BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

The 1977 NFL Division One match between Tampines Rovers SC** and Toa Payoh United at Kallang was a truly bizarre affair, with an amazing scoreline (** see footnote at the end of this post) I first learned of this match when I chanced upon it in a copy of "Singapore Soccer" (pictured above) at the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library, National Library Board Headquarters which prompted me to find out more. It was already declared a dead rubber before the ball was kicked based on these words that appeared in an article by "Singapore Soccer" monthly (as pictured above). "Nothing was at stake. Geylang International had won the title and even if runners up Toa Payoh (United) put in a 100 goals against Tampines Rovers would not have made any difference to their position in any way." wrote the discontinued monthly which was started in 1975. With the eye-catching title "Let Live and LEAVE" positioned in the middle of the article, the words "SOCCER FIAS...

Long before Lion City Sailors established themselves as the country's first privately-owned football club, there was at one point more than thirty years ago that one football club haboured a similar ambition to transform themselves into one as well. When the news of Lion City Sailors planning to have their own stadium surfaced in November 2021, I remember reading something similar in the papers back in the 1990s when I managed to retrieve that old news report from the archives recently. BLUEPRINT OF TAMPINES ROVERS "SPORTS CLUB" It was part of the ambitious blueprint of a National Football League ( NFL, now known as Singapore Football League ) Division One club - Tampines Rovers Sports Club ( hereafter to refer as "SC" in this article that is not to be confused with the Singapore Premier League club Tampines Rovers Football Club which later in this post will explain why ), when the news was first broke out by The New Paper back in January 1992 . TNP broke the ...

This article is contributed by Mr Chua Kheng Seng who wrote in to share his ideas on how to make the Singapore Premier League (SPL) a vibrant one after he read the blog post which suggested the implementation of a "play-off" system by this blog recently. Here are some of my suggestions that flash through my mind after I read a blog post by BoLASEPaKO•COM on whether a "Play-Off" system can sustain interest in the Singapore Premier League (SPL)? As the current SPL does not have a promotion-relegation system with the rest of the local league pyramid system (i e.: Singapore Football League, Island Wide League), it may be a major stumbling block to its growth because of the absence of this convention method to determine who to play in a league. No promotion/relegation for SPL since Day One LACK OF EXCITEMENT This may result in a lack of excitement for the fans or motivation for players to perform at a certain stage of the campaign because the same teams and players are...

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...

Friendly - Balestier Khalsa 5-1 Admiralty CSC 120119 Pre-season friendlies are usually staged on afternoon Balestier Khalsa beat Admiralty CSC 5-1 at the Toa Payoh Stadium, this match was the first of the three scheduled by the Tigers, as published on their social media platforms. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES AIA Community Shield - ANS 0-0 HUFC (HU win on PK) 230219 HU's Abdil Qaiyyim clears the danger in the box Home United claimed the first major honour of local football by winning the AIA Community Shield on penalties and broke the domination of Albirex Niigata (Singapore) for the last three years. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Hougang Utd 1-5 Tampines Rovers 030319 Something tussling at the edge of the box Honestly, not a result that most were looking forward to especially how Hougang United was hyped up before the start of the season with some notable signings to change their fortune in ...

Despite calls from all corners to push the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) to implement the promotion/relegation system between the professional S.League and the amateur National Football League (NFL) in order to inject the much-needed competitiveness among clubs, this blogger is still not in favour of this conventional practice commonly used in most football leagues around the world. Those who bother can refer to this old entry to find out why this blog insisted the promotion/relegation system is not feasible in Singapore football. Added on to the recent embarrassments (source 1 , 2 ) that occurred in recent weeks did little to improve the image of the NFL either. NFL sides would have to tweak their mindset to stay relevant (file picture) It is no secret that some of these NFL clubs harbouring thoughts of becoming part of the S.League one day but are being hamstrung by unfavourable climate of the game all along. Perhaps, it is time to adopt a different ap...

I would say to those folks who are upset about the poor showings by the various age-group sides of the national team of late - LET'S FACE THE REALITY. The reality is we are now one of the footballing minnows in the region where we were once part of the dominant force with the constant bragging of being the four-time champions of South East Asia. MINNOWS IN SEA Taking into account the recent string of poor results that saw the defeats by the likes of India , Laos , Chinese Taipei , etc. had shown how things fell apart since Coach Raddy Avramovic gifted us the AFF Suzuki Cup in 2012. Still, the Asean title is something that is not substantial enough to place us on the pedestal, given its status is not exactly as prestigious as the Asian Cup organized by the continent's game governing body - the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Khairul Amri (front) watches as play continued in a league match in 2016 Sadly, the obsession with parochial glory in local football proved ...

Something in local football needs to be fixed The election scheduled for the office bearers to the main organ of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) is meant to be a watershed moment for the beleaguered sport in this country that has been besieged by woes with no solution within sight. Stagnancy on and off the field had further stalled any effort to lift the game out of the doldrums when there is not a clear direction to govern the sport's state of affairs since the government-appointed provisional council  could not make any strategic decision on major matters before their term ended at the end of last month. When caught in a situation like this, it is hardly a surprise that nobody wants to "act like a hero" to get their hands dirty to fix the loose ends with such a mammoth task given, in spite of some individuals coming forward ( source 1 , source 2 ) before their enthusiasm fizzled out due to reasons only known to themselves. Nonetheless, by the closi...