BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

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...

Coach Sundram (in blue jacket) facing the media To sum up the Singapore National Football Team's final warming up before heading off to Manila this coming Tuesday – to win the game, the feeling is great but to score a goal, it's bonus. The one-nil win over the visiting Cambodian national team at the Bishan Stadium was indeed a relief to everyone in the Lions setup whose preparation for the biennial regional showpiece – the AFF Suzuki Cup, hasn't been smooth sailing since national caretaker coach V Sundram moorthy took over back in May. With the most of the participating countries already confirmed their list of 23 for the tournament, the former Lions striker decided to buckle the trend by stated he will only do so when arrived in the Philippines in reply to a query from the media after the game. “I will only reveal when we are in Philippines,” said Coach Sundram during the post-match press conference on the to-be-finalized squad which is now trimmed to 24...

Outgoing FAS president Zainudin Nordin "It is an important milestone in Singapore football!" as declared by the outgoing Football Association of Singapore (FAS) president Zainudin Nordin in the press conference that took place after the Extraordinary General Meeting (EOGM) at the Jalan Besar Stadium last evening. EXHAUSTIVE ENGAGING The EOGM was called upon to pass the proposed new constitution for the game's local governing body after the initial plan to approve it was aborted in late September following requests from delegates for further consultations and amendments to be made to it. And the outcome eventually saw the delegates (38 out of the 46 of them) presented at the EOGM unanimously vote in favour of endorsing the new constitution and paved the way to have elections in place for the FAS office-bearers for the first time in over 30 years. Lim Kia Tong confirmed his intention to form a team Throughout the media session, the panelists, who also includ...

Harvest Year for Albirex Niigata (Singapore) Newly-crowned Great Eastern Yeo's S.League Albirex Niigata (Singapore) signed off their season in style when they walked away with three notable awards in the annual S.League Awards Night held days ago at Marina Bay Sands. Striker Atsushi Kawata was named the recipient of the prestigious "Player of The Year" award, alongside his coach Naoki Naruo who collected the "Coach of The Year" accolade and teammate Tomoki Menda was credited to have scored the "Goal of The Year". Atsushi Kawata (center) is "Player Of The Year" On top of that, the White Swans also picked up the "Fair Play" award on the same evening that, however, saw Naofumi Tanaka lost out to national midfielder M Anumanthan in the "Young Player of The Year" category. SURREAL EXPERIENCE ... Should that happen, it would be almost total domination both off and on the field as well, following the unprecedented...

Close to 25,000 watched the Causeway Challenge Honestly, the recent Causeway Challenge fixture between Singapore and Malaysia shall go down in history as one of those anti-climax games in recent years. Apart from both teams using this friendly to finalize their preparation for the AFF Suzuki Cup next month, it is always not uncommon to have both the Lions and Harimau (Tigers) trying to claim supremacy over each other since both went separate ways in 1965. "DAMP SQUID" Any match featuring these two nations would usually wipe up those chest-pumping patriotism sentiments on both sides of the Causeway, but the mood during the run-up to the match played last Friday at the iconic National Stadium at Kallang resulted in a much more mundane affair. Perhaps much of that "damp squid" ambience has to do with ongoing misfortune that plagued the football fraternities of both sides. (L-R) Coach Sundram and Malaysia's coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee One of those con...

(L-R) Zainudin Nordin and Bernand Tan The much-anticipated proposed constitution was not put into discussion when the motion on it was removed abruptly from the Football Association of Singapore's (FAS) Annual General Meeting (AGM) held earlier at its Jalan Besar Stadium (JBS) headquarters. Explaining the reason for removing the cornerstone topic from the AGM, FAS Vice-President Bernand Tan said it was “not easy to decide” citing factors like feedback from the members at the very late hours. NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY “It (the proposed constitution) is something should not be taken lightly and it is not easy to decide (the removal of the motion on it) when there are members requested 'more time' till yesterday night (for further discussions).” said Tan in the media conference held right after the conclusion of the AGM. When prompted on whether the local game governing body had set a time frame on confirming the said constitution that is to align itself with what FIF...

Izwan Mahbud ended his first club continental venture Without any doubt, it was a painful exit from the tournament that saw Tampines Rovers ended their continental campaign in the hands of Bengaluru FC of India after a goal-less affair which allowed the latter to cruise to the AFC Cup semi-final stage on a wafer-thin advantage of an aggregate score of one goal to none. Nonetheless, the Stags shouldn't be faulted for tried all means to put themselves back on level terms when they signalled their intention right from the start with the series of offenses they launched towards the team from Bangalore who elected to opt for a safety first approach by being the absorber of those raids. Amrinder Singh (1) raised above all to fist the ball  Hafiz Abu Sujad (16) tried his luck from a distance Such conservative tactics seems to serve the Indian side well as the designated home team who were left frustrated on countless of occasions on those chances they failed to convert thr...

Anxious moments for Balestier (yellow) It was not the best game to be shown on live television but it really does not matter when you were able to get the job done at the end of the day like Albirex Niigata (Singapore) did at Toa Payoh earlier. One would expect the Japanese side to go all out to secure a bigger buffer in the second-leg of RHB Singapore Cup semi-final match against Balestier Khalsa whom they had a wafer-thin one-goal advantage carried into this match. Atsushi Kawata (left) closely monitored  But none of that urgency was shown in the match that was best described as uninspiring and tepid encounter which most would not associated to the usual intensity of a Cup game. Barred for some anxious moments in the Balestier's penalty area in the first half when Albirex found themselves tried to break down the Tigers' resilience at the back, there wasn't much action to keep the sporadic crowds at the ground or viewers at home at the edge of their seats. ...

(This entry is formulated by the media release issued by Full Circle PR , the PR agency for the "Battle Of Europe 2016") (L-R) Karl-Heinz Riedle and Darren Anderton Leading up to the highly-anticipated showdown of one of the greatest footballing rivalries will see England Masters take on their German counterparts – a match that is set to bring fans back down to the memory lane with arrays of stars from yesteryears ready to thrill them this coming November at Kallang. As part of the building up to the match - Battle Of Europe , which is to be played on the 12th of November at the National Stadium, former German international Karl-Heinz Riedle alongside ex-England and Tottenham Hotspur star Darren Anderton made their appearance at the media conference held this afternoon at Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel, the event official hotel. (L-R) Steve Black having a chat with Riedle In his opening speech, Steven Black, the CEO of Masters Football Asia (the ...

We tried but it has been largely a futile effort to see some clubs fused into the vicinity they based despite the reaching out that yield limited progress over the years. Just name me a list of which club had been able to mobilize the whole town to their home game when there is one? It may have come to a juncture that building rapport with nearby residents isn't really a workable model that clubs should cast their net wider to tap on those unearthed fan bases, not necessarily being parochial. AWKWARDLY LOCATED ... Given the small land area Singapore has, it has proven to be a challenge to create those cross-town or regional rivalries we have seen in other countries. Furthermore, the constant dynamism in the electoral boundaries has neither help to foster a sense of belonging (Take one example in Hougang Stadium - located in Ang Mo Kio GRC, bordered by Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC). Politically, Hougang Stadium isn't part of Hougang SMC  Given our relatively homogeneou...