BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

"We are the WARRIORS!" The eighth-time S.League champions will be renamed as Warriors Football Club , as announced during the club's outreach program held in this afternoon at Lot One Shopping Center in Choa Chu Kang. The re-branding by the Choa Chu Kang-based club will be the second side to do so prior to the start of 2013 season, after Geylang International (formerly known as Geylang United) did theirs earlier this month. Speaking to the media after the event, club chairman Brigadier General Lam Shiu Tong explained the motive behind the change. Said BG Lam:"SAFFC (as they were formerly known as) had operated since day one and served the S.League well, but the SAF (Singapore Armed Forces) decided that the club should be given more autonomy and decided to drop the words 'SAF' in order to give the club more flexibility to engage with a wider group of stakeholders. "Having said that the club structure remains unchanged, which explains why I am

(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) Singapore Cup SF1: Gombak Utd 0-1 SAFFC 6/10/12 "Watch Out!!!" The fear of the relapse of the chronic backache that has been bothering me, which I thought it'll be good for me to be seated when taking the shots. Anyway, much to my surprise that I was able to shoot under the settings of ISO3200, 1/320-400 (pending where the action took place), f5.6 and that it seems the floodlights seems stronger. Kari's penalty was deemed enough for the Warriors to see them through to the Cup final for the first time since 2008. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Singapore Cup SF2 - LM Sparks 0-3 Tampines Rovers 7/10/2012 LM Sparks star Phil Younghusband "Ah Long" (Noh Alam Shah) made his first start since return

Richard Bok left a legacy behind So it was the perfect farewell gift for departing SAFFC coach, Richard Bok, as the Warriors ended their trophy drought since 2009 with the clinching of the RHB Singapore Cup at the expense of title challengers, Tampines Rovers at the Jalan Besar Stadium with a 2-1 scoreline. The winning of the Cup this evening could be seen by some as the most significant achievement in Bok's coaching career. For the fact that the squad that won tonight is a SAFFC team that is considered the squad Bok tried to build up as his own for bigger stages after the exodus of several stalwarts such as Thai legend Therdsak Chaiman, John Wilkinson, Aleksandar Duric, etc. following their last trophy won - the League title in 2009. SAFFC players tossed coach Bok in the air after the win The following years saw the Warriors gradually revamp the squad with several new signings in an effort to beef up the challenge in its second Asian Champions League (ACL) appearance

It's nice to be back at games and on the sidelines to snap some shots, which was why I thought the setting was right to be at the "Wild Wild West" - Jurong West Stadium for the second leg of the "FINAL FOUR" series between SAFFC and Gombak United. The fear of the relapse of the chronic backache that has been bothering me, which I thought it'll be good for me to be seated when taking the shots. Managed to get shots relevant to the disallowed goals Anyway, not much of action took place from where I was positioned and the both sides had one goal each in each half disallowed by the referee ( don't ask me why, as I always tell people that from a photog's perspective, it's never easy to decipher situations like these ). Iqbal (white jersey no 4) causing panic in the SAFFC's defence I thought the Bulls were pretty unlucky in this match, as they did have their share of possessions when they were attacking towards my end with some good w

(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) Uniform Derby - Singapore Cup 04/07/12 It wasn't easy to snap the shots when the lights were dimmed, as compared to those during the AFC Cup.The uploading of the shots was late, as I was out of town shortly after the game. The 2-1 win by the Warriors eventually laid the ground for their advancement to the semi-finals of the Cup after they drew 3-3 with the Protectors days later at home. (P.S2: This album is the only one for the month of July due to various pre-arranged commitments that made it impossible to have a few more.) PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES

(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 - SAFFC 1-2 Harimau Muda 1/4/12 2012 "Why?" Harimau Muda kept their impressive run since the start with a 2-1 win over traditional powerhouses SAFFC at CCK. Wan Zack Haikal was the key man of the Malaysians' win with a goal and set up another in the game, while Shimpei Sakurada's goal briefly revitalized the Warriors' hope until Ahmad Hazwan Bakri scored the winner in 83rd minute. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES AFC Cup- Tampines 0-1 Terengganu FA 04/04/12 Alek Duric (left) eventually scored twice against Ganu in return fixture Tampines Rovers' continental campaign is in danger of not having themselves crossing the AFC Cup group stages for the first time since their participation with 1-

Indra in action for the Warriors in last Oct's Uniform Derby This is a cute situation when ex Lions skipper Indra Sahdan Daud, who recently re-joined Home United after release from SAFFC last season, after he passed his beeper this morning (according to Liga Singapura's tweet). The veteran striker is likely to be fielded in this coming Sunday's Uniform Derby against SAFFC. In the two derby matches that were played at CCK last year, Indra scored to help the Warriors to beat the "auld enemy" that terminated Protectors' undefeated record of 25 matches. No such luck in the fate deciding match in the mid October that saw Warriors washed out at 4-0 and bid goodbye to their faded title hopes with Indra came in late with nothing much can be done then. So would Indra be the decided factor again with both powerhouses of local football been struggling to find their foothold following a "false start" to their campaign?

"I always believe such cooperation between clubs and their locality GROs (Grassroots Organizations) will do more good than anything. Both parties should leverage on the plus sides of each other to benefit themselves in the long run. And this is something I hope the "joint event" this afternoon is not a "one-off" event." That was what I said on the blog FB page in response to a member's posting on the "SAFFC Warriors Football Carnival 2012", which was held in Choa Chu Kang (CCK), before heading down there.   "SAFFC Warriors Football Carnival 2012" The choice of the venue was ideal with the event taking place just right across the "Lot 1 Shopping Center" which made it a lot easier for people to take notice and travel to and fro the Choa Chu Kang MRT station next to the mall. Ruzaini Zainal (right) signs on a poster of a fan In conjunction with the SAFFC's pre-season media press conference, a futsal tournament for

Honestly speaking this hastily-arranged fixture came as a surprise to me when I was told the "Uniform Duo" (SAFFC and Home United)be playing against each other at Jalan Besar on the New Year's eve. John Wilkinson (left) skippered Protectors against his old club After all, not all the teams have started their pre-season training and let alone if DPMM's status is officially confirmed despite the earlier report on Asean Football Federation website (AFF). "I just want to know my new players' strength so I called (SAFFC coach) Richard Bok for this friendly match." said Home United coach Paul Lee after the match that saw his side lost 2-0 to its arch rivals. "However, it's still to early to gauge my team's performance when players like (captain) Shi Jiayi and (Fred) Mendy are still not back in Singapore. "I think for now result of this game is not important, as I need to check the condition of my players." added the Korean co

In less than 24 hours the pole position of the league standings changes three times in the Round 6 of the 2010 S.League campaign. Prior to the "Uniform Derby" at CCK, Home United were holding that position on top of their unbeaten 25-game unbeaten run, only to see that record shattered by their arch-rivals, SAFFC with their former protege, Indra Sahdan Daud playing a pivotal role in created and scoring a goal along the way to place the Warriors at the top for the first time this year. “A record (the 25-game unbeaten run) like this is always meant to break.” said coach Lee Lim Saeng of Home United after the defeat to SAFFC, while his oounterpart Richard Bok added:"It’s good to be at the top of the table again, and I hope we can maintain that momentum". Although, that status maintained for just less than 24 hours after the result at the Jalan Besar Stadium when Tampines Rovers came from behind to beat defending champions Etoile FC. It could a game that went either wa

(Media Information from Singapore Armed Forces Football Club ) Singapore, 22 February 2011 – Singapore Armed Forces Football Club (SAFFC) welcomes fans to the Warriors Arena (Choa Chu Kang Stadium) with fun-filled activities, goodies and attractive prizes at all their home matches. Fans can look forward to a carnival atmosphere with free popcorns, cotton candies and balloons for kids. Andersen’s of Denmark Ice Cream will be giving away free premium ice creams to the first 300 season and paid ticket holders at selected matches. Season and paid ticket holders can try their luck on the pre-match game “Goal In One” kick and they stand a chance to win ipad, PSP, ipod shuffle and other attractive prizes. A lucky draw will be conducted after every five home matches to reward loyal fans. Prizes include ipad, Xbox Kinetic and etc. Terms and conditions apply. More details will be released on www.safwarriors.com.sg To promote family bonding , SAFFC will give free admission to one student (7 year

me, as a photographer shooting match pictures at a sunset timing of 5pm, at least (the constant need to adjust the setting according to the lighting was so taxing). I need to crop and sharpen the image of the shot above Honestly speaking, based on where I MUST be positioned (close to the corner flag) during the opening match of this new season, I think I'm not in the right position to pass any rating of this game between Courts Young Lions and SAFFC. Some of the feedback I gathered after the game went like these, "Quite a poor game, huh?" commented one of them, "Warriors couldn't match the cubs (Young Lions) pace at times and defence is a suspect this year with or without Daniel Bennett (who was suspended for this opener)." On the contrary, SAFFC's coach Richard Bok felt otherwise as he lauded his defenders' performance after saw his team clinched the victory over their hosts. "After last year's disappointment, we decided to strengthen our b

(This message is extracted from the message I sent to the members of the BoLASEPaKO.com's Facebook Group ) I think we will be pretty busy over the next few days for making a decision for the 10th of November, as we must decide where shall we will be heading to (although, I know some of us here don't have much choice)? Only for them to lose themselves now, can Etoile (pictured above) bounced back against Albirex on 10/11? It's either you want to be at Jurong East for the Etoile-Albirex game , the Stags-Tigers showdown at Tampines or the "Uniform Derby" at the Jalan Besar. Heralded as the most exciting title race since 2007, we will only see the unveiling of this season champions on the 10th. Bring your family and friends to the stadium, with their support at the stadiums the players will be encouraged and put up display of better football." Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee said this during this season opener Following that on this coming Sunday (14th Novembe

(Managed to take a breather while my house's upgrading work still in progress, how could I possibly miss the "Uniform Derby" between SAFFC and Home Utd?) Anyway, it was the first time in months since I last saw the Protectors in action. Since then things have been improved for the MHA-linked club by offloaded some mis-fitted players in the transfer window, while making some shrew recruitments that totally transformed Home United into a force to be reckon with. While on the other hand, the long dominant SAFFC are experiencing one of its inconsistent seasons in its recent years, the gallant performance in the ACL seems to be a distant past with coach Richard Bok facing his toughest task to lift the spirit of the Warriors back to its glory. PICTURES FROM THE MATCH Both coaches - Paul Lee of Home United (left) and Richard Bok having a chatter before the start (wondering what was Lee smiling about...hmmm). It was a revitalized Home United, as compared to the same squ