BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

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

We may not see the return of the International Champions Cup Singapore (ICCSG) tournament due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic but it is worthwhile to look back on some happenings that took place in the past when foreign teams came to our shores to play a few friendly matches. The arrival of those marquee names in the world football to this dot of the globe in recent years has always been a crowd-puller that not only drawn local fans from their couches from Jurong to Tampines and Woodlands to Bedok by making their way down to Kallang, the ICCSG, as it is commonly known as, has also been a lure for the regional supporters of those European clubs as well like how the Indonesian fans of Inter made their presence felt in their match against Chelsea in the 2017 edition. Advertisement for Anchor Soccer Festival' 74 ( NLB archive ) The trend of such visits by these foreign sides did not start during the 1970s when there were tournaments like the Anchor Soccer Festival in 1974 (so

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

It's regrettable that recently on two separate occasions some prominent local social media icons used the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak as a theme of their humour to mock at the expense of local football. Subsequently, the postings from these social media icons had removed following feedback from local football supporters who registered their opinions on them. The first thing that came to my mind was how much do these social media icons know about local football to use it as a subject to poke fun with? FIRST POSTING Apparently, one appeared to be zilch when the name "S League" was used in the posting using an old picture from an S.League match courtesy of one local news outlet. If the aforementioned posting was referring to the local professional football league, the person may not be aware that the league had rebranded and inaugurated as "Singapore Premier League" (SGPL) in 2018 by President Halimah Yacob at the National Stadium (two seasons already).

Preface I was thinking if was it possible to come up with two separate blog posts or should I put everything together to consolidate into one given the scarcity of the materials? Even though they shared some connections along the way for having an intertwined history, yet had to go separate ways after some evolution along the way. The old logo of MCFA (left) and the logo of SCFA (right) After much deliberations, I decided to put everything I gathered on Singapore Chinese Football Association (later known as Singapore Chinese Football Club) and Malaya (later Malaysia) Chinese Football Association into one single post. Nonetheless, should you have any material or details about the aforementioned subjects, please feel free to email me in order to enrich this blog post, thanks. The Beginning According to an article of the souvenir publication produced by Singapore Chinese Football Association (SCFA) for their social and dance held on 15 December 1956, this umbrella body of Chin

When I declared my season was done after the 2019 Singapore Cup final, I realized I amassed a stack of accreditation passes that were essential in order to work behind the scene from the days it was known as the S.League till two years ago when it was rebranded as Singapore Premier League (SPL). My involvement started halfway in 1998 (the third season) when I answered a call and turned up at a meeting in the S.League office at old National Stadium to be part of the crew assembled to help the official league website. Evolution of the passes  The first pass I received was a laminated pass with the necessary details besides the photo which I snapped at one of those instant photo booths, on the bottom of the pass listed the league sponsors of that season like Tiger Beer, Pepsi, NTUC Income, and Singapore Pools. "BUSINESS CARD" PASS FIT IN NICELY The following year saw the pass shrunk into a business card-size made of plastic material by Cardwon from Taiwan and honestly

This year's review will be on the blog itself. If we are going to talk about the state of the local game for the past twelve months, it would be another session of flogging the dead horse. EVOLUTION - NECESSARY PROCESS Evolution is a necessary process for most of us and this platform is no different in order to stay relevant. Although I would say I took a route that evolved this platform into something not conventional and some may not even find it relevant at all. Since last year, this platform decided to place more focus on something it had never done before when the compilation of historical accounts of local football is being prioritized. Sunday Nation headlines on 13th March 1977 ( NLB archive ) The process of combing through the archives of the online newspaper has been a rewarding experience in that it is an eye-opener to realize how active the scene was in the long-gone era. Media coverage by the press was abundant with newspapers like The Straits Times, Malay

The possibility of the revival of the once-popular Singapore Business Houses Football League (SBHFL) or starting something similar was raised during last year's Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Congress when president Lim Kia Tong was quoted in The Straits Times (ST) report that covered the event. Said Mr Lim: "The plan is to see participation from both businesses and professional associations. We would like to have the corporate sector involved in football again." The Commercial Cup ( NLB archive ) Suggestions from the fraternity to revive SBHFL were nothing new and it was one of the topics brought up in the discussion during the campaigning of the 2017 FAS elections. "It was a good league (SBHFL) where you could get the companies to support football." said Lian Kim Fatt, the honorary secretary of the Singapore Government Services Football League (SGSFL). "If you don't give the companies mileage, how can you expect them

The bold announcement of Singapore eyeing a spot in the 2034 World Cup by Edwin Tong , the vice-president of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), sent a shockwave around the local football fraternity in recent days. It came at a time when local football is still trying to pull itself out of the bad patches it is experiencing now and barely a surprise such a lofty target is met with skepticism from all corners  once again it brought back sad memories of the "Goal 2010" project which was launched in 1998. I shall not dwell on why and how the "Goal 2010" was mooted but here to share what I witnessed at the fanfare at Suntec City - the venue where the whole project kicked start on 5th December 1998. GOAL 2010 WAS LAUNCHED AT SUNTEC CITY  It was a huge turnout with everyone eager and excited to play a part in this historical day that was supposed to see Singapore adhere to a blueprint to see her qualify for the World Cup in 2010 (although FAS clarified it wa