BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

Was not thinking of penning this annual review since it was a shortened season due to the ongoing pandemic. Nonetheless, I decided to come up with a short piece, to sum up my thoughts on the extraordinary year that not only affected local football but also our daily life as well. First of all, congratulations to Albirex Niigata (Singapore) for regaining the Singapore Premier League (SGPL) title which they last won in 2018 as part of their clean sweep of local major honours. A PACKED 2021 CALENDAR - A HEADACHE FOR FAS AND CLUBS The ongoing Covid19 pandemic resulted in a number of competitions, both regional and domestic, being postponed or canceled thus it is likely to see a packed footballing calendar next year. Not only will we see Tampines Rovers, Lion City Sailors, and Geylang International taking part in continental tournaments like the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup, but the AFF Suzuki Cup is also scheduled to return next year  (though in December 2021 at the latest...

SGPL - Geylang Int'l 2-3 Balestier Khalsa 241020 Shuhei Hoshino (9) raised at the near post in this aerial attempt. Balestier Khalsa Football Club maintained their winning form while Geylang International FC continued their losing streak since the resumption of AIA Singapore Premier League after Tigers walked away with a 3-2 win at Our Tampines Hub earlier of the day. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Tanjong Pagar Utd 0-0 Hougang United 011120 HGFC's Lionel Tan found himself being sandwiched  Both Tanjong Pagar United and Hougang United concluded their AIA Singapore Premier League fixture on a scoreless ending on 1st November at the Jurong East Stadium. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Lion City Sailors 6-1 Tanjong Pagar United 131120 LCS' Shahdan Sulaiman made sure he won this header Lion City Sailors maintained their fiery form by scoring another big margin win when they anchored Tanjong Pagar United 6-1 a...

Recently, saw a few postings on social media reminiscing SAFFC's last Singapore Cup win in year 2012. While this may not be the last major honour clinched by the most successful club in Singapore professional football history (the club, renamed as Warriors FC in 2013 , captured their last S.League title in season 2014), it signified the end of a successful era led by the then head coach Richard Bok . I shall not list down what Coach Bok had achieved when he took over the head coaching role of the Warriors in 2006, as this is not the theme of this post. The fall guy from the top - Warriors FC  The theme of this post is to ask the same old question to any of those "sit out" clubs after they made known their intention to return to the fold - "ARE YOU SURE OR NOT?" This came after the Warriors started off by stated their intention to make their way back to the Singapore Premier League (SGPL) in 2021 after being asked to sit out this season to sort out their financi...

The waiting game is still ongoing for sure and we have yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Had it came to one's mind as in why this issue has been dragging on and in spite of the "deadline" on 12th October  that should see DPMM made their decision on their fate in Singapore Premier League? Because of the ongoing COVID19 pandemic, it's clear that the decision on whether DPMM's continuation in SGPL is not longer purely a footballing matter. DPMM re-contracting ceremony in January 2018 When matter like this occurred, it's obvious that external parties are now, likely, to have a bigger say on this matter like how the relevant authorities gave the go-ahead to see the SGPL resumption on 17/10. But the bigger concern is - will SGPL go ahead with the resumption on 17/10 with this DPMM uncertainty? Don't forget 25th October is scheduled to see DPMM take on Hougang United at Hougang Stadium, are they ready? Since it was already made known in the media tha...

(This entry is formulated based on the media release issued by Lion City Sailors Football Club, all media materials used in this post belong to LCSFC and LCS Football Academy , unless stated) Since launching itself as the first privatized professional football club in Singapore , Lion City Sailors (LCSFC) has been making significant efforts to project itself as the torch bearer in local football. Competing in the top tier AIA Singapore Premier League, the Sailors boasted themselves with an impressive star-studded side which is further strengthen with the recruitment of prolific Croatian striker Stipe Plazibat from Hougang United weeks ago. However, it is the youth development wing of the club bankrolled by billionaire Forrest Li making the heads turned recently. LCS Football Academy is based at Mattar Road $1 MILLION SCHOLARSHIP AND $10 MILLION TRAINING FACILITIES First on the list was the launch of the $1 million Elite Development Programme (EDP) scholarship by the club's LCS Fo...

INTRODUCTION This is a follow-up blog entry to discuss a few points that were discovered along the way during the compilation of an earlier post on the plan to send Leong Hoi Meng and Foo Hee Jong to Leeds United for a tryout in early 1950.  It is advisable to read the above-mentioned blog post ( click here ) before proceeding to the article below. THE EARLIEST PRESS REPORTS Along the way, while compiling the details of this overlooked futile attempt to send both Leong Hoi Meng and Foo Hee Jong to Leeds United for a trial in early 1950, there were some interesting discoveries that would make us ponder over a thing or two.  On 5th October 1949, Malaya Tribune reported a "professional soccer scout" from the United Kingdom talent-spotted eleven footballers, ten from Singapore with one player from Selangor.  The eleven players were: Leong Hoi Meng, Lim Tiang Chye, Wee Hoon Leong, Lim Eng Siang, Ho Hin Weng, Foo Hee Jong, Tan Chye Hee, Samad Yusoff, Ahmat Yusoff, Chia Boon Le...

We may not see the return of the International Champions Cup Singapore (ICCSG) tournament due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic but it is worthwhile to look back on some happenings that took place in the past when foreign teams came to our shores to play a few friendly matches. The arrival of those marquee names in the world football to this dot of the globe in recent years has always been a crowd-puller that not only drawn local fans from their couches from Jurong to Tampines and Woodlands to Bedok by making their way down to Kallang, the ICCSG, as it is commonly known as, has also been a lure for the regional supporters of those European clubs as well like how the Indonesian fans of Inter made their presence felt in their match against Chelsea in the 2017 edition. Advertisement for Anchor Soccer Festival' 74 ( NLB archive ) The trend of such visits by these foreign sides did not start during the 1970s when there were tournaments like the Anchor Soccer Festival in 1974 (so...

(This entry is formulated based on the media release issued by Lion City Sailors Football Club, all media materials used in this post belong to LCSFC, unless stated) Lion City Sailors Football Club (LCSFC) has announced the latest step in its commitment to enhancing Singapore’s football ecosystem, with the launch of a S$1 million scholarship programme - Elite Development Programme (EDP) , designed to nurture the careers of the country’s most talented young footballers in a media statement issued by the only privately-owned club of the Singapore Premier League (SGPL). Grooming the next generation of footballers is one of the aims of EDP KEY FEATURES OF EDP ● The S$1 million four-year EDP is the centrepiece of the LCS Football Academy, the club’s new hub for youth football development, and aims to give Singapore’s top young talent a pathway to fulfil their potential. ● LCS Football Academy will be helmed by Academy Technical Director Luka Lalic, who joins from renow...

Cable telegram was costly in the past that only keywords were used to relay the message and hoping the recipients would understand the content. Nonetheless, misunderstandings would occur at times if the recipients failed to decipher the intention of the sender like this plan, as shown in the below clipping from The Straits Times (ST) , to send two Singaporean players to Leeds United in 1950. The news that caused a great sensation among local fans ( NLB archive )   The receiver of that cable message was the legendary "Uncle" Choo Seng Quee from AJR Hooper from Leeds on the possibility of having Leong Hoi Meng and Foo Hee Jong attend a trial at Leeds United. Hooper served in the British Army during the post-war years and found himself involved in the local football scene as a referee on top of his military commitments. It was during that period he discovered a number of local players like Chinese Athletic Association's Leong and Foo who showed the potential to p...

SGPL - Tanjong Pagar Utd 1-1 Lion City Sailors 060320 Referee: "No, you listen to me!"  A gutsy performance by Tanjong Pagar United saw them marked their return to top-tier of local football with a 1-1 draw with Lion City Sailors, one of Singapore Premier League title favourites on 6/3 at Jurong East in front of 2,700 fans. The Jaguars took the lead in the 26th minute with a strike from Brazilian Yann Motta before it was cancelled out by Aussie striker Andy Pengelly in the 44th minute. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Balestier Khalsa 2-2 Hougang United 180320 Stipe Plazibat (second from left) sandwiched in between this aerial duel  Skipper Zaiful Nizam's parried the ball out of play just before full-time to ensure Balestier Khalsa hang on to another 2-2 draw at home, this time against Hougang United at Bishan Stadium.⠀ ⠀ Tigers' Sime Zuzul triggered the scoreboard in the 37th minute with a close-range effort before i...

It's regrettable that recently on two separate occasions some prominent local social media icons used the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak as a theme of their humour to mock at the expense of local football. Subsequently, the postings from these social media icons had removed following feedback from local football supporters who registered their opinions on them. The first thing that came to my mind was how much do these social media icons know about local football to use it as a subject to poke fun with? FIRST POSTING Apparently, one appeared to be zilch when the name "S League" was used in the posting using an old picture from an S.League match courtesy of one local news outlet. If the aforementioned posting was referring to the local professional football league, the person may not be aware that the league had rebranded and inaugurated as "Singapore Premier League" (SGPL) in 2018 by President Halimah Yacob at the National Stadium (two seasons already). ...

(This entry is formulated by the media release issued by Tanjong Pagar United Football Club ) The logo of TPUFC ( credit ) Having stabilized the club's finances during their sit-out period with measures such as prudent budgeting which allowed them to reduce their debts and accrue savings that saw them received the nod to be back at the highest echelon of Singapore's football pyramid, staying financially viable remains one of the utmost priorities as Tanjong Pagar United is set to embark their unfinished journey they left behind in 2015. In a media statement released to the media a day prior to their first Singapore Premier League (SGPL) match against Lion City Sailors at Jurong East Stadium, club chairman Raymond Tang added another challenge of the Jaguars is to stay competitive in the nine-team league. Said Tang:“Our squad is a blend of experience and youth. We did not fill our team with plenty of star names but our players are humble, hungry and hardworking..., now ...