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Showing posts from May, 2014

[Guest Column] Somehow along the way, we seemed to have lost our way

Days after I posted the entry titled "Hello! #sleague is NOT a FARM LEAGUE!" , I received a mail from Mr Foo Mao Chian and with his permission, I reproduced the content of this said mail. I share your frustration with the direction FAS is taking Singapore football and the way the S . League is being run. S.League kicked off in 1996 The league started out in 1996 as a competition between clubs representing regions in Singapore (with the exceptions of Police and SAFFC). Fans were encouraged to identify and support the clubs representing their kampung . Somehow along the way, we seemed to have lost our way. Foreign teams, who Singaporeans have no sense of affinity with, joined the league. To make matters worse, these foreign clubs were generally badly run, players ill-disciplined and some were even corrupted and playing standards have overall been poor. And then FAS started the CYL (Courts Young Lions)  initiative, which deprived the clubs of the young talents

Desso the way to field the pitch at Kallang

(This entry is formulated with some information provided via a media release from the event organizers - Desso Sports System and Singapore Sports Hub) The new 55,000-capacity National Stadium I was part of the media contingent who were invited to have a feel and look of the new turf surface that is to be the centerpiece of the new 55,000-seater National Stadium within the premises of the iconic Singapore Sports Hub . Scheduled to be completed by next month when the new arena will be staging their very first event - The Rugby World Club 10s on 21st and 22nd of June, the pitch will be turfed using the  Desso GrassMaster system which is developed by Desso Sports System, a leading specialist in global sports field technology. Kudos to these guys for their work A moth inspecting the blades of the grass WHY "DESSO GRASSMASTER"? Prior to the stadium tour, the members of the contingent were given a presentation by the event organizers on why Desso GrassMaster was chos

[Feature] "Hypersense: The Art and Science of Modern Football" by Nike

(This entry is made possible by the arrangement of Zeno Asia , the PR agency for the event) The main hall of the exhibition  When ten players in the Brazilian national team wore Nike football boots back in 1994 that eventually saw them went on to win the World Cup back then, people would think the American sporting giants' association with the world's most popular game only begun that year. In actual fact, Nike's involvement with football traced its roots back in 1971 when they launched their first model (named "The Nike") that featured the Swoosh and were sold by Blue Ribbon Sports before material defects caused the discontinuing of the production shortly after the launch. Following the staging of the World Cup on American soils in 1994, Nike decided that it was the right opportunity to make their presence felt in football through their cutting edge innovations and they never looked back since. Thus, the "Hypersense: The Art and Science of Modern

Hello! #sleague is NOT a FARM LEAGUE!

Harimau Muda (yellow, blue top) are struggling (file) The recent poor run of form by Harimau Muda in our own S . League had prompted one commentary to question if their presence in the setup has actually degraded the standard of play in which the league authority has always stressed the need of foreign teams is to expose local clubs and players to various styles of football. Merely days ago, came another bombshell when it was reported that Johor FA president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim announced the plan to uproot Johor Darul Takzim II (JDT II) from Malaysian Premier League, the country's second-tier league to play in the S.League for developmental purpose . Lions' skipper Shahril Ishak plays for JDT II At this present moment, we don't have any idea if the plan for JDT II is to field as a new team in the republic's professional league or taking over the role of that of Harimau Muda under the MOU signed in 2011 . But the undesirable taste of having seen

[RHB Singapore Cup] Protectors to begin their defending in "foreign" land

(This entry is formulated based on the media release issued by the Football Association of Singapore ) Home Utd are the reigning Cup holders (file) Despite their heart breaking exit from the AFC Cup tournament weeks ago, Home United found on a new battleground surrounded by another legion of foreign teams. As the reigning Cup holders, the Protectors will now have to fight their way out of the Pool B of this season's RHB Singapore Cup tournament to be assured of another chance to represent the island republic in the continental front. In a draw that was held this morning at the Jalan Besar Stadium, the Bishan-based club were drawn into the group that features fellow S . League sides like Albirex Niigata (Singapore) FC and Brunei DPMM with the returning of Filipino sides Global FC and Loyola Meralco Sparks. The remaining three slots in Pool B went to the newcomers of the tournament - Nagacorp FC and Svay Rieng FC of Cambodia with Laotian side Champasak filling up the