The thing had really "SPILLED over" instead of "SPILL over"

"It is hoped that given time more fans who have attended LionsXII matches at Jalan Besar will continue to go to the S-League stadiums." said S.League CEO Lim Chin in this morning's TODAY article "Sizzling action, fizzling figures" (screen grab below).

courtesy of Mediacorp TODAY

I really hope that I share the same optimism like what Mr Lim has envisaged, but unfortunately, I couldn't do so.

The reason is very simple, if the projected "spill-over" effect on the S.League was meant to take place with the Lions XII's participation of the MSL, then why wasn't that effect took place 17 years ago or earlier?

Back to those days before 1994, the semi-professional (or amateur) Premier League ran concurrently with Singapore's participation in the Malaysia Cup tournament.

"I still recalled that I had to ask the drink vendor the fixture listing of games to be played at that stadium instead of flipping through the papers!"

The only different then was we were able to see the likes of Abbas Saad, Alistair Edwards, Jang Jung, Hasnim Haron, Abdullah Noor, etc. turned out for their designated clubs in the Premier League on top of their Malaysian League commitments to certain extend.

Yet, despite sporadic large attendances in between fixtures, the Premier League was largely a dull affair played in front of a small pockets of fans (mind you, legalized betting was not even on the card then) that was a common thing you would have fans sat on the running track surrounding the field.

Just like the present time, when hardcore supporters lament the lack of media coverage despite the advancement of social media platforms, I still recalled that I had to ask the drink vendor the fixture listing of games to be played at that stadium instead of flipping through the papers!

Earlier statements by both the FAS president and the national coach have not help much in the cause to uplift the profile of the beleaguered league with a wrong impression generated from those comments.

Much have been said and much plans have been on the pipeline, but with the poor execution and lag in remedy with focusing often screwed, we aren't improving if we still harped on those nagging issues.

(P.S: Do we have a rough figure how many of those who watched Lions XII games, actually made an effort to go to their neigbourhood grounds?)