in the case of Japan where J-League and JFA are two separate bodies.

In this case, the S.LEAGUE's main role is to ensure the smooth operation of the league, while FAS's role should remains of that as the game's local governing body, just like in 1996-1998.

Subject to public scrutiny...

Getting ready before the recording with host, Yi Qian (pictured above middle)

It never came to my mind that I would appear in front of camera screen, let alone being part of the discussion panel group to talk about the recent disbanding of the Lions.

But there I was with my fellow blogger Arief, "Super Fan" Daniel Lau and Han Keong, the sports editor of "mypaper" at the "Razor TV" studio for the recording on Wednesday evening.

(Pictured above L-R) The rookie panelists - Daniel, Arief and myself

Being someone slow in react when being prompted a question, the host, Yi Qian, gladly acceded to my request to the last person to voice my opinion after the rest did theirs.

I'm relieved that everything went smoothly, as Yi Qian told us to be as if we were having a chit-chatting session and complimented us with our efforts.

I am glad to have this opportunity to voice my opinion on the recent saga on a platform like this of an interactive media as it's able to reach out to a wider audience.

THE CLIPS OF THE RECORDINGS (total five of them)





And there you have it are all how we felt...

Many thanks to Razor TV for the opportunity to voice our thoughts on the issues that are so dear to us and not forget to mention Nicholas, who SMSed me about this, thanks man :)

Missed Opportunity AGAIN....

Having read what my fellow blogger Arief blogged earlier on in his blog, I received this press release from "Football Management International & Trebol Sport International" that reads

We are pleased to announce that Bangkok Glass has signed our player, Sylvain Idangar on a 2-year contract for an undisclosed fee for the Thai Premier League season 2011. He was accompanied by our FIFA licensed agent & Operations Director, Marco Guimaraes during the press conference to announce Bangkok Glass' players for the new season.

Sylvain was one of the 19 foreign players who attended the FAS centralised foreign player trials in November last year.

This release came just a few days later after "The New Paper" came up with a story that titled "Centralised trials not working out?" (pictured below)

Inside the story, it was revealed that out of the nineteen players who attended the trial only Korean Lim Young Woo, who signed with Balestier Khalsa last week from top K-League club Suwon Samsung Bluewings, while the rest failed to land any contract with the S.League clubs at the time of writing this.

It probed further into details why the low take-up rate by collating opinions from various S.League coaches who were quoted inside this report and mainly attributed to the scheduling and the format on how the trial was conducted.

While one of issues being highlighted in this report was the players were "under impression that they would have a high chances of being offered contract at the end of the trial by their agents" as claimed by one of the coaches who spoke to some of them.

Out of the 19 players, so far one player was snapped up

Pertaining this comment (in bold italic), one of the agents involved during the centralized trial, Mr Marco Guimaraes, Operations Director of Football Management International & Trebol Sports International, rejects the claim of such promise was made to those players he represented.

"First of all, we never over promise the players before they come here. We informed them the about the success rate of the past few centralised trials so they knew the level of competition amongst the trialists is high here and nothing is certain." said Guimaraes, who is a licensed FIFA agent based in Singapore in an email interview with this blog.

"Then again, the players brought in by us were screened by FAS and only the ones who are better than the current crop playing in the League are brought in.

"Till today, we are still puzzled as to why the likes of Sylvain Idangar, David Mulligan & Lamine Diatta (pictured above, who featured in all Senegal's World Cup matches in 2002) weren't picked up." added the man whose agency was involved in brokered the transfer of Lim to Balestier with their Korean partners .

Guimaraes went on added it is an "open secret" that the S.League clubs lack the resources to operate a proper scouting system. This was precisely why the scouting arm of his agency was formed to address this issue and hope to fill the gap of the lack of quality import players.

While he has no comment on the scheduling and format of the centralized trial that was held, as he said those were decided by the FAS, Guimaraes suggests some improvements could be taken to remedy these issues.

"Perhaps, a meeting could be organised between FAS, the clubs and us to synergize things so that we can have a coordinated effort this year to address the problems raised by the coaches." he opined.

Despite the setback, it was revealed that his agency had brought in another five more players for trials with various clubs and confirmed the recruitment of Lebanese international Mounier Raychaouni, whom he represents, as a Woodlands Wellington player for the upcoming season.

"You want to TALK but make SURE you got your FACT RIGHT!"

It just got everyone talking after the disband of the national football team by the President of the FAS (pictured below).

Frankly, it's something not surprise me at all when such circumstance takes place that got everyone jumps onto the ship to give their opinions.

Nothing new and fresh suggestions as most experts like us would finger point at all those perceived "guilty lots" (you all know who they are).

However, amid all these stories, features and opinions that got everyone talk about this saga, that really caught my attention and in what would be the BIGGEST embarrassment (pictured below) among those relevant stories I came across.

If one is sharp enough, one would know where the mistake is and a key lesson here is not to go and write something about when everybody is talking about and make disastrous error out of it...

(P.S: This entry is not meant to embarrass anyone here, but it's important to convey the message and story to the mass public without error and misleading fact.)

Potential Players with Merits to be selected for Singapore National Squad.

Having saw what he tweeted in the first place, I prompted Mr Neo Chee Seong (who contributed an article last month) to come up with his list of players to fill up the vacuum after the disband of the Singapore National Team.

Many thanks to Mr Neo for sharing his views on this issue.

Potential Players with Merits to be selected for Singapore National Squad.
Neo Chee Seong

I based the potential players with regards to not participating in Asian Cup Qualifiers, Suzuki Cup or Asian Games.

People say Singapore has got no talent, I do not agree. I feel Singapore has sufficient talents to compete with ASEAN's best.

However, not with big headed players who took their place for granted.

This is my squad of 23 (player by player comparison. existing players in brackets,bold)

Goalkeepers
- Yazid Yasin (Geylang) (Lionel Lewis)
- Zaiful Nizam (Gombak) (Hassan Sunny)
- Fadhil Salim (Hougang) (Izwan Mahbud)

Yazid Yasin of Geylang United is hard to beat on his day

Defenders
- Shahril Alias(Home) (Baihakki Khaizan)
- Adrian Dhanaraj (Geylang) (Precious)
- K Sathiaraj(Balestier) (Rosman Sulaiman)
- Jonathan Xu (Geylang) (Safuwan Baharudin)
- Jeremy Chiang (Gombak) (Noh Rahman)
- Bah Mamadou(Gombak) (Afiq Yunos)
- Zulfadli Zainal Abidin (Home) (Juma'at Jantan)
- Razaleigh Khalik (SAF) (Vice-Captain) (Dan Bennett)

Gombak United's right back Jeremy Chiang (number 7) played in last January's King Cup in Thailand.

Midfielders
- K Vikraman (Balestier) (Riduan Mohamad)
- Syaqir Sulaiman (Balestier)
- Naufal Omar Ashiblie (Home) (Mustafic Faharudin)
- Nor Azli Yusoff (Home) (Isa Halim)
- Ismadi Mukhtar (Tampines) (Khairul Amri)
- Imran Sahib (Tampines) (Fazrul Nawas)
- Azlan Alipah (Woodlands) (Captain)
- Asraf Abdul Rashid (Home) (Shadan Sulaiman)

Nor Azli Yusoff (3) was last season's skipper of Sengkang Punggol

Strikers
- Zulkiffli Hassim (Gombak) (Agu Casmir)
- Azhar Sairudin (Hougang) (Maszrezwan Masturi)
- Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin (Tampines) (Alex Duric)
- Aliff Shafaein (Tampines) (Shahril Ishak)

Always in every fans' mind why Ahmad Latiff was not in the Lions after 2006, so has the disband see the light of tunnel for him to don the red jersey?

I would like to see how many of this list of players gets the nod based on "Merit" as per what Raddy said. A mixture of youth + experience. My selection of the players, none of them has played for the National Team in any of the tournaments mentioned.

If I were Raddy, I will pit the existing team against this team, and show those in the current team there are always more than capable replacement.

These 23 players of my choice are IMHO the more consistent players turning out for their teams, and they have always been the difference when they are on the pitch.

I was quite reluctant to include Bah (Mamadou) in my team because he is part of FTS and as a Singaporean Football Fan, I hope to see the entire squad made up of born and bred Singaporeans. No foreigners. It is okay for me to watch my national football team lose, but they have to lose with pride.

And not using their mouth as a tool for performing. It is definitely a good suggestion to disband the existing squad and come up with fresh blood. And I would like to see out of my 23 players, how many will eventually get selected in the first Singapore team of 2011.

I am backing at least half(13/25) of them to be in the first squad that will be announced very soon. Reputations count for nothing. Forget the heroics of Amri And Alam Shah on the past editions of the Suzuki Cup.

What we need are players of the future. And my list, if selected, can stay for a good 5 years, before promoting some of the young lions and cubs from the U-18s to the first team.

Patience is the key. No disrespects to the players that will be dropped. Success and failure are determined by silverwares. No Silverwares no talk.

And I suggest playing 3-5-2 instead of a flat back four.

GK: Yazid Yasin

DCR: Jonathan Xu
DC: Razaleigh Khalik
DCL: Adrian Dhanaraj

DML:Ismadi Mukhtar
DMR:K Vikraman
MC:Azlan Alipah (Captain)
MC:Naufal Omar Ashiblie
MC:Nor Azli Yusoff

FW: Aliff Shafaein
FW: Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin

** Views expressed may not necessary be that of the blog owner, thanks**

Prove me wrong if you get the nod

The revealing of the identity of the possible 12th S.League team being Tanjong Pagar United had set the buzz not least as Kallangroar.com (as pictured below when a poster claimed the Jaguars are being the "12th" team)

And with confirmation of such possibility by the two Mediacorp media outlets - Channelnewsasia and TODAY (screen-grab below).

Channelnewsasia broke the news on late Wednesday night.

"TODAY" published the story TODAY.

So it therefore more or less set the path of the possible return after sitting out for six years for the club that traces its roots back in 1975 with the formation of Tiong Bahru CSC under the guidance of Mr Richard Woon.

But being someone who always believe is having solid foundation laid before hand before the admission (readmission in the case of Tanjong Pagar) of any team in the S.League, I have a few questions to ask here.

1. What are they doing for the past six years since "sit out" as Tanjong Pagar Utd?
   
   
2. Given the scenario like this, are we gonna see another "Paya Lebar Punggol" in the making?
   
   
3. If like what the report suggested, the team is to be based in Clementi (if the nod is given), would there be a change in the name?
   

Just count the list of "one-season" clubs we had in the past, and shouldn't see why such a scepticism among the optimism of the fraternity.

[Media Information] FAS amends constitution to be registered as a charity

(Media Information from The Football Association of Singapore)

SINGAPORE, 04 January 2011: The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) held an Extraordinary General Meeting yesterday evening to approve the amendments to the FAS constitution in order to meet the charity registration requirements set in place by the Singapore Sports Council (SSC).

SSC had informed all National Sports Associations (NSAs) in 2009 that in order to qualify for SSC funding beginning with the Annual NSA Grant Exercise FY2011, charity registration was a pre-requisite for all NSAs and this is in keeping with the principles of ensuring that public funds disbursed to all NSAs through SSC were accounted for.

The proposed amendments to the FAS constitution were approved unanimously.


CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF SINGAPORE
04 January 2011