NOT WANTED ... (Some SPL Clubs Moving Out)

I don't feel sorry or have kind words to say about the recent ground-sharing move that will see only four (local) venues being used for the upcoming Singapore Premier League (SPL) season.

Why should I or rather we feel sorry to see clubs uprooted from their "roots" to find themselves sharing grounds with their contemporaries in a struggling league system plagued with so many woes that don't seem to have any remedy formula to cure them all?

Toa Payoh Stadium will not be used in the 2019 SGPL season

When our own professional football league was launched in 1996, one of the key emphases was community outreach by having clubs based strategically around the island to see themselves fused into the vicinities they were based.

But two decades down the road since it started, it seems to me that most clubs are still aliens to where they are based and we hardly see the bonding between the clubs and residents (not fans) like how I asked a co-worker of mine if he has that sense of belonging with the SPL team he supposed to affiliate with, he said "NO".

These media seats were installed when the S.League was introduced in 1996

To reiterate a point I was quoted in this article in the past, just walk around any of those housing estates that housed an SPL team, do we see any fixture or something tangible to mark the presence of it? Hardly any, isn't it?

Just talk to anyone random in any of those communities, are they aware of their "home" team playing at their neighbourhood stadiums?

Let's face it, hardly anyone is aware of or even knows the answer.

These VIP seats became a permanent fixture at Toa Payoh Stadium  

Should they know who their "home" team represents their community, we would have seen a major outpour of disapproval over the proposal initiated by Sport SG, the landlord of the three of the grounds (Our Tampines Hub is owned by People's Association) to be used.

Should residents (not fans) have developed a strong bond with their "local" teams over the past ten to twenty years, we would have seen home matches packed with partisan supporters over the years but it is never the case after the early boom.

Will this scoreboard be removed from Toa Payoh Stadium?

I agree and acknowledge efforts made continuously over the years to bridge the gap between the clubs and community but when those efforts are not reflected in the number of headcount at the stands, it is pointless to argue any case over the table.

It would be a lie to say "It doesn't matter to us for not having big crowds coming to our games" but to admit the failure to sustain a bond between a local football club and their supposedly fanbase all this while.