How A Dead Rubber Turned Into A Farce In 1977?

• The 1977 NFL Division One match between Tampines Rovers SC** and Toa Payoh United at Kallang was a truly bizarre affair, with an amazing scoreline (** see footnote at the end of this post)

• I first learned of this match when I chanced upon it in a copy of "Singapore Soccer" (pictured above) at the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library, National Library Board Headquarters which prompted me to find out more.

It was already declared a dead rubber before the ball was kicked based on these words that appeared in an article by "Singapore Soccer" monthly (as pictured above).

"Nothing was at stake. Geylang International had won the title and even if runners up Toa Payoh (United) put in a 100 goals against Tampines Rovers would not have made any difference to their position in any way." wrote the discontinued monthly which was started in 1975.

With the eye-catching title "Let Live and LEAVE" positioned in the middle of the article, the words "SOCCER FIASCO" were superimposed on an image of a football at the top of the page, flanked by images of Tampines Rovers SC's Quah Kim Song on the left and Zainal Abidin (some reports spelt as Abideen) of Toa Payoh United on the right. 

The article published in the said monthly's September 1977 edition described some of the most bizarre scenes ever witnessed during a top-tier local football match.

The match was played at the old National Stadium 

While the game, played at the old National Stadium, did not end up having Toa Payoh United scoring 100 goals, as suggested; the final score of this National Football League (NFL) Division One fixture was twelve-eight (yes, your eyes didn't play a trick on you) in favour of Tampines Rovers SC.

By the end of the first half, Tampines were leading 4-0 for having fielded a much stronger side, Toa Payoh, on the other hand, named a squad filled with mainly reserves.

BIZARRE OCCURRENCES 

Some of the things noted by "Singapore Soccer" included the absence of ball boys, both teams did not take the "traditional bow" to acknowledge the presence of the 800-odd fans scattered around the 65,000-seated arena, etc.

However, those mentioned looked insignificant when compared to one of the 8 goals scored by Tampines' and national team striker Ho Kwan Hock (spelt as Ho Kwang Hock in subsequent press reports on this match).

"When the second half started I couldn't believe my eyes. Ho Kwan Hock literally walked through eight men to put the ball into the Toa Payoh net. Beating three, or four or even five men in a row, the fans would have bought. But eight, and not one Toa Payoh player offered resistance."

This story triggered my curiosity (as credited)

The proceeding paragraph detailed several astonishing observations when it mentioned Ho and Zainal took "turns to put the ball in each other's net with the rest of the players feinting and laughing and joking" drawing amusement from club officials of both sides on the touchline as well.

Referee Lee Kok Leong summoned the skippers of both teams, Quah and Zainal, who were both key national players, twice during the match because he was dissatisfied with their team's behaviour.

A move that was confirmed by an eyewitness at the game who wrote in to Singapore Soccer to express his frustrations for what he saw.

"I saw the referee call the two captains, Quah Kim Song and Zainal Abideen to him and warn them about the way their teams were playing. But they paid no attention to the referees (sic) warning. For a second time the players were called up and given warnings and yet the two clubs continued to let each other score at will. I think it was very disgraceful." wrote the reader named Sandran John Coshey.

Coshey did not mince his words in his parting paragraph when he typed "To the players and officials of Tampines Rovers and Toa Payoh United my friends and I say SHAME in capital letters. We wasted our money watching clowns."

AWARDS WITHHELD PENDING INVESTIGATION 

Those sentiments were seemingly echoed in this headline by The Straits Times - "NIGHT OF SHAME FOR SINGAPORE SOCCER" on the following day (13th August) in their summary of the match.

Filed by the late Joe Dorai for the broadsheet, the opening paragraph wrote "Certain officials should hang their heads in shame ..."

As the result of this dead rubber, the article mentioned Ho was set to collect the "Top Scorer" award at the "Soccer Ball" on the same evening for taking his tally to 27 goals (while "Singapore Soccer" indicated 26, as shown in the image below) after leapfrogging his Lions colleague Dollah Kassim's effort of 23 goals.

"Top Scorers" shown on "Singapore Soccer" September 1977 edition

However, the accolade was withheld, alongside the $1,000 prize money that was to be awarded to Toa Payoh United as NFL Division One runners-up, following an emergency meeting held by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Council before the Soccer Ball at the Shangri-La Hotel (the venue of the event) pending an investigation into the match.

The decision came after reports from referee Lee and Chionh Chai Chun, the tournament committee secretary of FAS who was at the game, were heard during the meeting.

"NATIONAL PRIORITY": TOA PAYOH

Days later, Toa Payoh United president Ivan Ng defended his club's actions in the fiasco and denied any "irregularities" involved via a statement issued to the media.

In separate reports carried by both ST and New Nation (NN), Ng cited "national priority" as the main excuse behind his team's actions, given that some of the club's players were to be involved in the Singapore Malays' upcoming Sultan's Gold Cup semi-final match against Trengganu (now spelt as Terengganu) a few days later.

Justifying that match as a reason, it was revealed that an appeal was made to the Tampines officials at the break to request that they "must not tackle as hard as they did in the first half" since the match was an inconsequential one.

REACTIONS 

The immediate reactions to the explanations by Ng did not sit well with many, a letter to NN from a reader named "Justice Pao" opined the statement prepared by Toa Payoh was "a hastily prepared 'load of rubbish.'", this letter came a week after NN's editorial lauded the FAS for taking the necessary steps to investigate the match for any irregularities.

In the mentioned editorial, the newspaper also questioned the commitments of both Tampines and Toa Payoh when it asked "Is it proper to turn a premier league match into a laughing matter? Is 'fun football' fair to the 1000-odd paying spectators who came to watch, academic though the game was?"

"Even if the rules of the game were not broken, the players and officials have clearly violated the spirit of sportsmanship. It was true that nothing was at stake for both sides, but the prestige of the national league was. And that is not something to be taken lightly." concluded the afternoon daily whose operation was taken over by The Singapore Monitor in a revamp back in 1982.

This 1977 NFL Division One table is the only one available, as credited

Subsequently, the match was declared "a nullity," and the result was expunged from the records, with the 'Top Scorer' award going to Geylang International's Dollah Kassim, as decreed by an extraordinary FAS Council meeting held on 27 August at its Jalan Besar headquarters.

The decree was criticised by George Pasqual, the president of Tampines Rovers SC, with the club accused the FAS of practising double standards in handling the entire saga and questioning the game's local governing body's interpretation of the word "disrepute".

GAB ORDER AND CHARGED 

Before long, both Tampines and Toa Payoh were instructed by the FAS to refrain from making any further public statements until the Disciplinary Committee (DC) concluded their investigations.

Upon the conclusion of the DC's findings, recommendations were made, and a new committee was formed at that juncture to prefer charges against officials and clubs for bringing the game into disrepute, as reported by ST.

BOTH CLUBS FINED $1,000

Finally, the broadsheet reported in its 4th November edition that club officials Johnny Tan of Toa Payoh United and Ong Ah Keng of Tampines Rovers SC were formally charged with 'arranging' the NFL Division One match between their clubs, which were also charged with bringing the match into disrepute due to the conduct of their players and officials during the fixture.

The final verdict was delivered on 30th December, ruling that Tampines Rovers SC and Toa Payoh United were fined $1,000 each, with both Tan and Ong 'given a severe reprimand' for their roles in the saga, as reported by The Straits Times the next day.

"NO EVIDENCE OF ULTERIOR MOTIVE": N GANESAN

The same article in the daily also published the press statement that included comments from the late Mr N Ganesan, the then FAS chairman, on the fiasco.

"We would like to make it public that whilst there was evidence indicative that the match was not played in the true spirit, there was, however, no evidence of ulterior motive or intention to fix." said the lawyer who singlehandedly ignited the "Kallang Roar" fanaticism in the mid-1970s.

Mr N Ganesan (chaired by players) was the then FAS chairman (as credited)

The same statement also stated the DC was "unable to obtain conclusive evidence that the top scorer award was also deliberately manipulated" and added, "The officials of the clubs appeared before the Disciplinary Committee and had expressed their sincere regrets and apologies for having lost control of the match."

The final outcome brought the curtain down on this bizarre local top-tier football match of 1977 - one of the most storied ones in local football history. 

The match, coincidentally held on 12th August, ended with a 12-8 scoreline, in case you are not aware.

** Tampines Rovers SC refers to Tampines Rovers Sports Club and should not be confused with the Singapore Premier League club Tampines Rovers Football Club, as explained in a previous blog post.

(P.S 1: Some images in this entry were reproduced from sources, as credited, should anyone feel it's inappropriate to have any of the media shown, please kindly email me as soon as possible and I will remove them upon request.)

(P.S 2: I stand to be corrected should there be any mistake in this entry, please feel free to email me if there is, thanks)

(P.S 3: The blog post is based on publicly available sources, primarily from Newspaper SG and "Singapore Soccer" September 1977 edition. There is no attempt to speculate on or interpret the motives of any individuals or organisations involved. The aim is to present the findings matter-of-factly.)