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Showing posts with the label Malaya Cup

The 1950 Malaya Cup Victory: The Revival of Singapore's Dominance

1950 Malaya Cup Winners - Singapore Without slight exaggeration, my eyeballs were literally popped out when I saw a black-and-white picture that came after a text message from a friend. "Bro, you might be keen on this iconic picture from 1950" texted my friend, who attached a post-match shot of the Singapore team who just won the Malaya Cup that year. I replied: "Goodness me, it was the first Malaya Cup win for us after the War." , after taking note of the handwritten description on the reverse side of the picture. "1950 Malaya Cup Final ... Singapore beat Penang 2-0" were part of the description hand written on the reverse side of the picture, which I believe was detached from an old photo album based on the visible black mark on the top right corner of it. The first XI of the 1950 Malaya Cup winning team As mentioned, the 1950 victory was the first triumph for the then British crown colony following the resuming of this popular competition after the Wo...

1965 MALAYA CUP FINAL

1965 Malaya Cup Final match programme It was a blessing to get my hands on the souvenir match programme of the 1965 Malaya Cup Final, a piece of football history that is so meaningful to Singapore's football history. The significance of it is that this was the last time Singapore won the esteemed tournament as a member of the Federation of Malaysia before the Separation on 9th August 1965, and it was barely less than two weeks before the expulsion took place when the match was played on 31st July at Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. In his foreword, Tengku Azman Shah, the then regent of Selangor, wrote that this booklet should not just serve as a guide for the match itself, but also allow future generations to appreciate and understand the history and development of the game in Malaysia (which included Singapore at the time of publication). Foreword by Tengku Azman Shah (from programme) Besides the Selangor prince, other dignitaries who penned their forewords in this souvenir progr...

[Telegram Chat] - Malaysia Cup "is important" to Singapore Football

🙏 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...

Why Malaysia Cup "IS IMPORTANT"?

Why is it so? Read on  It was the right decision for me not to snap in the recently concluded AFF Suzuki Cup , which I would like to show my greatest appreciation to Mr Jaron Lee for helping this platform when I felt I was not physically and mentally prepared for that regional marquee tournament. In the meantime, we also noticed the increased presence of "fan-based media" like myself during the abovementioned tournament who also have been actively churning out content for the past one, two years. The emergence of these new players is a welcome sight, and it is also a constant reminder to me that the need to be innovative in order to stay relevant in the field. BEING SELECTIVE NOW I thought with the proliferation of social media tools which are now seen as a "must-have" for many organizations and individuals, information posted on these new media domains can be shared, re-curated by other platforms easily . This is why weeks right after the end of the 2021 Singapore...

Third Time Lucky For A Players' Union?

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...

The Long Forgotten Anson Road Stadium

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 Prior to 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 begun 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 was this stadium located in the Tanjong Pagar area. EXHIBITION VENUE TURNED INTO STADIUM Accordin...

Bloated Effort Resulted The Ho Ho Cup

In the very beginning, Mr Gaw Khek Khiam 's idea was to initiate a tournament similar to that of the Malaya Cup (now Malaysia Cup) but to be contested by Chinese footballers representing the various Malay States and Singapore in 1925. BLOATED ATTEMPT TO REPLICATE MALAYA CUP Unfortunately, the response to the concept of Semarang-born, Raffles Institution graduated Gaw was lukewarm from those Chinese football teams across the Straits of Johor when Singapore's footballing prowess was way ahead of them in that era. Chee Lim with Ho Ho Cup (Malayan Saturday Post, 25 May 1929 (NLB NewspaperSG online archive ) Not to be deterred by the lack of enthusiasm from the rest of the Malayan sides and had already spent a princely sum of £200 on a trophy made in England, the proprietor of the Ho Ho Biscuit Factory approached local renowned footballer Yee Cheok Wah and travelled together to Hong Kong where they proposed to organise a match between Chinese footballers represen...

1950 - A Year To Be Remembered For Singapore Football

It would be kind of funny to read an article in the papers these days that lauded the achievements of local football, given the present state of the game in this country. Nevertheless, one such article did herald the achievements of the local game way back in 1950 when " Nanyang Siang Pau " (南洋商報), one of the main Chinese newspapers in those colonial days, declared "1950 is the Year of Singapore Football" on one of their back pages of their 12th of November edition. "1950 is the Year of Singapore Football" said Nanyang Siang Pau ( NLB archives ) Written by someone under the pseudonym of "流星" or "Meteoroid" in English, the opening statement attributed the significance of that year after teams represented Singapore did well in those tournaments they participated like the Singapore Malays won the Sultan Gold Cup, the Indians players took the Bardhan Cup and also the biggest prize of all - the Malaya Cup by the formidabl...