BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

SGPL - Albirex Niigata (S) 1-0 Hougang Utd 060518 The result saw Albirex Niigata FC Singapore pulled away from the pack in the Great Eastern-Hyundai Singapore Premier League league standing with the rest of them still scratching their heads. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Balestier Khalsa 1-2 Geylang International 020618 Not much to snap when most of the actions were "out of bound" due to my equipments limitations but nonetheless Great Eastern-Hyundai Singapore Premier League the match saw Geylang International beat Balestier Khalsa 2-1 at the "dark" Toa Payoh Stadium. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Hougang Utd 0-2 Tampines Rovers 090618 Khairul Amri (partially hidden by ball) scored in this match For Tampines Rovers, their main is try to narrow their gap in between them and Great Eastern-Hyundai Singapore Premier League leaders Albirex Niigata FC Singapore and Hougang Unite

Barely into the second round of the Great Eastern-Hyundai Singapore Premier League (SGPL) had Balestier Khalsa coach Marko Kraljevic ate his words. Speaking to The New Paper (TNP) after his side's five-nil defeat to defending champions Albirex Niigata (Singapore) on the 27th of May, the Croatian coach declared: "Albirex are looking like champions. There's no way to chase them, they're too good this year." Albirex is simply the best so far in SGPL. This marked a stark contrast to his earlier remarks in April when he claimed the Yuhua-based side "are definitely not as strong as last year", a sentiment seemingly echoed by his Home United counterpart Aidil Sharin, as suggested in a separate article that appeared on The Straits Times. Ironically, the Protectors were crushed 6-1 by the White Swans at their Bishan backyard on the very same day when the said broadsheet carried those thoughts with Adam Swandi scoring the final goal in the dying minut

"Thanks for coming." said one of the staffers whom I met at the end of a press conference I attended some times ago. While it is always a pleasantry to receive such a greeting but for that particular time, I found it awkward or rather uneasy to receive such acknowledgment. Usually, the press conference of that nature would see a decent turnout from the media to cover the event, whereas it was not the case when I was there and I could easily count the number of those reporters who were there. To make things more intriguing was the absence of representation from several notable players of the field to cover the announcement which they usually would. If this is going to be the typical scene in the subsequent weeks to come, it should be something of a concern to local football officials for such a lukewarm response from the media, especially of those from the big players. MEDIA RESTRUCTURING The recent restructuring of both MediaCorp (source: 1 , 2 ) and Si

(P.S: If you access this site via "come.to/matchpix", please click the "Facebook" icon after you click "HERE" when you want to view the album as that will redirect you to the album, thank you) SGPL - Balestier Khalsa 0-1 Albirex Niigata (S) 080418 Balestier's Zaiful Nizam claimed the ball One thing I should appreciate taking snaps for 5.30pm KO is the bright sunlight and take note when the sun goes down when close to 7pm. Ok with the outcome of this Great Eastern-Hyundai Singapore Premier League match between Balestier Khalsa Football Club and Albirex Niigata FC Singapore at the Toa Payoh Stadium. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Balestier Khalsa 2-1 Warriors FC 290418 Players from both Balestier Khalsa and Warriors tussling in the box Another win for Balestier Khalsa Football Club in the Great Eastern-Hyundai Singapore Premier League placed them behind leaders Albirex Niigata FC Singapore in the leagu

(P.S: If you access this site via "come.to/matchpix", please click the "Facebook" icon after you click "HERE" when you want to view the album as that will redirect you to the album, thank you) ABL - Slingers vs Formosa Dreamers 110218 "黑人"posed with fans It was an ASEAN Basketball League match full of errors that eventually saw the hosts Singapore Slingers walked away with a 72-65 win over the cellar dwellers Formosa Dreamers 寶島夢想家. Taiwanese celebrity "黑人" 陳建州's presence at the courtside added much glamour to the game and saw the Dreamers GM had a impromptu "meet-the-fan-session" before and after the match. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES ABL - Slingers vs Chongson Kungfu 040318 Former Slingers star Justin Howard (55) up against Chris Charles What amazed me was the fact that Chongson arrived at this ASEAN Basketball League game with only seven players to rotate throughout the

If the rebranding of S.League as Singapore Premier League (SGPL) is being seen as a litmus test for the current Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Council, it would mean there is little confidence in them from the general public. Right after the unveiling of this worst kept secret of Singapore football days ago, a barrage of skepticism was hurled from all corners on the Republic's only professional sporting competition, labelled it nothing more than just cosmetic makeover than attempt to eradicate the root problems once and for all. "They are just trying to bury the ghost, without realizing that soil can’t keep the spirit out of its tomb," said a former FAS official who declined to be named when sharing his thoughts on this rebranding exercise with this blogger via text. He added: "Instead of fixing something that’s broken, they give it a new coat of paint and call it new." on the changes such as the name of the competition which many fans opined the

RIP S.League, Hello Singapore Premier League Many don't understand why the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) decided to delay the announcement of the new name for the "League", when it was already the worst kept secret in the fraternity in recent weeks. FAS council member S Thavaneson once  remarked in last December "they don't rule out the 'possibility' of it ..." after prior official press releases did not mention the term "S.League" but labelled the tournament as "Singapore’s domestic professional league", Subsequent weeks following those words by the Balestier Khalsa chairman, several social media updates, seen by this blogger, posted by various individuals in the scene suggested the change of name was imminent. One club even had to retract a Facebook posting which imprinted the name "Singapore Premier League" (SGPL) after it was posted by mistake before the official announcement was made, FAS di

(P.S: If you access this site via "come.to/matchpix", please click the "Facebook" icon after you click "HERE" when you want to view the album as that will redirect you to the album, thank you) ABL - Slingers vs Alab Pilipinas 070118 Alab's Renaldo Balkman (34) met with some Slingers' resistance The first basketball compilation of the year saw Singapore Slingers lost 80-89 (after OT) to Alab Pilipinas at the OCBC Arena in this exciting ASEAN Basketball League fixture. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES ABL - Slingers vs Mono Vampire 190118 Mono's Samuel Deguara (orange top) tried to force his way past Slingers' Chris Charles Singapore Slingers' mini renaissance of late in their ongoing ASEAN Basketball League campaign came to an abruptly end with a 88-91 defeat to Mono Vampire Basketball Club at the OCBC Arena of Singapore Sports Hub. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES

DPMM will continue their involvement (file snap) The participation of Brunei DPMM in the S.League has been under much scrutiny following revelations in recent media reports that the Sultanate's professional club was mulling a withdrawal from the Republic's setup to take part in leagues in either Malaysia or Indonesia. However, updates posted on the team's official website suggested that they had changed their mind and will continue their involvement in the Singapore domestic football scene which they did since 2004 when the Wasps (the nickname of DPMM) were first featured in the Singapore Cup tournament. On the same page of the aforementioned site, it was also made known, as quoted below. AFTER THE S-LEAGUE HAVE DECIDED TO ALLOW DPMM ON 4 IMPORT PLAYERS,THEY NOW DECIDED ON HAVING ANOTHER DISCUSSION ON THE FOREIGN PLAYERS FOR DPMM. The notion was further confirmed when the newly-appointed DPMM coach Rene Weber revealed in an article reported by BruSports News,

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

To be honest, when "Team LKT" and their allies were sworn in as the new Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Council - the highest decision-making organ of the game's local governing body, this blogger wondered if those voting delegates ever regretted their decisions after witnessed what was unfolded subsequently following that controversial landmark election? HISTORICAL BAGGAGE ... Banking on the experiences of those who served in the past councils and despite the "historical baggage" embedded in them, the team headed by lawyer Lim Kia Tong, who convinced some of their fiercest critics to join their camp , crushed their challengers - "FAS Game Changers" convincingly to take office. Can Lim Kia Tong and his council bring the faith back to Singapore Football? However, little time was given to these newly-elected office bearers to acclimatize their roles, the new Council soon realised it is going to be a tough battle to pull the beleaguered sp

Apparently, the panel, which was led by Football Association of Singapore (FAS) president Lim Kia Tong, painstakingly tried to convince the media the rationale of implementation of the controversial "age quota" in the upcoming season of the local professional league that had generated much buzz of late in the fraternity. (L-R) VP Teo Hock Seng, AGS Yazeen Buhari, P Lim Kia Tong, Dy P Bernand Tan, VP S Thavaneson In an announcement made at the press conference held at the Jalan Besar Stadium earlier, the rules pertaining the aforementioned quota requires "All local clubs will have to register a minimum squad of 19 players and a maximum of 25. Of this, in a squad of between 19-22 players, six of their players have to be Under-23, and eight have to be Under-30. Clubs are open to register any players to fill the remaining slots, which may include a maximum of two foreign players." LONG TERM PLANNING IS THE KEY ... In a press release issued shortly after the eve

(P.S: If you access this site via "come.to/matchpix", please click the "Facebook" icon after you click "HERE" when you want to view the album as that will redirect you to the album, thank you) S.League - Albirex Niigata (S) 5-1 Warriors FC 031117 Entangled in the air Albirex Niigata FC Singapore retained the Great Eastern-Hyundai S.League title with a convincing performance thrashing one-time giants of local football - Warriors Football Club 5-1 at the JBS. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Friendly - Singapore 0-1 Lebanon 091117 Eye wide open for Danny I was with Arthur, one of the ball boys, and a minder at my usual spot at the ground to see another defeat succumbed by our national team. It is not a good thing to happen when we seems to forget how to win a game let alone to have a feel of it. With just a game away, the team need to find the right formula to buckle the trend to avoid the embarrassment. PLEA