BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore 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...

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...

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 t...

LCS did their lap of honour after their ACLTwo Final defeat at Bishan You have to give credit to Lion City Sailors (LCS) for what they have achieved so far. Some may say they have the resources that other Singapore Premier League (SPL) clubs can only dream of, but let us not forget how difficult it has been for LCS to juggle so many matches in the current season (having to feature in four different tournaments in the ongoing season). Singapore football badly needs a catalyst to lift itself out of the doldrums, and let's hope what LCS have done so far is something the game here can build on. AGONY ON THE CONTINENTAL STAGE While the result ended in agony for the republic's sole privatised football club in the recently concluded AFC Champions League Two (ACLTwo) final , in which they lost to UAE's Sharjah FC at the  "new-look"  Bishan Stadium . The 2025 ACLTwo Final saw the biggest crowd at Bishan Stadium since its opening The sheer determination and the hurdles t...

 Shopee Cup - Lion City Sailors 0-0 Buriram United 230125 Buriram United's penalty claim was brushed aside The goal-less draw between the powerhouses of both Singapore and Thailand saw the former represented by Lion City Sailors being eliminated from the Asean Club Championship aka Shopee Cup (for sponsorship reason) CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES ➤ LION CITY SAILORS VS BURIRAM UNITED Singapore Cup - Balestier Khalsa 1-2 BG Pathum United 020325 Balestier Khalsa's Kodai Tanaka (extreme right) being hold back Ace striker Kodai Tanaka's botched attempt from the spot near towards the end had Balestier Khalsa licking their wounds in this Singapore Cup defeat against 10-man BG Pathum United at Bishan instead. CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES ➤ BALESTIER KHALSA VS BG PATHUM UNITED #ACLTwo - Lion City Sailors 1-1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima (agg:4-1) 130325 Lion City Sailors celebrate after their opener against Sanfrecce Hiroshima at JBS Lion City Sailors became the third Singaporean club to feature...

 #ACLTwo - Lion City Sailors 2-3 Persib Bandung 071124 Persib Bandung staged a stunning comeback Lion City Sailors paid dearly for not keeping up the intensity after taking a two-nil lead at interval and found themselves sunk into the ocean by a resilient PERSIB Bandung side at JBS. CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES ➤ LION CITY SAILORS VS PERSIB BANDUNG International Friendly - Singapore 2-3 Chinese Taipei 181123 Singapore (blue) suffered a defeat in the hands of Chinese Taipei The Singapore national team paid the price for their lack of bite till the very late and succumbed to their third defeat to Chinese Taipei since 2017. CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES ➤ SINGAPORE VS CHINESE TAIPEI #ACLTwo - Lion City Sailors 5-2 Port FC 051224 Hat-trick hero Song Ui-Young celebrates with Maxime Lestienne A 5-2 win which included a hat-trick from Song Ui-young helped Lion City Sailors to beat Port FC 5-2 at JBS to finish top of Group F of the AFC Champions League Two. Both teams qualified for the next pha...

 WCQ - Singapore 0-7 South Korea 060624 Action in the box during the SIN-KOR WCQ match It was a bitter pill to swallow for Coach Tsutomu Ogura after witnessing the Singapore national team suffer one of their heaviest defeats in recent years after they were crushed seven-nil at Kallang in front of a crowd of 49,000. CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES ➤ SINGAPORE VS KOREA REPUBLIC SGPL - Lion City Sailors 7-1 Albirex Niigata (Singapore) 230624 Albirex's Amy Recha stretched to the max  Lion City Sailors remained unbeaten since the start of the campaign with this thrashing of the defending champions at their Bishan home base. On the other hand, it was an unrecognisable White Swans side that were a dominant force in local football in recent years. CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES ➤ LION CITY SAILORS VS ALBIREX NIIGATA (S) Lions' Sept FIFA Window Training 020924 Lions Coach Ogura (left) talking to his assistant Gavin Lee The Singapore National Team commenced their centralised training session und...

Coach Ogura must prepare to take a bold step now Little time should be wasted now since the writings are already on the wall following the announcement of the draw for the groupings of the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup (hereafter referred to as the AFF Championship ) on 21st May. THE CHALLENGE AHEAD FOR COACH OGURA With both Lion City Sailors and BG Tampines Rovers participating in the AFC Champions League 2 (ACL 2) — the former in the group stage and the latter in the play-off round ** (see footnote) as the second-best local team — it is an opportune time for national coach Tsutoma Ogura to broaden his scouting scope. This is particularly pertinent given the scheduling overlap between the biennial regional showpiece and ACL 2 , the new second-tier continental club tournament where many key Lions players are likely to be involved. OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEW TALENTS Since the AFF Championship is a non-FIFA sanctioned tournament, clubs are under no obligation to release their players for ...

Friendly - Balestier Khalsa 4-1 Tanjong Pagar United 010224 Ignatius “Iggy” Ang of Balestier (front) tried to get past his marker I am not sure how these ongoing friendlies are going to help the new national coach Tsutomu Ogura to have a better understanding of the players available at his disposal in his preparation for the upcoming WCQ match against China when clubs are trying out some raw youngsters during these matches as well? PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Lions' 1st Training Session under Coach Ogura - 110324 Coach Ogura (right) having a chat with his assistant Nazri Nasir I made a big mistake by being stubborn in my settings and took it for granted that I could fix some of the problems through editing those shots took at night at Kallang Football Hub :( PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE PICTURES WCQ - Singapore 2-2 China 210324 A packed goal mouth in the Singapore-China match The Lions kickstarted Coach Tsutomu Ogura's reign with an emp...

 ACL2023 - Lion City Sailors 2-0 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 081123 Lion City Sailors upset Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Lion City Sailors caused an upset at home when they defeated two-time AFC Champions League winners Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC 2-0 at JBS. Curaçao international Richairo Zivkovic was the hero of the night for his brace (23‎'‎, 55‎') in the game. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Singapore Cup Final - Lion City Sailors 3-1 Hougang United 091223 Lionel Tan (left) and Zharfan Rohaizad savour the joy Lion City Sailors secured their first Singapore Cup title by defeating last year's winners Hougang United 3-1 at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Both Lionel Tan (left) and Zharfan Rohaizad savour the moment of joy after the match. This is Lionel's back-to-back winners' medal, he won the Cup last year, ironically, with Hougang United. Scorers: Richairo Živković pen. 27’, Maxime Lestienne 42’, Shawal Anuar 81’ | Kazuma Takayama 90’+1 PLEASE CLICK HERE T...

International Friendly - Singapore 3-1 Chinese Taipei 120923 Lionel Tan (9) scored again for Singapore  Singapore ended their winless streak by beating Chinese Taipei 3-1 at the Bishan Stadium. The victory was even sweeter for the Lions, as this was their first victory over the Blue Wings after losing back-to-back in their previous meetings. Scorers: Ange Samuel Kouame 29' | Song Uiyoung 42' (P), Lionel Tan 65', Shawal Anuar 82' PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE PICTURES SGPL - Albirex Niigata (Singapore) 5-0 Hougang United 160923 Albirex Niigata (Singapore) - SPL champions 2023  It wasn't an ideal result for Hougang United Football Club who must quickly regroup themselves from this crushing defeat by Albirex Niigata FC Singapore before they begin their AFC Cup campaign in days to come. The reigning champions were presented the Singapore Premier League trophy shortly after a show of appreciation to both Tadanari Lee and Hyrulnizam Juma'at whom both will...

SGPL - Balestier Khalsa 4-2 Young Lions 120723 Emmeric Ong (striped jersey) of Balestier Khalsa shared a light moment It was a "mere formality" to see this outcome day in and day out, and we wouldn't know when this would end. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Tiger Cup match between THFC and LCS of SFOF23 (25-260723) England skipper Harry Kane at National Stadium Here are the snaps taken during the "Tiger Cup" match of the Singapore Festival of Football Driven by CDG Zig (SFOF23) between Tottenham Hotspur and Lion City Sailors on 26/7 at National Stadium and the day before when Spurs held their open training session at National Stadium. Nope, Harry Kane did not play his match for Spurs in Singapore. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SFOF23/SCST2023 - Liverpool 4-0 Leicester City 300723 Liverpool skipper Virgil Van Dijk plotting his next move Liverpool got down to work straight away with a 4-0 win over former EPL side...

HAD KANE PLAY HIS LAST GAME FOR SPURS? THFC 5-1 LCS (26/7) Supposedly to bill as "Jose Mourinho Derby" - a match that never materialised which resulted in having local side Lion City Sailors (LCS) as a late replacement for AS Roma following the decision by the Italians to scrap their Far East tour . Should it have taken place, it would be quite a spectacle to see the Portuguese tactician, who is now in charge of Roma, facing his former employers who sacked him in April 2021 . England captain Harry Kane (second from right) played his last game for Spurs? But the gloss was definitely on England captain Harry Kane when he could have possibly led Tottenham Hotspur out of the tunnel for the last time as Spurs skipper when they took on LCS at the National Stadium. Spurs coach Ange Postecoglou gave no comment when asked about his talisman's status during the media conference prior to his side's open training session a day before the match, according to various sources. ...