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Showing posts with the label SAFFC

Free Tickets - Boost Or Bane?

It used to cost $5 for more than a decade Years ago, before an S.League game between SAFFC and Etoile FC at Jalan Besar Stadium, I met someone I know just outside the ground, along King George Avenue, and had this brief conversation (as below). Acquaintance: "Do you have a free ticket?" as he was aware of my involvement in the scene. Me: "Nope, I don't have it" Acquaintance: "Cannot be, last time my who worked as a photographer, always have free tickets to matches" Me: "Time changes as different people are calling the shots now." A scene like this is not uncommon, but it is already becoming an annoying problem which I attributed to the liberal policy of giving complimentary entry that led to this kind of problem. A League Cup match played at Jalan Besar Stadium Perhaps, in the first place, such goodwill was to gather more awareness by offering free admission to fans to certain games. But the dangerous part of this giveaway has developed into

[Telegram Chat] - 𝐃𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧 𝐀𝐂𝐋?

Someone said I used the meme wrongly  Good Day to all, Just something spontaneous I shared this morning with those who subscribed to the platform's telegram channel . This evening is another historical moment in Singapore football and Tampines Rovers are due to make their debut in the AFC Champions League tournament. The Stags will be the second Singapore club after SAFFC to be featured in the elite continental club competition with veteran Daniel Bennett involving for the third time in his long illustrious career. Although the harsh reality is this noteworthy moment is being overshadowed by the ongoing Euro2020 with everyone's favourite match due to take place. But nonetheless, let's enjoy our football 😁 (image using Meme Generator ) - 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎'𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍 -

Don't Piss Us Off With Those "YO-YO" Again

Recently, saw a few postings on social media reminiscing SAFFC's last Singapore Cup win in year 2012. While this may not be the last major honour clinched by the most successful club in Singapore professional football history (the club, renamed as Warriors FC in 2013 , captured their last S.League title in season 2014), it signified the end of a successful era led by the then head coach Richard Bok . I shall not list down what Coach Bok had achieved when he took over the head coaching role of the Warriors in 2006, as this is not the theme of this post. The fall guy from the top - Warriors FC  The theme of this post is to ask the same old question to any of those "sit out" clubs after they made known their intention to return to the fold - "ARE YOU SURE OR NOT?" This came after the Warriors started off by stated their intention to make their way back to the Singapore Premier League (SGPL) in 2021 after being asked to sit out this season to sort out their financi

"Matchpix" - October 2019

#BrasilGlobalTour2019- Brazil 1-1 Nigeria 131019 Brazil's "Bobby" Firmino (20) prepares for a shoot against Nigeria The star-studded Brazilian national team wrapped up their whirlwind tour with another draw against another African opponents - Nigeria at the National Stadium. Joe Aribo scored for the Super Eagles in the 35th minute before Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro levelled the scoreline in the 48th minute. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES WCQ 2022 - Singapore 1-3 Uzbekistan 151019 Both Shawal Anuar (20) and Irfan Fandi (17) raided the Uzbeks' fortress Singapore succumbed to their second consecutive defeat following a 3-1 lost to Uzbekistan at the National Stadium. The visitors took the lead in the 15th minute through Odil Ahmedov before Ikhsan Fandi equalized at the stroke of half time to send the home fans to wild jubilation. Eldor Shomurodov's double in the second half wrapped up all three points in the bag fo

Dead Wood Feeling of A Cup ...

Somehow, the atmosphere for the ongoing Komoco Motors Singapore Cup tournament just don't seems to feel right at all. It is a major cup semi-final phase we are now talking about but the ambience is as if nothing happened to set the stage right for the fans, if any, to fire up their imagination. The semis are scheduled four days apart. ( source ) Here we have a situation that not only could possibly see Brunei DPMM clinch a historical double but would also see any three of the local sides, namely Geylang International, Tampines Rovers and Warriors FC put an end to the "local drought" by claiming the Singapore Cup this season. STAGS' LAST HOPE FOR GLORY Having fumbled in their league title chase, the Stags knew it very well the Cup is their best hope to end their trophy drought after they last won the S.League title back in 2013. But even with a two-goal advantage from their first-leg win over Geylang, their co-tenants at Our Tampines Hub, Tampines are well

Pluralization - A Means To Resolve The "NS" Issue?

I was wondering if the turmoil at Warriors Football Club did not surface, would the attention be dominated by the injury-time appearance of that Fulham FC youngster by the name of Ben Davis in the Carabao Cup or the "Goal 2034" topic? A poll was conducted to ask which was the talking poll on Facebook The Thai-born Davis caused quite a stir a few months ago for defaulting his National Service (NS) obligations in his pursuit of a professional football career in England. Whereas the troubles at one of the most successful clubs in Singapore football history saw the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) take an unprecedented step to direct Warriors FC to remove Paul Poh from his role as the club's general manager and honorary secretary following several lapses of discrepancies. While the two incidents may not be linked directly, it is not hard to realize the coincidence of having the military background in both occurrences. MILITARY BACKGROUND For

"Matchpix" - April 2018

(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

"Matchpix" - March 2017

(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: Tampines Rovers 2-1 Hougang United 040317 Hougang Utd's Zulfahmi Arifin (L) tussled with Ivan Dzoni Tampines Rovers Football Club defied the odds to beat Hougang United Football Club to prove the strength of the depth in their squad despite the absence of several key players due to suspension, etc. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES S.League: Warriors FC 1-1 Geylang Int'l 100217 Geylang's Shawal Anuar (middle) rose above all for this ball I was told a local publication got the fact wrong for this fixture when they stated Warriors Football Club was denied their first win of the season when they actually won their opener at Toa Payoh days ago. Nonetheless, they shared the spoils with Geylang Interna

[TNP League Cup] - Deeper Stags Clinched The Semis Berth

Veteran Noh (center) shown who is the boss in the match I thought it more or less tells it all when Tampines Rovers' skipper Noh Rahman did well to contain someone fifteenth year old younger than him in The New Paper League Cup Group A fixture against Warriors FC at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Croatian youngster Marijan Suto found himself in a fix for his inability to get pass the 35-year-old former Singapore international and things couldn't be more worse off when the 20-year-old striker was largely an isolated figure upfront. In a first half with little much to cheer about and many would thought it would be a goal-less affair before the interval, a freak opener by former Irish Republic youth international Billy Mehmet opened the account for the Stags moments before referee Jansen Foo signalled for the break. Fabian Kwok (right) in an aerial duel  An uncharacteristic blooper by Warriors' custodian Basil Chan saw the ball fumbled into the goal much to the astonis

Uniform Duo Shared Spoils in Fiery Outing in Bishan ...

Song Ui-young tussled with Hafiz Nor (11) The league opener for the Uniform Duo of Home United and Warriors FC ended in a two-all draw in the last evening at the Bishan Stadium, which last staged an S.League match back in 2014 after it was selected as one of the venues for the biennial South-East-Asian Games a year later. Prior to the start of this much-hyped campaign saw both sides went through a massive reshuffling in their squads that saw a few notable signings laden onto their rosters with likes of Madhu Mohana, Yazid Yasin recruited from the disbanded Lions XII and Geylang International respectively to Warriors who also welcomed back the likes of Hafiz Osman, Shaiful Esah and Ismail Yunos to the fold. While Home United impressed upon the rest with new names like Faris Ramli, Khairul Nizam, Zulfahmi Arifin (from Lion XII), the two sons of local legend Fandi Ahmad – Irfan and Ikhsan Fandi while retained the core of their squad from last season that included their import trio

[TNP League Cup] Laggy Warriors CRUSHED by Precise Tigers

Kristic (center) got a hat-trick This could be the only trophy not within the reach of the most successful club in the S.League anytime soon, given the kind of display the Warriors dished out hours earlier. The local scene got back to action after the SEA Games recess with The New Paper League Cup kicked start last evening with Alex Weaver led his troops to Toa Payoh to face their fellow AFC Cup representatives - Balestier Khalsa whom themselves were former winners of the Cup back in 2013. Nico Velez (10) closed down by Ho Wai Loon Ironically, the Cup, which is title-sponsored by a local newspaper of the same name this season, has never been won by any of those powerhouses of local football with the Warriors (when they were still known as SAFFC) came close in 2009 as runners-up to Brunei DPMM who are the most successful side in the tournament with three victories under their belt. Due to the ongoing Ramadan period, all fixtures in this tournament are scheduled for 8.30pm

[AFC Cup] Tales of the Two...

Balestier Khalsa's maiden Asian venture is laudable By all accounts, it is nothing glamorous about when your team are anchored at the foot of the group with only three points from five matches played and zero chance to make it to the next phrase. However, observers shall not pick on Balestier Khalsa for what they accomplished till this stage. After all, it's considered a massive achievement for a club of this magnitude to compete at this level on a shoestring, as compared to the other Singapore representative, Warriors FC who are playing their fourth AFC Cup tournament with a much bigger war chest. But coming to the closing stage of the group stages with one more game to go, the defending S . League champions found themselves languishing at the bottom of Group E with a duck to account for, as compared to the Tigers who secured a win over Kingfisher East Bengal at home. Alex Weaver struggled to compete on the continent front  Many observers pointed out much have

Tremendous Team Spirit Behind Warriors Comeback Win Over Stags, said Weaver

Watched the game from the media tribune  Warriors FC bounced back from their midweek debacle to claim maximum points in 3-2 win over arch-rivals Tampines Rovers at the Jalan Besar Stadium. A pleasing Alex Weaver walked into the room before attributed the factors behind the comeback win over the Stags. "Two factors behind the win tonight," said the Warriors tactician. "First, we have tremendous spirit in our team." "And good teams win games when they don't dominate the game. Secondly, it's the attacking strength in our team that I thought we did relatively well other than the two sloppy goals we conceded." First of that two sloppy goals came in the 21st minute when veteran ace Indra Sahdan made no mistake from a ball centered from the left by Brazilian Rodrigo Tosi with a jaded Warriors' backline gifted with that assistance. As suggested by the Englishman that Tampines being the more dominant side in the first half, but failed to

[AFC Cup] Warriors CRUSHED and ANCHORED ...

Robin Singh (9) celebrated after scored the winning goal Despite starting off their campaign on competitive mode early ahead the rest in Group E, Warriors FC found things tough going since the second-tier continent club tournament campaign started by chalking up losses against Persipura Jayapura and coupled with away losses to Maziya in Maldives and Bengaluru FC in Bangalore. With this 1-0 defeat from this returning fixture against Bengaluru, it marked the certainty to see the defending S . League champions' AFC Cup campaign come to another forgettable end, as they failed to progress out of the group phrase for the second time on a roll. Robin Singh body-checked by Vidosevic Curtis Osano headed the ball away  Adding salt to the wound, the fourth straight loss on the Asian level had anchored the most successful Singapore club at the foot of their group with other result on the same evening did no favour to them. Coming into this game with a number of regular start

Competitive Edge counts nothing in Warriors' AFC Cup opening defeat

Nico Velez (right) looks on a Persipura's celebrations   Unfortunately, having the competitive edge after went through grills offered by the Asian Champions League (ACL) playoffs in recent weeks did not give Warriors FC the necessary advantage, as perceived by many, during their AFC Cup Group E opener against Persipura Jayapura with the former succumbed to a 3-1 defeat at the Jalan Besar Stadium. After all, the Indonesian side did not have the most ideal preparation prior to this fixture due to delay commencement of their domestic season that denied any serious match practice before coming to Singapore. However, the last evening's result should more or less cast those doubts aside in the words of Metusalach Dwaramury, the assistant coach of the West Papua-based side. Boaz Solossa (hands raised) scored the second goal Speaking through a translator after the match, the bespectacled assistant to Brazilian Oswaldo Lessa opined:"While this is our first competitiv