BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

Why are we repeating? I have to be brutally honest on this - I really see no point in coming up with this year's "Annual Review" when most of the stuff that I going to talk about are mere repetitions all along. YOUNG LIONS Seems like much of what happened in the past twelve months stayed largely status quo with the Young Lions remaining bottom at the Singapore Premier League (SPL) table for another year. To make things worse when the bulk of the Young Lions that formed the SEA (South East Asian) Games squad got hammered 7-0 by arch-rivals Malaysia  (highlights below from Mediacorp Youtube channel ), it triggered a massive public outrage on how things went bad to worse. The above-mentioned coupled with that disastrous AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup outing months earlier did little help but more damage to the beleaguered sport which used to be a focal point of the nation in the long-gone past. CONVENIENCE SOURCE FOR MEME Instead, local football relegated itself to be a sour

Good day to all, It is the time of the year again when I will share my annual review. For this time round, I will just focus on the following topics, as listed following in the BOLD text:- Privatisation , Young Lions, and Balestier Khalsa . PRIVATISATION  One of the things I realised is with the move to privatise the Singapore Premier League in the progress, I certainly hope the decision-makers do not rush to complete the process. The public must be informed of the "privatisation" progress After all, we have seen the example of how the S.League was established in which the pioneering eight clubs were not given ample time to lay a strong foundation on and off the field, and some eventually paid the price for it. The Singapore Premier League is best to be seen as a cosmetic move to rebrand the so-called professional football league whose shortcomings are still obvious. This is why the process of privatisation should be placed on a gradual and consistent basis to make sure &quo

Almost every day when I woke up, I always asked myself what can BoLASEPaKO.com do to help Singapore football? Honestly speaking, I didn't see myself asking that question when I set up my first version of the platform using a free website provider back in December 1996.  The special "Juli Perak" logo will complete its mission soon After all, the nucleus of this platform is to allow me to share my views on local football after I was, all of a sudden, repeatedly denied from posting my views on an online forum. Furthermore, the updating of the site was done from a public terminal, which was subjected to availability, and maintaining its consistency was a challenge, as compared to these days when it can be done easily on the move. I would say the breakthrough came in October 2005 when I decided to switch to the present format by using the online blogging tool for archival purposes instead of continuing of utilizing the now-defunct online website provider. Thus, it is most unfo

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 update p

This year's review will be on the blog itself. If we are going to talk about the state of the local game for the past twelve months, it would be another session of flogging the dead horse. EVOLUTION - NECESSARY PROCESS Evolution is a necessary process for most of us and this platform is no different in order to stay relevant. Although I would say I took a route that evolved this platform into something not conventional and some may not even find it relevant at all. Since last year, this platform decided to place more focus on something it had never done before when the compilation of historical accounts of local football is being prioritized. Sunday Nation headlines on 13th March 1977 ( NLB archive ) The process of combing through the archives of the online newspaper has been a rewarding experience in that it is an eye-opener to realize how active the scene was in the long-gone era. Media coverage by the press was abundant with newspapers like The Straits Times, Malay

Am I glad the season is over! It must be one of the most dreadful seasons since my involvement when I breathed a sigh of relief after Albirex Niigata (Singapore) was finally awarded the trophy  that accoladed them as the inaugural champions of the revamped professional league aka Great Eastern-Hyundai Singapore Premier League (SGPL), despite the confirmation months earlier after their draw against Balestier Khalsa at Toa Payoh to close the 2018 season. Albirex Niigata (Singapore) established a dynasty in local football In an attempt to distance itself from the S.League which was associated with much of the flaws of the old regime, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) announced the rebranding of the Republic's only professional sporting league as SGPL in a glittering setting at the Singapore Sports Hub (SSH) amid much skepticism from the ground . SUPERFICIAL CHANGES? Perhaps the only difference between the SGPL and the S.League is the change in the name and the

To be honest, when "Team LKT" and their allies were sworn in as the new Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Council - the highest decision-making organ of the game's local governing body, this blogger wondered if those voting delegates ever regretted their decisions after witnessed what was unfolded subsequently following that controversial landmark election? HISTORICAL BAGGAGE ... Banking on the experiences of those who served in the past councils and despite the "historical baggage" embedded in them, the team headed by lawyer Lim Kia Tong, who convinced some of their fiercest critics to join their camp , crushed their challengers - "FAS Game Changers" convincingly to take office. Can Lim Kia Tong and his council bring the faith back to Singapore Football? However, little time was given to these newly-elected office bearers to acclimatize their roles, the new Council soon realised it is going to be a tough battle to pull the beleaguered sp

Years of involvement made me learn to adopt a precautionary stance on almost everything that came along as a way to buffer myself from disappointment. Even though I stick to that belief, it's no difference again when we are drawing close to another year with things ending sour again and no improvement to the scene when we thought it would at the start. Some painted a picture of optimism that our own S.League would gain from Lions XII's acrimonious exit from the Malaysian league with a large part of their playing staff, long perceived to be the best in the country, being snapped by various clubs in the beleaguered setup. Jermaine Pennant graced the league not long ago Furthermore, setting things into the groove saw big spending Tampines Rovers, under new chairman Krishna Ramachandra, acquired the biggest name in the league history by recruiting former Liverpool and Arsenal winger Jermaine Pennant , inked a partnership with Brazilian legend Ronaldinho to set