BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

To be honest, when "Team LKT" and their allies were sworn in as the new Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Council - the highest decision-making organ of the game's local governing body, this blogger wondered if those voting delegates ever regretted their decisions after witnessed what was unfolded subsequently following that controversial landmark election? HISTORICAL BAGGAGE ... Banking on the experiences of those who served in the past councils and despite the "historical baggage" embedded in them, the team headed by lawyer Lim Kia Tong, who convinced some of their fiercest critics to join their camp , crushed their challengers - "FAS Game Changers" convincingly to take office. Can Lim Kia Tong and his council bring the faith back to Singapore Football? However, little time was given to these newly-elected office bearers to acclimatize their roles, the new Council soon realised it is going to be a tough battle to pull the beleaguered sp...

Apparently, the panel, which was led by Football Association of Singapore (FAS) president Lim Kia Tong, painstakingly tried to convince the media the rationale of implementation of the controversial "age quota" in the upcoming season of the local professional league that had generated much buzz of late in the fraternity. (L-R) VP Teo Hock Seng, AGS Yazeen Buhari, P Lim Kia Tong, Dy P Bernand Tan, VP S Thavaneson In an announcement made at the press conference held at the Jalan Besar Stadium earlier, the rules pertaining the aforementioned quota requires "All local clubs will have to register a minimum squad of 19 players and a maximum of 25. Of this, in a squad of between 19-22 players, six of their players have to be Under-23, and eight have to be Under-30. Clubs are open to register any players to fill the remaining slots, which may include a maximum of two foreign players." LONG TERM PLANNING IS THE KEY ... In a press release issued shortly after the eve...

(P.S: If you access this site via "come.to/matchpix", please click the "Facebook" icon after you click "HERE" when you want to view the album as that will redirect you to the album, thank you) S.League - Albirex Niigata (S) 5-1 Warriors FC 031117 Entangled in the air Albirex Niigata FC Singapore retained the Great Eastern-Hyundai S.League title with a convincing performance thrashing one-time giants of local football - Warriors Football Club 5-1 at the JBS. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Friendly - Singapore 0-1 Lebanon 091117 Eye wide open for Danny I was with Arthur, one of the ball boys, and a minder at my usual spot at the ground to see another defeat succumbed by our national team. It is not a good thing to happen when we seems to forget how to win a game let alone to have a feel of it. With just a game away, the team need to find the right formula to buckle the trend to avoid the embarrassment. PLEA...

Far too familiar sight for the past one year The woeful display by the Singapore national team on their last match of the year sums up the state of the game in the island republic. In this do-or-die battle against Bahrain at the National Stadium, a victory would have ensured the Lions of their faltering hopes to stay alive to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup tournament next year. Unfortunately, things did not go the way Singapore wanted as they found themselves succumbed to their ninth defeat of the year in the hands of the Middle Easterns and the three-nil loss at home eventually kissed their continental dream goodbye. This result also concluded the fact that the four-time Asean champions ended their calendar without a single win since their last triumph back in last November against Cambodia at the Bishan Stadium. DOUBLE WHAMMY ... Right from the start, attempts by both Geylang International's Shawal Anuar and Home United’s Irfan Fandi in a space of ten minutes gave the...

Yusof B Ibrahim was at the National Stadium last Saturday to witness the "Battle of Masters" Tournament featuring the likes of former Arsenal players alongside their Liverpool and Singapore counterparts. Football fans at the National Stadium were in a treat the last weekend when they were given a chance to witness a number of former English Premier League stars in action alongside Singapore footballing legends in the “Battle of Masters” tournament organized by Masters Football. DURIC SCORED AGAINST HIS HEROES ... Both Arsenal and Singapore Masters raised the curtain for the night by dishing out some entertaining football with the Gunners had two of their attempts denied by the woodwork in the first half. Aleks Duric (blue) scored on his new National Stadium debut Shortly after the breather,1998 World Cup winner Robert Pirès reminded us all of his trickery during his “The Invincibles” heydays when he opened the account in the 23rd minute of play (each half of the ma...

(P.S: If you access this site via "come.to/matchpix", please click the "Facebook" icon after you click "HERE" when you want to view the album as that will redirect you to the album, thank you) ACQ2019 - Singapore 1-1 Turkmenistan 050917 Hassan Sunny made sure the ball is safe in his possession Ideally a win would be a better option than a draw in this fixture, we should have nailed in the first place if we were clinical in our finishing and, of course, having stamina to sustain the full ninety minutes. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES S.League - Hougang Utd 2-1 Garena Young Lions 150917 Eyes on the ball ... Hougang United's win over Garena Young Lions did little to alter the league table but Coach Vincent Subramaniam remains positive and pleased with the efforts shown by the national de-facto squad. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES 11th Merlion Cup 230917 Adelaide 36ers' S...

Best view in the house at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium Being an avid baseball fan too, I headed to Taiwan, a popular tourist destination for many Singaporeans, to catch my favourite baseball team - Chinatrust Brothers (CT Bros, 中信兄弟) in action for the past six years. It was something I never expected in my recent trip when I was offered an opportunity to join my Taiwanese friends in a hospitality event hosted by CT Bros at one of their home games in Taichung weeks ago. EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE FANS... From what I gathered, the hospitality event is exclusively for fans (and their guests) who are members of the team's official fan club. Besides quality buffets being served to those who were present at the event, the organizers also arranged interactive sessions for the fans with one player from the roster and two members from the team's official cheerleading group before the game. CT Bros' infielder Hsu Chi-hung (with mic) addressed the fans Two mem...

Hassan Sunny looked helpless as he saw the ball rolled in the goal It should be a game Singapore could have wrapped it up convincingly, if only they had been consistent till the final whistle that eventually had them shared the spoils with Turkmenistan in AFC Asian Cup Group E qualification match played last evening at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Buoyed by the new lease of life following the recent draw against Hong Kong on the same surface that saw a much adventurous Singapore side departed themselves from the usual pragmatic defensive game, the fans were hopeful to see a repeat of the same display that could place the Lions' fast fading continental dream back to the pedestal. The crowd of 3,127 were not disappointed when the home team took onto the field by initiated a few attacking moves to unsettle their guests from Central Asia at the early part of the game. Khairul Amri (19) lasted only 36 minutes of action But such an adventurous performance failed to yield any di...

(P.S: If you access this site via "come.to/matchpix", please click the "Facebook" icon after you click "HERE" when you want to view the album as that will redirect you to the album, thank you) AFC Cup Asean Zonal Final (1st-Leg) - HUFC 2-1 CNFC 020817 Home United surpassed expectations Home United Football Club enjoying a slim advantage after defeated Ceres-Negros FC 2-1 in the first leg of the AFC Cup Asean Zonal Final at the JBS. The second-leg was played on the National Day at Bacolod but the Protectors failed to make the cut. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES S.League - Balestier Khalsa 2-2 Warriors FC 170817 Rain-soaked surface marred the game The match was delayed due to the activation of the LWS and saw the game kick-off at 8.45pm amid continuing drizzle. It was a fair result for both Balestier Khalsa Football Club and Warriors Football Club on a wet, muddy surface. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF T...

Yusof B Ibrahim was among the 104,407 spectators who made their presence weeks ago at the first ever International Champions Cup - Singapore (ICCSG) tournament which was held for the first time in the South East Asian region since its inception in 2013. Here is his summary of the tournament after catching the likes of Chelsea, FC Bayern Munich and FC Internazionale Milano in action in a space of five days at Kallang. 48,522 at the ICCSG opening night (Getty Images for ICC) A total of 104,407 spectators from across the South East Asian region cherished the rare opportunity to catch their favourite teams and players in live action during the just concluded International Champions Cup - Singapore (ICCSG) tournament which was held for the first time in this region. MENTOR VS STUDENT ... Besides the players who mesmerized the fans on the field, it was also a battle of wits between the Italian coaches off the field where Chelsea FC's coach Antonio Conte found himself up agai...

(P.S: If you access this site via "come.to/matchpix", please click the "Facebook" icon after you click "HERE" when you want to view the album as that will redirect you to the album, thank you) TNP League Cup - DPMM 3-0 Balestier Khalsa 110717 "Carry On With The Game ..." The meeting up of the two former winners saw the three-time winners Brunei DPMM FC defeated Balestier Khalsa Football Club three-nil. Ironically it was back in 2013 saw the Tigers won their first major silverware by beating the sultanate's only professional team on the same ground. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES TNP League Cup Final - Warriors FC 0-1 Albirex Niigata (S) 210717 Contrasting Emotions Warriors Football Club gave a good account of themselves but luck wasn't on their side when Albirex Niigata FC Singapore snatched the winner in the extra time to deny any local club to clinch any of the major titles offered by Singap...