BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

If not, we would not have seen what was claimed by many as the best-ever national team that played and won the Malaysia Cup in 1977.  I chanced upon the National Library Newspaper archive site one fine day, and out of curiosity, I decided to search through the site to see if I can find some of the clippings of the heydays of Singapore back in the 1970s. The result was these two clippings... 'Fans petition' in 1976 ( NLB archive ) It was interesting to note back on 16th December 1976, The Straits Times (ST) reported a fans' petition was organized to ask the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) to replace "Uncle" Choo Seng Quee, arguably the best coach we ever had, with Technical Advisor Englishman Trevor Hartley as the national team coach.  "POOR RAPPORT", "OUT-MODED" CLAIMED FANS These disgruntled fans claimed the coaching methods of Choo were "out-moded" and felt there was a "poor rapport" between him and several player

🙏 Thanks for joining in the FB live streaming on 18th February . 🔗 When we talk about Singapore Football , we can't run away without mentioning Malaysia Cup because of the long association with it. "The Malaysia Cup" was published in 1991 🏆 After all, Singapore was the first winner of this competition in 1921 and the team with the second-highest winning percentage in this tournament. 📖 And the same time, I shared some rare photos and old publications like a book on Malaysia Cup authored by Mr Godfrey Robert , a few copies of "Singapore Soccer", etc. 👴 Based on the June 1976 edition of "Singapore Soccer" monthly, I am confident to say legendary coach "Uncle" Choo Seng Quee would rather win the Pre-World Cup qualifier final against Hong Kong than win the Malaysia Cup in 1977. A copy of "Singapore Soccer" Monthly 🏢 Copies of "Singapore Soccer" monthly and book authored by Mr Robert can be found at National Library

People of my generation might have heard of him but were too young to realize who he was when he was playing. Let alone those millennials or Generation Z who might think "Mat Noh" is just a random name of someone around them. It is something we cannot pinpoint at anyone if many young people these days have not heard the names of Mat Noh and his contemporaries who wowed this island republic in the 1970s. The 1977 Singapore National Team is still revered by many to this day ** Simply because many former players have stayed out of the media limelight after they hung up their boots that it is no surprise, some might not realize who are they if they happened to stand in front or next to a former national player. SAD THAT ONLY REALIZED WHO THEY WERE WHEN THEY GONE It is a sad thing that whenever former star players like Mat Noh pass on, we only get to read articles in the newspapers and discussions on social media reminiscing the achievements they had in their heydays, other than

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 Leon

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

Instead of clamouring for those good old days, I always believe one shall never dwell on things that were already long gone. Yet, the irony is we still need those past glories to inspire the newer generations to push the boundaries to do better than their predecessors. Mat Noh embraced Uncle Choo after beat Malaysia 1-0 (New Nation) PRE-WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS (ASIA ZONE GROUP ONE) IN SINGAPORE It was a time when Singapore, the host, were ranked outsiders in this tournament which featured regional powerhouses like Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia as well. How would one expect the Lions to do well against a technically superior Malaysia team who still boasted the likes of “Spiderman” R Arumugam, “Towkay” Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh, Wong Choon Wah, James Wong, etc. in the absence of the legendary Mokhtar Dahari who was injured? Yet a hotly-disputed penalty which was converted by Mat Noh (who was tasked by coach "Uncle" Choo Seng Quee to train on penal

It is not as if we want to dig up the past or flog a dead horse but having witnessed what happened for the past few weeks, anyone will feel that fist-clenching bitterness of the sorry state of Singapore football. Prior to the landmark election that took place last Saturday and saw Lim Kia Tong's slate and their aligned candidates voted into the 15-member Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Council , the main organ of the local game governing body, the whole fraternity was rocked by the raids conducted by the police on offices of FAS, Tiong Bahru FC, Hougang United, etc. Lawyer Lim Kia Tong is the first elected FAS supremo since 1965 The shocking development of events that unfolded since the night before Good Friday cast a shadow on last Saturday’s poll with calls to postpone it  after defeated presidential candidate Bill Ng, former FAS president Zainudin Nordin, and FAS General Secretary Winston Lee were interviewed and later released on bail  by authorities following t