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Showing posts with the label Balestier

Sweet Yet Sour Toa Payoh Stadium

Many motorists would be forgiven if that unassuming small stadium located next to the huge SAFRA clubhouse failed to grab their attention when they drove past it after entering Toa Payoh from the westbound Pan Island Expressway (PIE). OFTEN FORGOTTEN OBSCURITY After all, the awkward positioning of that above-mentioned brutalist arena along the busy Lorong 6 stretch does no favour to help any random visitor to have a clear visible sight of it when there is a car park in front of it. The brutalist facade of Toa Payoh Stadium Nonetheless, the 3,800-capacity Toa Payoh Stadium has a special place in local sporting folklore for being part of the then newly erected Toa Payoh Sports Complex which served as a venue for competition and training of the 1973 SEAP Games - the first major sporting event hosted by the then newly-independent Republic of Singapore. PELE VISITED TOA PAYOH STADIUM IN 1974 It was also this stadium that etched its presence in Singapore football when the legendary Pele c

"Matchpix" - Jul - Aug 2023

SGPL - Balestier Khalsa 4-2 Young Lions 120723 Emmeric Ong (striped jersey) of Balestier Khalsa shared a light moment It was a "mere formality" to see this outcome day in and day out, and we wouldn't know when this would end. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Tiger Cup match between THFC and LCS of SFOF23 (25-260723) England skipper Harry Kane at National Stadium Here are the snaps taken during the "Tiger Cup" match of the Singapore Festival of Football Driven by CDG Zig (SFOF23) between Tottenham Hotspur and Lion City Sailors on 26/7 at National Stadium and the day before when Spurs held their open training session at National Stadium. Nope, Harry Kane did not play his match for Spurs in Singapore. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SFOF23/SCST2023 - Liverpool 4-0 Leicester City 300723 Liverpool skipper Virgil Van Dijk plotting his next move Liverpool got down to work straight away with a 4-0 win over former EPL side

"Matchpix" - Feb - Mar 2023

 SGPL - Lion City Sailors 3-1 Tanjong Pagar United 240223 Both Sailors and Jags anticipating a ball into the box Lion City Sailors opened their Singapore Premier League campaign with a sweet victory over Tanjong Pagar United in their homecoming at the Bishan Stadium. Japanese ace striker Kodai Tanaka marked his Sailors' debut with a brace from close range in second half. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Balestier Khalsa 2-3 Hougang United 260223 Balestier Khalsa's Ryoya Taniguchi (red shirt) surrounded by Hougang United players Hougang United claimed all three points at Bishan Stadium by beating Balestier Khalsa 3-2 in a scrappy encounter which is otherwise known as the "pinball" derby. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Geylang International 2-1 Hougang United 050323 Hougang United's players look on as Geylang International celebrate With Vincent Bezecourt's double in the second half, Geylang Internation

[Annual Review] - Just Three of These Topics Only

Good day to all, It is the time of the year again when I will share my annual review. For this time round, I will just focus on the following topics, as listed following in the BOLD text:- Privatisation , Young Lions, and Balestier Khalsa . PRIVATISATION  One of the things I realised is with the move to privatise the Singapore Premier League in the progress, I certainly hope the decision-makers do not rush to complete the process. The public must be informed of the "privatisation" progress After all, we have seen the example of how the S.League was established in which the pioneering eight clubs were not given ample time to lay a strong foundation on and off the field, and some eventually paid the price for it. The Singapore Premier League is best to be seen as a cosmetic move to rebrand the so-called professional football league whose shortcomings are still obvious. This is why the process of privatisation should be placed on a gradual and consistent basis to make sure &quo

"Matchpix" - Apr - Jul 2022

 Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy Events 260422 Former Liverpool midfielder Jason McAteer (right) with a fan Nineteenth-time English league champions Liverpool will take on fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace in the Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy 2022. A press conference was held at Gardens by the Bay to announce the match will be played on 15th July at the National Stadium. The confirmation of this fixture will see the Reds and the Eagles being the first European top-flight clubs to play in Singapore since 2019. Besides attending the press conference in the morning, both Jason McAteer (ex Liverpool) and Andre Moritz (former Crystal Palace and now Hougang United) made their presence in the afternoon at Serangoon Stadium for the football clinic. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE PICTURES SGPL - Tanjong Pagar United 4-2 Tampines Rovers 280522 Reo Nishiguchi of TPUFC celebrates after scoring After a six-goal thriller in the first half that saw them take a two-goal le

Grooming The Safe Hands is Now Rizal's Role ...

Rizal is now part of Tanjong Pagar United's coaching panel Rizal Rahman is the reason why I decided to take up football photography. I still remember that day we met for the first time face to face at a fast food outlet near the National Stadium when he asked if I have pictures from his playing days. Which, unfortunately, I had none as I had yet to start taking match photos back then and I could sense the disappointment which I thought was probably a good time to venture into something that was alien to me. The following repurposed content is the feature on the former Balestier Khalsa goalkeeper which was first published on 23rd April 2009 in a Q&A format. Additional details were added to this blog post recently to give an update on the ex-national youth goalkeeper. FROM THE VOID DECKS Like many Singapore boys, Rizal started playing football in void decks of HDB (Housing Development Board) residential blocks. As the primary school where he studied did not have a football team,

"Matchpix" - Feb - Mar 2022

 SGPL - Balestier Khalsa 2-2 Tampines Rovers 260222 Aerial duel at Tigers-Stags game Balestier Khalsa came back from behind to salvage a draw with goals from Shuhei Hoshino and Ensar BrunčeviΔ‡ in the second half. The Stags took a two-goal lead in the first half through Boris KopitoviΔ‡ and Taufik Suparno. The match also saw the return of Balestier's head coach Akbar Nawas to the local top flight after five years when he, ironically, stepped down from the Tampines Rovers' hot seat in 2017. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE PICTURES SGPL - Tanjong Pagar United 2-2 Hougang United 060322 Jags' 'keeper Zharfan ensured safety Shodai Nishikawa's 88th minute diving header salvaged a 2-2 for Tanjong Pagar United after they earlier surrendered the lead to Hougang United's two quick goals in 77' & 79'. Khairul Nizam opened the account in the 72nd minute for Jags. Tanjong Pagar United reclaimed the pacesetter role barely one day after their co-tenants Alb

[Telegram Chat] 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 πŽππ‹π˜ π†πˆπ•π„π π“πŽ π“π‡πŽπ’π„ π–π‡πŽ 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃

A picture of a goalkeeper (as credited) Just a quick thought of what I saw at the Lion City Sailors - Balestier Khalsa game that had the Sailors walked away with a victory and the Singapore Premier League (SGPL) title. Sadly, in this game, we witnessed some poor goalkeeping that gifted the newly-minted champions those decisive goals which could have been avoided if better reading and judgment were there in the first place. Like one veteran coach who once told me "'keeper's territory is six-yard and outside that area would be the defenders" and with that belief, it bemused me what was going through the mind of the 'keeper whose poor judgment eventually led to Gabriel Quak netted LCS' fourth goal and helped to uncork the champagne for celebration. Lion City Sailors - 2021 SGPL champions (credit: FAS) Furthermore, the lack of commanding presence in his six-yard led to the second goal scored by Sailors in the first half and he seems to have the audacity to ask

Free Tickets - Boost Or Bane?

It used to cost $5 for more than a decade Years ago, before an S.League game between SAFFC and Etoile FC at Jalan Besar Stadium, I met someone I know just outside the ground, along King George Avenue, and had this brief conversation (as below). Acquaintance: "Do you have a free ticket?" as he was aware of my involvement in the scene. Me: "Nope, I don't have it" Acquaintance: "Cannot be, last time my who worked as a photographer, always have free tickets to matches" Me: "Time changes as different people are calling the shots now." A scene like this is not uncommon, but it is already becoming an annoying problem which I attributed to the liberal policy of giving complimentary entry that led to this kind of problem. A League Cup match played at Jalan Besar Stadium Perhaps, in the first place, such goodwill was to gather more awareness by offering free admission to fans to certain games. But the dangerous part of this giveaway has developed into

[Telegram Chat] - π–π‘πšπ­ π€π«πž π“π‘πž π‡π¨π­π­πžπ¬π­ 𝐎𝐧π₯𝐒𝐧𝐞?

The Google Search from 15/8 to 21/8/21 Good day to all, A random search on Google Trends to test the three names that generate some buzz in the otherwise tepid scene over the last week. As we noticed "K Kannan" was the first to peak after the much-publicized bid to have his ban lift by FAS . Zaiful Nizam was axed by the Tigers Follow that was the shock termination of Zaiful Nizam's contract by Balestier Khalsa after the internal disciplinary inquiry which resulted in a spike in his name is searched online. To round things up on a positive note was the naturalization of South Korean-born Song Ui-young as a Singapore citizen . Till then, stay safe and healthy and don't gather in numbers ❌ Thank you for your support. - π‘»π’‰π’Šπ’” π’Žπ’†π’”π’”π’‚π’ˆπ’† π’˜π’‚π’” 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 π’†π’‚π’“π’π’Šπ’†π’“ 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’‘π’π’‚π’•π’‡π’π’“π’Ž'𝒔 π’•π’†π’π’†π’ˆπ’“π’‚π’Ž 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍 -