BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

Hasnim Haron in action for Singapore (as credited) With the ball at his feet near the corner flag, the conventional move would have been for Hasnim Haron to pass it to a teammate in a better position to deliver a cross into the box. Nonetheless, the nippy Singapore winger had other ideas. He slightly rolled the ball backwards with the sole of his boot before flicking it up and whacking it into the penalty area during a Liga Semi-Pro (the Malaysian League) match at the old National Stadium. Such unorthodox trickery sent the thousands at Kallang into a state of frenzy. I will never forget the moment I saw that play on a delayed telecast back in 1990. The start of the last decade of the 20th century marked the rise to prominence of a man touted to fill the void vacated by both Fandi Ahmad and V. Sundram moorthy. (L-R) Hasnim and V Sundram moorthy in 1987 ( source ) With the exodus of the aforementioned duo overseas in the 1980s, the island republic was in desperate need of a new football...

"While Tampines Rovers have admitted their mistake, the Fourth Official and the MC (Match Commissioner) must share the blame. This oversight was entirely preventable had they intervened in time," shared a former Match Commissioner during a recent exchange, days after the 2025/26 Singapore Cup final between Lion City Sailors (LCS) and BG Tampines Rovers . "Fourth Official" making substitution during a match ( as credited ) The aforementioned match was won 2-0 by LCS after extra time, with goals from Hami Syahin and Anderson Lopes. However, the result was subsequently overturned after it was confirmed the Stags had committed the following breaches : A COSTLY SUBSTITUTION • Breach of Article 19.2 (Minimum Local Player Requirement): The club failed to maintain the mandatory minimum of four Singaporean players on the pitch at all times. This occurred in the 81st minute of the match when Joel Chew (a Singaporean player) was substituted for Yuki Kobayashi (a Japanese nati...

It was a damp squib of an affair as both Lion City Sailors (LCS) and BG Tampines Rovers failed to deliver a match worthy of that of a Singapore Cup Final. The overcautious approach by two of the biggest clubs in local football resulted in an ordeal that the fans simply had to endure. I still cannot believe this was the kind of football we saw at the Jalan Besar Stadium earlier (10/1). LCS' Kyoga Nakamura in front of the Tampines' fans who used to adore him  Everything was in place for the match everyone had been looking forward to (i.e.: the recruitment of former Stags' cult figure Kyoga Nakamura to LCS was enough to hype up the match), yet the quality shown was poor. The lack of dynamism in the final third at both ends made it a pain to watch. Dragging the match into extra time felt unnecessary; it could have been avoided if both the Sailors and the Stags had been more aggressive in attack. If this is the standard for our local 'Heavyweight' clashes, what needs t...

 Community Shield - Lion City Sailors 1-4 BG Tampines Rovers 160825 BG Tampines Rovers claimed the first trophy of 2025/6 season BG Tampines Rovers secured a 4-1 victory over Lion City Sailors at the Jurong East Stadium to lift the Community Shield - the traditional curtain-raiser to the Singapore Premier League. Coach Akbar Nawas made a triumphant return to local football by guiding the Stags to their sixth Community Shield. CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES ➤  Community Shield - Lion City Sailors 1-4 BG Tampines Rovers #ACLTwo - Lion City Sailors 4-2 Selangor FC 011025 The Selangor players having a word with the referee. The match was kicked off at 6pm, before the activation of the LWS halted the play. The game resumed following the deactivation of the LWS. CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES ➤  #ACLTwo - Lion City Sailors 4-2 Selangor FC #ACLTwo - BG Tampines Rovers 2-1 BG Pathum United 021025 BG Tampines Rovers caused an upset by beating BG Pathum United in this ACL2 fixture The Stag...

Following the recent announcement by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) on 9th December, Jalan Besar Stadium (JBS) will become the home ground for both Lion City Sailors (LCS) and Young Lions , featuring a newly-installed natural grass turf. Bishan Stadium (file picture) It is also confirmed that Bishan Stadium (above) will serve as the home venue for the other Singapore Premier League (SPL) clubs, namely Balestier Khalsa and Hougang United, for the remainder of the ongoing 2025/2026 SPL season. "BISHAN - HOME OF TIGERS AND CHEETAHS TILL END OF SEASON": FAS In an email reply to this platform, the FAS spokesperson said: "Bishan Stadium will host the home matches of Hougang United and Balestier Khalsa for the remainder of the 2025/2026 season from January 2026." FUTURE OF HOUGANG STADIUM AND PRSC When asked whether future SPL matches would be held at Hougang Stadium (slated to reopen in mid 2026) or the upcoming 5,000-seater stadium at the Punggol Regional S...

I will not comment on whether Gavin Lee (pictured right) should be given the permanent role as Singapore national team head coach after he successfully guided the Lions to their first AFC Asian Cup qualification on merit on an interim basis. Gavin Lee (Pictured right) Although many cite the argument that he is "a local and knows the system well" as the main reason he should be appointed, I hope this consensus is not merely a result of the ongoing state of euphoria following that historical feat. The irony is, wasn't that a similar argument cited in 2016 when former Singapore striker V. Sundram moorthy took over from German Bernd Stange as the tactician of the four-time ASEAN champions? Despite rising through the coaching ranks since his retirement as a player with Jurong FC in the early 2000s - having acquired enough pedigree by taking charge of S.League clubs like Young Lions and Tampines Rovers before landing in the hot seat - what happened in the end ? At the same tim...

Some time ago, I received some images of a few black-and-white photographs from a member of the family of the late Mr Foo Hee Jong, a defender who represented Singapore during the 1950s. The 1950 MCFA tour contingent arrival at Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong (as credited) One of them was a group photo (above) taken at the Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong. Based on some information gathered, it is likely that the photo had been taken in mid-January 1950, and the contingent was the MCFA (Malayan Chinese Football Association) Sino-Malay team with Mr Foo being one of the members. THE RETURN OF THE HO HO CUP One of the objectives of the tour was to resume the Chinese Interport Football Competition, popularly known as the "Ho Ho Cup" (for sponsorship reasons) - a match that was contested by ethnic Chinese teams representing both Hong Kong and Malaya that traced its roots back to 1928. The MCFA contingent walking on the tarmac of Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong (as credited) In the middle of...

When ground sharing among Singapore Premier League (SPL) clubs started in 2019, there were mixed reactions from the fraternity. To some fans, the uprooting of their favourite clubs from their allocated home ground was like “losing the sense of identity.” Jurong East - one of the "shared stadiums" (file) After all, when professional football was introduced in 1996, one of the key emphases was community outreach. Clubs were strategically located around the island so that they could embed themselves into the neighbourhoods they represented. LOSS OF COMMUNITY ROOTS AND FAN IDENTITY Take the case of Hougang United. They have been playing their home games at Jalan Besar Stadium (JBS) in recent years after moving out of Hougang Stadium when they were still known as Sengkang Punggol. To this day, the HOOLs, the supporters’ group of the Cheetahs, still identify “Gate 3” as their meeting point. This was the spot near Gate 3 of Hougang Stadium where they congregated directly behind the...

For a large part of the first half, Singapore was literally swimming against the tide with the Indians dominating much of the possession. More spaces needed to be created to move the ball forward, and we have to be reminded that this is not a rugby match! Song's double against India saved the campaign (file snap) Song Ui-young's (file pictured) equaliser before the interval put the much-needed confidence back into the Lions. The Lions midfield was struggling to hold up the home team, who were storming through the middle of the park. It was a question of whether Singapore could hang on to the lead after Song doubled his tally in the 58th minute. Simply because too much space was given to India, which allowed them the flexibility to plan their movements to cocoon the visitors at their own half. It wasn't easy when the Lions literally threw their bodies towards the end of the game to salvage this important 2-1 win over India, keeping the AFC Asian Cup qualifying campaign alive...

Facing the "lobang" at Kallang I still have that distraught feeling after the blunder that allowed India to level the game at the closing stages of it. We did not utilise the numerical advantage since the early period of the second half. The back pass that led to the Indian equaliser was secondary when Lions were guilty of not being more aggressive in the final third. It was either we intended to hold the ball long enough to frustrate the Indian or we just couldn't find our way to break them down at their back. Did the substitution in the second half played a part when some questioned the effectiveness of it? I don't know? I am just a photographer. ℹ️ For those unbeknownst, the abovementioned thoughts were from the AFC Asian Cup qualifying match between Singapore and India played on 9th October 2025 that ended in one-all draw. - 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎'𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍 -

Just realised snapping at games is not merely pressing the shutter only (as credited) During one of my recent shooting assignments, I stumbled upon a few harmless questions asked by my friend who was next to me. Those questions circled around the tournament regulations, schedules, etc., which, frankly speaking, I usually don't pay much attention to unless they are deemed necessary, and I would glance through them before coming to the ground. But what happened on that occasion actually had me thinking if I had not been that responsible when I carried out my assignments (even though it has always been for my platform all these while)? In a sense, shouldn't I be kept abreast of those essential details of the event I am covering? Apparently, this friend of mine was mistaken in thinking the match we were shooting was a "knockout" match that would proceed to extra time when it ended in a tie, yet it wasn't the case when it was a "group stage" match, and we wou...

I first came to know the existence of the demolished Anson Road Stadium after I read a line from the veteran journalist Godfrey Robert's book "The Malaysia Cup" published back in 1990. USED TO THINK JBS WAS THE OLDEST Before that, it was always in my opinion that Jalan Besar Stadium was the oldest football stadium in Singapore (even though the old arena used to function as a rugby and hockey venue as well) due to its aged facade, which I noticed when I first visited the ground back in the early 1990s, before the redevelopment program began in December 1999. Big turnouts like this were common at Anson Road Stadium (credit: NLB archive ) Field diagram for listeners tuned in for radio commentary in the old days (credit: NLB archive ).   Recently, when I chanced upon an online article that provides a scribe on the arena, it piqued my interest to find out where exactly this stadium was located in the Tanjong Pagar district. EXHIBITION VENUE TURNED INTO STADIUM Acc...