BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

I hope people understand where I am coming from when I say the late N Ganesan , who single-handedly triggered the football fever in the 1970s, was a lawyer when he took over the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) chairmanship from RBI Pates in 1976 after serving as the latter's deputy. N Ganesan (in a white suit) holding the Malaysia Cup ** The only thing that was highlighted was Ganesan played for Singapore Indians in a 1982 Straits Times article which paid a tribute to the brave man to resuscitate the local game during his term in office as FAS chairman (as what it was called then). The reason I stressed this is that it was recently suggested that the top persons in the FA should be people who have played the game at high levels. As the Ganesan example shows, it is not necessarily the case while not discounting the fact there are former players who excelled as able administrators like legendary "Pop" Lim Yong Liang did. Although former players usually have a c...

With the privatisation of the Singapore Premier League (SPL) on the card: - 1) NO PROMOTION/RELEGATION? Would it mean the plan to see promotion/relegation between SPL and the Singapore Football League (SFL) will never take place, as many hope for ?   SPL be more competitive with the privatisation? Since the SPL, as understood by Straits Times, will be under the purview of Unleash The Roar! (UTR) project instead. Unless there are some arrangements to work out with UTR, SFL will remain exclusively a competition under the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) who will no longer be running the SPL. 2) ASSESSMENT OF CLUBS FOR PRIVATISATION? Like any new management taking over, will there be an inventory check or audit process to assess the health of each SPL club to see if they are going to meet the criteria set by the new management body if any? The late N Ganesan made many brave decisions to improve things in the 1970s Sometimes, plugs need to be pulled off the lifeline to avoid...

An IG poll was conducted to see how many noticed this poster There is some marketing buzz going on for the upcoming AFF Suzuki Cup though I am not sure how many noticed this banner while strolling along this busy walkway of Bishan MRT station? Not that far away from this station is Bishan Stadium - the venue for most of the Group B matches. One thing to take note of is the stadium is installed with a new natural grass surface (picture below) which I had a look at recently from the nearby Bishan Sports Hall. Being a surface that was only laid not that long ago, not sure if it is able to withstand the robustness of the team like the Vietnamese who are known for their pace. (maybe someone with some horticultural knowledge can answer that)? Will Vietnam thrive on this new surface? In the meantime, the delay in the announcement of the ticketing and broadcasting details caused some anxieties among the local fans during the run-up to the biennial showpiece. Yet when the ticketing details we...

The name is fixed? (created using meme generator ) After months of anticipation, we are given some updates on the Unleash The Roar! (UTR!) project days ago. When I first read about it, my main concern would be the sustainability of those ten School Football Academies (SFAs) schools (ie: resources like financial, manpower, etc.) which are the cornerstones of the update. Are we getting full support from the Ministry of Education (MOE) on the setting up of these SFA schools? Let's hope so, especially it seems to me past blueprints like "Goal 2010" did not have the backing of the educators. Besides MOE who must wholeheartedly support the "SFA" concept, I think to convince the parents of this UTR! is a viable project is equally important too. Parentage support is important to UTR! While it seems that the UTR! received a booster with Borussia Dortmund (BvB) and LaLiga coming on board as strategic partners , there are concerns of the roles to be played by them wh...

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...

39th FAS Annual Congress (picture credit: FAS) The following are some of the key points mentioned in the 39th Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Annual Congress . A) From the 2022 Singapore Premier League (SPL) season onwards, the fielding of one Under-23 (U23) player instead of three in the starting lineup. B) No limit on the number of U23 players registered in each SPL squad. C) Young elite leagues to resume in the 2022 season (subject to prevailing circumstances). D) FAS will "put in a strong and determined bid to host" AFF Suzuki Cup . I thought the biggest takeaways would be points (A) and (C) , especially for the former that head coaches would not find themselves in a constrained situation and give more flexibility to field their ideal XI. The move to revive the youth elite leagues is a good one and hopefully, we can see a conduit in place to allow proper progression than having a fast-tracking mode that saw more teenage players in a top-tier league in this s...

The Google Search from 15/8 to 21/8/21 Good day to all, A random search on Google Trends to test the three names that generate some buzz in the otherwise tepid scene over the last week. As we noticed "K Kannan" was the first to peak after the much-publicized bid to have his ban lift by FAS . Zaiful Nizam was axed by the Tigers Follow that was the shock termination of Zaiful Nizam's contract by Balestier Khalsa after the internal disciplinary inquiry which resulted in a spike in his name is searched online. To round things up on a positive note was the naturalization of South Korean-born Song Ui-young as a Singapore citizen . Till then, stay safe and healthy and don't gather in numbers ❌ Thank you for your support. - 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎'𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍 -

In a poll conducted on this platform's IG Story months ago, I asked if anyone is aware there was once an organization representing the players. The outcome of the result revealed a majority are not aware of this when there was once an organization meant for this purpose. Rahim Omar (pictured, as credited) It was during one of those random searches online for materials, it came to my attention of a meeting that gathered a group of disgruntled footballers in the early 1960s that piqued my interest to learn more about this short-lived organization. On 15th August 1962, a pro-tem committee was formed with renowned footballer Rahim Omar named as chairman of this committee. According to The Straits Times report that was published on the following day, the main objective of the group was to "seek better treatment for the players, who had in the past been duped by false promises". Among those who attended the inaugural meeting were Quah Kim Beng, Umar Rahmat, Ivan Vass, etc. wi...

To sum up, what went wrong in Saudi Arabia for the Singapore National Team is pretty straightforward when the writings were already on the wall prior to the resumption of the campaign. Before the halt of the FIFA World Cup/AFC Asian Cup joint qualifiers almost two years ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic, everything was rosy for the perennial underachieving Lions. Coach Tatsuma Yoshida's (filed) honeymoon period is over  Under Japanese coach Tatsuma Yoshida, the four-time Asean champions found a new lease of life by chalked up two wins, one draw, and two defeats in Group D of the joint qualifiers - a performance that was lauded by many in a group that included regional heavyweights like Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan. Unfortunately, unforeseen circumstances saw the Lions and the rest of the region endured a lengthy international break since the postponement of the qualifying matches last August was announced by both FIFA and AFC, that positive momentum enjoyed by the Singaporeans had t...

This article is contributed by Mr Stanley Ho who is sharing his opinions on the recently announced "UNLEASH THE ROAR!" initiative by both SportSG and Football Association of Singapore. Disillusioned local football fans must be convinced this is not yet another paper exercise IF COMMENTS on social media pages are anything to go by, a plan that was drafted to unite the nation through football has divided it. On the one hand is a relatively small group of proponents who embraced the lofty blueprint with cautious optimism. And these are made up largely of people who are involved in some way in the local football ecosystem. "Unleash The Roar!" was unveiled last week (credit: FAS) On the other is the majority of your ordinary citizens who greeted the mere mention of 2034 World Cup with ridicule. Many of these people just couldn’t care less, especially when there are more pressing needs to be met amid a pandemic. But, among the non-believers is a particular group that int...

Following up on the update by this platform weeks ago that reported Balestier Khalsa will play their 2021 Singapore Premier League (SGPL) home fixtures at the Toa Payoh Stadium after the field at Bishan Stadium, where the Tigers ground share with Lion City Sailors (previously known as Home United) since 2019, is closed for returfing. Toa Payoh Stadium (file picture) Works, apparently, are underway to see the field at the Toa Payoh Stadium getting ready for the upcoming SGPL season which is speculated to kick off at the end of February. In a social media post seen by this platform, officials from the Football Association of Singapore, Sport SG, etc. came together to ensure the natural grass surface of the Toa Payoh Stadium meets the requirements of the only professional sporting competition of the republic. NOT A PERPETUAL MOVE BACK HOME FOR TIGERS However, it is understood that Balestier's shifting back to the aged arena at Toa Payoh Lorong Six is not a perpetual one, even though ...

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...

Recently, saw a few postings on social media reminiscing SAFFC's last Singapore Cup win in year 2012. While this may not be the last major honour clinched by the most successful club in Singapore professional football history (the club, renamed as Warriors FC in 2013 , captured their last S.League title in season 2014), it signified the end of a successful era led by the then head coach Richard Bok . I shall not list down what Coach Bok had achieved when he took over the head coaching role of the Warriors in 2006, as this is not the theme of this post. The fall guy from the top - Warriors FC  The theme of this post is to ask the same old question to any of those "sit out" clubs after they made known their intention to return to the fold - "ARE YOU SURE OR NOT?" This came after the Warriors started off by stated their intention to make their way back to the Singapore Premier League (SGPL) in 2021 after being asked to sit out this season to sort out their financi...

I would say the assuming of ownership of the club formerly known as Home United Football Club (HUFC) by Sea , a leading internet company, shall be seen as a breakthrough in the local football fraternity. The logo of Lion City Sailors (via LCSFC) The idea of privatization of the Republic's professional football league has always been in the pipeline with little tangible progress till the official announcement was made in the early morning of Valentine's Day. "OWNERSHIP" - A NEW CLEAR INDICATION The word "ownership" mentioned in the press release issued by the official sources is a clear indication to see newly-formed Lion City Sailors (LCSFC) operate under a new business model that is going to set itself apart from the rest of the local Singapore Premier League (SGPL) clubs. According to an online search with the ACRA Bizfile portal, LCSFC is registered as a "private limited" whereas the other local clubs are "societi...