BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

Mr Bernard Tan (standing) opens the session "Ideas For Change" is a new initiative spearheaded by Mr Bernard Tan, vice-president of FAS Provisional Council, and had its first session at NYSI Satellite @ Kallang, it is modeled after the concept of TED Talks where speakers are given ten minutes each to speak on the topic of their choice. Making their presence at this maiden session included the likes of FAS General-Secretary Winston Lee, outgoing S.League CEO Lim Chin, former national players Goh Tat Chuan and Aleksandar Duric, who was one of the nine speakers who took turns to share their views on the local game with the audience. HAVING THE FUN FOR THE KIDS Dr Swarup Mukherjee from Nanyang Technological University was the first speaker to kick start the evening when he suggested a "mindset shift" over the years resulted in having a lesser number of kids playing football these days. Dr Mukherjee kicked start the evening  Rather than discourage kids from

Things aren't actually set in the groove for former Central Singapore District mayor Zainudin Nordin in his attempts to push start his ambitious Asean Super League (ASL) project despite there was  speculation that an "announcement" was supposed to be made last month. Zainudin Nordin (extremely right, file picture) With the latest developments in the region, it cast further skepticism if the pet project of the one-time Member of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC (Group Representation Constituency) would ever take off. After all, approval from Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the continent's governing body, is mandatory before the ASL can be launched under the condition that the latter is able to fit itself under the competition structure of the former. KEY AMENDMENTS Key amendments to both AFC Cup, the continent's second-tier club competition, and the AFF Championship aka AFF Suzuki Cup, which is soon-to-be-announced , are seen by many

Years of involvement made me learn to adopt a precautionary stance on almost everything that came along as a way to buffer myself from disappointment. Even though I stick to that belief, it's no difference again when we are drawing close to another year with things ending sour again and no improvement to the scene when we thought it would at the start. Some painted a picture of optimism that our own S.League would gain from Lions XII's acrimonious exit from the Malaysian league with a large part of their playing staff, long perceived to be the best in the country, being snapped by various clubs in the beleaguered setup. Jermaine Pennant graced the league not long ago Furthermore, setting things into the groove saw big spending Tampines Rovers, under new chairman Krishna Ramachandra, acquired the biggest name in the league history by recruiting former Liverpool and Arsenal winger Jermaine Pennant , inked a partnership with Brazilian legend Ronaldinho to set

It is that time of the year again when S.League clubs begin the tidying of their roster to deliberate who should stay and who they should be leaving upon fulfilling their contractual obligations. Unlike the early seasons of the league when newspapers were able to compile a list of "retain/release" and printed out of the sports pages once the season was over, this coveted name list is something held in utmost confidentiality these days. Some details tend to be overlooked ... As what we knew all along, a sizable number of players were on that infamous "eleven-month contract" which has always been the grouse among those whose livelihood depends on the game to feed their families. NO INCOME IN DECEMBER Generally, a normal playing contract under the "eleven-month" term will start on the 1st of January of the calendar year and expires on the last day of November. In another word, December is the month when there will be NO income for those whose co

The former players featured in last weekend's “Battle Of Europe” match between England Masters and Germany Masters had many of those at the game recalled those good old memories when they saw the likes of legends Lothar Matthäus, Teddy Sheringham, etc. took on each other in one of football's most storied rivalries at Kallang with Yusof B Ibrahim , among those at the game, who penned his thoughts on that evening. Teddy Sheringham and Lothar Matthäus skippered their teams It has been fifty years since England last won their first ever and only major international football honour to date - 1966 FIFA World Cup by beating West Germany 4-2 under one of the most controversial circumstances ever which is still much of a debate today. As such, there was a sense of Déjà vu over the last weekend when the England Masters repeated the same scoreline by defeated the Germany Masters in the Battle of Europe 2016 that took place at the iconic National Stadium of the Singapore Sports H