Are Lion City Sailors Making the SPL a "One-Horse Race"?

The 2024/2025 Singapore Premier League (SPL) finally came to an end with the retention of the Singapore Cup by newly-minted SPL champions Lion City Sailors (LCS) on the last day of May.

Dutchman Bart Ramselaar netted the only goal in the final of the local premier knockout competition to see the Republic's sole privatised club cap off their memorable campaign in emphatic fashion over their closest rivals, Tampines Rovers, at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

LCS first XI in ACLTwo Final at Bishan Stadium

The following day saw LCS walking away with a few accolades at the SPL Awards Night with Aleksandar Ranković named "Coach of the Year".

A DOMINANT SEASON CAPPED OFF IN STYLE

It was an impressive roll of honour for the club that took over the operations of Home United and revamped to its present form in 2020, and has since set a few benchmarks, including the $10 million training facilities at Mattar Road that other SPL clubs can only dream of.

So here comes the question – are the muscles on and off the field of LCS going to turn the SPL into a one-horse race?

COMPARISONS TO PAST DOMINANCE

While the team captured the hearts of the nation back in May, when they finished runners-up in the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Champions League Two Final, the club has yet to enjoy a consecutive league title-winning streak like Geylang International did in the early 1990s who monopolised the semi-professional FAS Premier League from 1988 to 1993.

LCS' Aleksandar Ranković named "Coach of the Year"

However, there are traits suggesting that things are in progress if the discrepancy between LCS and the rest of the pack keeps widening, as we have seen in the just-concluded league season.

GAP WIDENING ON THE FIELD

It was not uncommon to see the Sailors chalking up big-margin wins occasionally, like 7-1 and 6-0 against Albirex Niigata (Singapore) twice at home in last June and mid-January respectively, and 8-0 and 6-0 against Young Lions during the unusually long season that lasted more than a calendar year, because of the essential transition phase to align with the AFC Club Competitions’ calendar, as spelt out in the SPL media release on 12 April 2024 that detailed changes impacting the league format.

FINANCIAL MUSCLE BEHIND THE SCENES

Many opined that the deep pockets of Sea Limited, owned by billionaire Forrest Li, who was elected unopposed as the president of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) in April, are the reason for such dominance enjoyed by LCS.

LCS' training facilities at Mattar Road

Probably true to a certain extent, although the biggest concern right now is how to make the league a competitive one to avoid it becoming a one-horse race.

MAINTAINING COMPETITIVE BALANCE

After all, no one will find it attractive to see a team thrashing their opponents week in, week out when the priority now is to see the SPL become a more robust tournament.

Having a robust tournament plays a key role in grooming players to prepare them for a more intense and demanding environment, as required at the international level. 

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE NEXT SEASON

With the new season merely weeks away, time should not be wasted, and work should already have started right after the Awards Night.

First on that list should be the confirmation of the number of teams to be featured in the 2025/2026 SPL season, as soon as possible.

Having said all these, onus is still on everyone to play their part to see fruition to it.

If not, it is pointless and a waste of time to keep having those grandstanding proposals one after another to revitalise the "dead horse".

📊 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐲 ➡️ 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬.