BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

Hasnim Haron in action for Singapore (as credited) With the ball at his feet near the corner flag, the conventional move would have been for Hasnim Haron to pass it to a teammate in a better position to deliver a cross into the box. Nonetheless, the nippy Singapore winger had other ideas. He slightly rolled the ball backwards with the sole of his boot before flicking it up and whacking it into the penalty area during a Liga Semi-Pro (the Malaysian League) match at the old National Stadium. Such unorthodox trickery sent the thousands at Kallang into a state of frenzy. I will never forget the moment I saw that play on a delayed telecast back in 1990. The start of the last decade of the 20th century marked the rise to prominence of a man touted to fill the void vacated by both Fandi Ahmad and V. Sundram moorthy. (L-R) Hasnim and V Sundram moorthy in 1987 ( source ) With the exodus of the aforementioned duo overseas in the 1980s, the island republic was in desperate need of a new football...

 Community Shield - Lion City Sailors 1-4 BG Tampines Rovers 160825 BG Tampines Rovers claimed the first trophy of 2025/6 season BG Tampines Rovers secured a 4-1 victory over Lion City Sailors at the Jurong East Stadium to lift the Community Shield - the traditional curtain-raiser to the Singapore Premier League. Coach Akbar Nawas made a triumphant return to local football by guiding the Stags to their sixth Community Shield. CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES ➤  Community Shield - Lion City Sailors 1-4 BG Tampines Rovers #ACLTwo - Lion City Sailors 4-2 Selangor FC 011025 The Selangor players having a word with the referee. The match was kicked off at 6pm, before the activation of the LWS halted the play. The game resumed following the deactivation of the LWS. CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES ➤  #ACLTwo - Lion City Sailors 4-2 Selangor FC #ACLTwo - BG Tampines Rovers 2-1 BG Pathum United 021025 BG Tampines Rovers caused an upset by beating BG Pathum United in this ACL2 fixture The Stag...

I will not comment on whether Gavin Lee (pictured right) should be given the permanent role as Singapore national team head coach after he successfully guided the Lions to their first AFC Asian Cup qualification on merit on an interim basis. Gavin Lee (Pictured right) Although many cite the argument that he is "a local and knows the system well" as the main reason he should be appointed, I hope this consensus is not merely a result of the ongoing state of euphoria following that historical feat. The irony is, wasn't that a similar argument cited in 2016 when former Singapore striker V. Sundram moorthy took over from German Bernd Stange as the tactician of the four-time ASEAN champions? Despite rising through the coaching ranks since his retirement as a player with Jurong FC in the early 2000s - having acquired enough pedigree by taking charge of S.League clubs like Young Lions and Tampines Rovers before landing in the hot seat - what happened in the end ? At the same tim...

For a large part of the first half, Singapore was literally swimming against the tide with the Indians dominating much of the possession. More spaces needed to be created to move the ball forward, and we have to be reminded that this is not a rugby match! Song's double against India saved the campaign (file snap) Song Ui-young's (file pictured) equaliser before the interval put the much-needed confidence back into the Lions. The Lions midfield was struggling to hold up the home team, who were storming through the middle of the park. It was a question of whether Singapore could hang on to the lead after Song doubled his tally in the 58th minute. Simply because too much space was given to India, which allowed them the flexibility to plan their movements to cocoon the visitors at their own half. It wasn't easy when the Lions literally threw their bodies towards the end of the game to salvage this important 2-1 win over India, keeping the AFC Asian Cup qualifying campaign alive...

Facing the "lobang" at Kallang I still have that distraught feeling after the blunder that allowed India to level the game at the closing stages of it. We did not utilise the numerical advantage since the early period of the second half. The back pass that led to the Indian equaliser was secondary when Lions were guilty of not being more aggressive in the final third. It was either we intended to hold the ball long enough to frustrate the Indian or we just couldn't find our way to break them down at their back. Did the substitution in the second half played a part when some questioned the effectiveness of it? I don't know? I am just a photographer. ℹ️ For those unbeknownst, the abovementioned thoughts were from the AFC Asian Cup qualifying match between Singapore and India played on 9th October 2025 that ended in one-all draw. - 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎'𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍 -

This post is a reproduction of a reply to one question posted on an online forum on how to improve local football It's a question everyone has been asking, and TBH, there is no viable solution to the problems we are facing. As for now, I would encourage that those who have been to local matches, be it the national team's, SPL ( Singapore Premier League ) or even school games, post and share their thoughts on their socials with their family and friends. Spread the awareness using your phone While we may not see those who have never been to local matches to be convinced or be converted instantly, the whole idea is to spread the awareness of the local game, which has been besieged by negative publicity (i.e., the usual Goal 2XXX or 3XXX joke). Let your family and friends know about the other side of local football through' your social media postings and make them curious about "How come my who-and-who is following the exploits of Lion City Sailors when almost everyone i...

 Shopee Cup - Lion City Sailors 0-0 Buriram United 230125 Buriram United's penalty claim was brushed aside The goal-less draw between the powerhouses of both Singapore and Thailand saw the former represented by Lion City Sailors being eliminated from the Asean Club Championship aka Shopee Cup (for sponsorship reason) CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES ➤ LION CITY SAILORS VS BURIRAM UNITED Singapore Cup - Balestier Khalsa 1-2 BG Pathum United 020325 Balestier Khalsa's Kodai Tanaka (extreme right) being hold back Ace striker Kodai Tanaka's botched attempt from the spot near towards the end had Balestier Khalsa licking their wounds in this Singapore Cup defeat against 10-man BG Pathum United at Bishan instead. CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES ➤ BALESTIER KHALSA VS BG PATHUM UNITED #ACLTwo - Lion City Sailors 1-1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima (agg:4-1) 130325 Lion City Sailors celebrate after their opener against Sanfrecce Hiroshima at JBS Lion City Sailors became the third Singaporean club to feature...

Singapore National Team ’s 1-0 defeat to Nepal at the National Stadium on 21 March 2025 left many fans stunned. With a higher FIFA ranking, the 160th-ranked Lions were expected to overpower the Nepalese who are ranked at the 175th place, but instead, they found themselves struggling to put together a cohesive performance. "Nasi Lemak" - a favourite local dish After the match, a friend of mine used "Nasi Lemak" (above image, as credited), a beloved local dish, to describe the situation. NO WATER, NO NITRATES – NO QUALITY INGREDIENTS "If the padi field doesn't have the water or nitrates, you can't have decent nasi lemak or Teochew muay." said this friend of mine who started off his theory with these words. He reasoned that if a padi field lacks water and nitrates, you can’t grow quality rice, nor can you cultivate fresh cucumbers. It also affects chicken feed production, meaning the fried chicken wing - the heart of a good "Nasi Lemak" -...

1950 Malaya Cup Winners - Singapore Without slight exaggeration, my eyeballs were literally popped out when I saw a black-and-white picture that came after a text message from a friend. "Bro, you might be keen on this iconic picture from 1950" texted my friend, who attached a post-match shot of the Singapore team who just won the Malaya Cup that year. I replied: "Goodness me, it was the first Malaya Cup win for us after the War." , after taking note of the handwritten description on the reverse side of the picture. "1950 Malaya Cup Final ... Singapore beat Penang 2-0" were part of the description hand written on the reverse side of the picture, which I believe was detached from an old photo album based on the visible black mark on the top right corner of it. The first XI of the 1950 Malaya Cup winning team As mentioned, the 1950 victory was the first triumph for the then British crown colony following the resuming of this popular competition after the Wo...

The 10,000-seater stadium in TPID (credit: Playmaker SG ) The groundbreaking of the Toa Payoh Integrated Development (TPID) earlier today (5/1) at the former site of the Toa Payoh Sports Centre should bring some smiles to football fans in this country. One of the key features of the new development, which is scheduled to be completed in 2030, is a 10,000-seater stadium that should answer the prayers of those who long to see another football-centric arena besides those at Jalan Besar Stadium (JBS) and Jurong East Stadium (JE). AT LEAST THREE ATTEMPTS IN LAST 30 YEARS Based on what I gathered, there were, at least, three attempts to have such arena for that sole purpose in the last thirty-odd years. Tampines Rovers SC's blueprint in 1992 (NLB Archive) The first plan I came across was mooted by Tampines Rovers Sports Club (not to be confused with the Singapore Premier League club of the same name) in a TNP (The New Paper) article back in January 1992 . Another plan for "one...

 #ACLTwo - Lion City Sailors 2-3 Persib Bandung 071124 Persib Bandung staged a stunning comeback Lion City Sailors paid dearly for not keeping up the intensity after taking a two-nil lead at interval and found themselves sunk into the ocean by a resilient PERSIB Bandung side at JBS. CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES ➤ LION CITY SAILORS VS PERSIB BANDUNG International Friendly - Singapore 2-3 Chinese Taipei 181123 Singapore (blue) suffered a defeat in the hands of Chinese Taipei The Singapore national team paid the price for their lack of bite till the very late and succumbed to their third defeat to Chinese Taipei since 2017. CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES ➤ SINGAPORE VS CHINESE TAIPEI #ACLTwo - Lion City Sailors 5-2 Port FC 051224 Hat-trick hero Song Ui-Young celebrates with Maxime Lestienne A 5-2 win which included a hat-trick from Song Ui-young helped Lion City Sailors to beat Port FC 5-2 at JBS to finish top of Group F of the AFC Champions League Two. Both teams qualified for the next pha...

Moore - A fatherly figure to the 1994 Lions (as credited) When he assumed the role of Technical Director of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) in January 1994, little did Douglas Moore know things would take a different turn in weeks to come. Arrived in the island republic on the recommendation of the late Peter Velappan, the then secretary of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) , the former New Zealand FA's Director of Coaching was told he would assist Ken Worden , the then newly-appointed Singapore national team coach, when necessary, on top of his scope which included overseeing various national age-group squads, conducting coaching clinics, etc. However, merely days before Singapore were set to start their Malaysian Premier League (Liga Perdana) campaign against Kelantan, Worden dropped a bombshell by tendering his resignation, citing 'personal reasons' . Shortly after, the Preston-born Australian was named head coach of the 'auld enemy,' Selangor...