BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

The name card of Mr Lim Kia Tong Just only days ago before his demise in 2022 , I received this from him at a book launch at JBS. And he said these words to me:"I heard you been writing a lot on Singapore football." before he handed me his name card, as shown. That was only the second time I had met Mr Lim Kia Tong face-to-face, despite snapping him from a distance ever since his rise to prominence in local football. He took over the presidency of the Football Association of Singapore in 2017 when his team won the election after FAS held its first election in decades. I will not touch on what he did for the game of football in Singapore, as plenty of articles out there have already documented that . Mr Lim addressing the media in 2017 However, before I conclude this short post, I thought it would be a good idea to share how and when I first met Mr Lim. It was in a boardroom at the old National Stadium during the early 2000s, if I remember correctly — where we both sat on a ...

When ground sharing among Singapore Premier League (SPL) clubs started in 2019, there were mixed reactions from the fraternity. To some fans, the uprooting of their favourite clubs from their allocated home ground was like “losing the sense of identity.” Jurong East - one of the "shared stadiums" (file) After all, when professional football was introduced in 1996, one of the key emphases was community outreach. Clubs were strategically located around the island so that they could embed themselves into the neighbourhoods they represented. LOSS OF COMMUNITY ROOTS AND FAN IDENTITY Take the case of Hougang United. They have been playing their home games at Jalan Besar Stadium (JBS) in recent years after moving out of Hougang Stadium when they were still known as Sengkang Punggol. To this day, the HOOLs, the supporters’ group of the Cheetahs, still identify “Gate 3” as their meeting point. This was the spot near Gate 3 of Hougang Stadium where they congregated directly behind the...

The inaugural Soccer 7s Series came to an end after three days of intense competition. With some players from the 2016 Premier League-winning side in their squad, Leicester City Masters clinched the Masters category by beating COMOS Masters 1-0 with a solitary goal from Martyn Waghorn. SKY BLUES TRIUMPHED IN OPEN CATEGORY In the Open category, Coventry City emerged as the winners after defeating Corinthians of Brazil 2-0. Former Singapore international Gabriel Quak's early brace in the game against Ratchaburi FC helped Singapore Football Club to secure the Plate in this category. Gabriel Quak in action for Singapore FC Hashtag United from England were declared the Shield winners after a 1-0 victory over Shanghai Shenhua. However, the Shanghainese did not walk away empty-handed when their female counterparts beat QPR Hoops to be crowned the women's champions . Throughout the three-day tournament, football fans not only witnessed some fast-paced action played on a smaller pitc...

To mark Singapore’s 60th birthday, and as part of the organisers’ ambition to grow the tournament across international markets, the " Soccer7sSeries " will be held at Jalan Besar Stadium (JBS) this July to fuel that vision. " Soccer7sSeries " will be held at JBS In the press release issued by the organisers, Mr Dom Lane, Chief Executive Officer for the Soccer7sSeries shared the reason for staging the competition. SINGAPORE - A GLOBAL SPORTING DESTINATION “Singapore has truly become a global sporting destination, so we’re delighted to bring the Soccer7sSeries to the country,” said Mr Lane. The tournament will feature high-profile clubs from around the world, with representation from the likes of Vasco Da Gama from Brazil to German giants Borussia Dortmund, English club Coventry City to Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua. Singapore will be represented by Singapore Premier League (SPL) club Geylang International in both Men’s and Women’s Open competitions, with former Sing...

(This entry is formulated by the media release issued by Full Circle PR, the PR agency for the event with image depicted in this entry belonging to "Singapore Festival of Football") After a one-year hiatus, the Singapore Festival of Football (SFOF) is set to return this July, featuring English powerhouses Arsenal and Newcastle United , alongside with 19-time Serie A champions AC Milan . FIRST VISIT TO SINGAPORE BY "I ROSSONERI" While both the Gunners and Magpies are no strangers to the republic for having paid their visits in the past, the coming trip to the Lion City will be the first-ever for "I Rossoneri". In the press conference held earlier today (11/4) at the Pan Pacific Singapore, the tournament's joint organisers - TEG Sport and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) announced a five-year partnership has been confirmed to see regular top-flight European football fixtures played in Singapore in alternate years (2025, 2027 and 2029).   (L-R): Ms  M...

I was thrilled to receive my copy of " Roy of the Rovers " which I bought online recently (image below). A browse through the pages of this hard copy that compiled the best of its 1970s collection brought back some of my childhood memories when I first came across this comic strip during my primary school days. A hardcopy of "Roy of The Rovers" Like how boys these days are glued to their handhelds, many in the yesteryears were looking forward to the latest development of the exploits of the main character " Roy Race " and " Melchester Rovers " the fictional football team managed by him. Those first few copies I read were found in my school library, and since then it has been a futile effort to grab hold of them despite years of scavenging among those discarded collections or any secondhand book stores I can think of. Honestly speaking, hardcovers like the one shown are not that cheap, but a chance to savour that bit of childhood memory is pricele...

The new Singapore National Football Team Home Jersey (as credited) You must have seen the new Singapore national team jersey everywhere by now, especially since the Football Association Singapore (FAS) first unveiled it on their social media in late August . The new home jersey garnered even more attention when popular streamer iShowSpeed wore a seemingly identical version during a recent stroll around town , showcasing it to his massive subscriber base of 32 million. COLLABORATION WITH "SPEED" BEFORE LAUNCH: FAS  In response to queries from this platform, a FAS spokesperson confirmed that it was indeed the same jersey, stating, "We worked with iShowSpeed's team and our partners, Weston, to do just that - to leverage his reach to draw attention to the new kit and generate buzz ahead of Friday’s event (29/9 - the day of the official unveiling)," when asked whether there was any collaboration involving the 19-year-old internet personality wearing the jersey befo...

(This entry is formulated based on the media release issued by SGX Group, to which the images depicted below are credited) SGX will run a financial training camp for footballers Following their collaboration with Lion City Sailors Football Club in 2022 to equip their footballers with essential financial management skills with a series of workshops, the Singapore Exchange (SGX Group) widened that approach with an announcement made this morning (3rd April 2024) of another new initiative on a wider scope. EQUIP THE PLAYERS WITH FINANCIAL LITERACY THROUGH SGX CARES In partnership with the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) and as part of SGX Group's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, SGX Cares, where financial literacy is one of the key pillars, the training camp is curated to equip the footballers with the fundamentals of financial management and investing which are essential building blocks to financial resilience. Close to 500 footballers from the Singapore Premi...

(This entry is formulated by the media release issued by  Full Circle PR , the PR agency for the event with image depicted in this entry belonging to  " Singapore Festival of Football Driven by CDG Zig" ) The club legends** at the press conference of the event Riding on the success of their last year's visit, which saw them beat Crystal Palace in front of 50,217 fans at the National Stadium , nineteen-time English league champions Liverpool FC will be in Singapore again to play not one but two matches at Kallang. REDS TO TAKE ON FOXES AND "DIE BAYERN" In a press conference held earlier today at the Pan Pacific, it was announced the Reds will be scheduled to play follow English side Leicester City on the 30th of July before taking on German giants Bayern Munich on the 2nd of August at the National Stadium. Liverpool will defend their Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy , presented by Standard Chartered, when they take on The Foxes on the last Sunday of July bef...

The biography of "Uncle" Choo Seng Quee I was thrilled when I first came across the Facebook group posting by Reynold Godwin Pereira on his plan to write a book about Choo Seng Quee, the late legendary Singapore football coach whose name still awes everyone by merely mentioning his moniker "Uncle Choo". After all, we are talking about an individual who, through his no-nonsense, tough disciplinary methods, uplifted game standards not just in Singapore, but also in Malaysia and Indonesia. PRESERVE UNCLE CHOO MEMORIES BEFORE THEY'RE GONE A biography like this one came just at the right time to inform the current young generation of the great things the man did before all those memories would fade away after the passing of one generation. With "Uncle Choo" passing away in 1983, Pereira had to rely on the accounts shared with him by those who knew him, including players who trained under him and became national players like Quah Kim Song , etc. The book aut...

 SGPL - Lion City Sailors 3-1 Tanjong Pagar United 240223 Both Sailors and Jags anticipating a ball into the box Lion City Sailors opened their Singapore Premier League campaign with a sweet victory over Tanjong Pagar United in their homecoming at the Bishan Stadium. Japanese ace striker Kodai Tanaka marked his Sailors' debut with a brace from close range in second half. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Balestier Khalsa 2-3 Hougang United 260223 Balestier Khalsa's Ryoya Taniguchi (red shirt) surrounded by Hougang United players Hougang United claimed all three points at Bishan Stadium by beating Balestier Khalsa 3-2 in a scrappy encounter which is otherwise known as the "pinball" derby. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Geylang International 2-1 Hougang United 050323 Hougang United's players look on as Geylang International celebrate With Vincent Bezecourt's double in the second half, Geylang Internation...

(The content and images depicted in this entry were made available by the media release issued by the organizers) The SFA Fiesta at National Stadium (picture as credited) Football made its way back to the National Stadium this morning (28/1) after a hiatus when about 200 student-athletes from the School Football Academy (SFA) programme under the Unleash The Roar! national football project, which is run in 12 schools, experienced the thrill of playing on the pitch of the cornerstone of the Singapore Sports Hub in the SFA Fiesta . The abovementioned tournament is an inter-SFA 8v8 tournament which also saw participation from girl footballers from Methodist Girls’ School and Woodlands Secondary School who are new additions to the SFA programme in 2023. "GOOD EXPOSURE"  "It’s good exposure for us because it’s our first time playing at the National Stadium and it’s been a great experience; we had a lot of fun." said Khairufatin Binte Suyasri in the press statement issu...

(This entry is formulated based on the media release issued by Rookbook Sports   with all images depicted in this entry being credited accordingly as shown) In an arrangement made possible by their agency Rookbook Sports, Ong Yu En and Fathullah Rahmat will be heading to South Korea for a training stint. Having impressed the local fraternity with their show of promising potential with their clubs in this season's Singapore Premier League, Tampines Rovers' Yu En and Tanjong Pagar United's Fathullah will have the opportunity to train with South Korean clubs on this one-of-a-kind trip. (L-R) Ong Yu En and Fathullah Rahmat During the trip, the duo will train with the senior squad of K-League 2 club Cheonan City, as well as the youth set-ups of K-League 1 sides Incheon United FC and Suwon Samsung Bluewings. “Having been working in the Singapore footballing landscape, we believe that we’ve identified an area that will be very helpful to players here, especially the younger ones w...

(The content and images depicted in this entry were made available by the media release issued by the organizers) Fandi Ahmad with Minister Edwin Tong in action The 7th SGX Cares Bull Charge Charity Futsal tournament made its return after it last took place in 2019 and raised S$111,000 which will be channelled via Community Chest to the beneficiaries namely AWWA Ltd., Autism Association (Singapore), Fei Yue Community Services, HCSA Community Services and Shared Services for Charities. Held this morning at the Kovan Sports Centre, the charity event was organised under the SGX Cares - the CSR program by the Singapore Exchange ( SGX Group ). SGX Cares , the collective name of SGX Group’s CSR pillars of Bull Charge, Outreach and Financial Literacy, aims to create positive impact by activating the power of community. Bull Charge, the flagship fundraising initiative, has raised over S$44 million since 2004 for more than 50 charities and a variety of causes, through the support of corporate s...

Lee (19) exchanges pleasantries with SNL participants Albirex Niigata FC Singapore's star striker Tadanari Lee will be donating all of his goal bonus, which is worth S$200 per goal, to ‘Goals for SportCares’ campaign till the end of the AIA Singapore Premier League 2022 season, according to the club. LEE: BE PART OF THE COMMUNITY “When I came to Singapore in January 2022, I wanted to be part of the community and a way to do this is to give back through what I can do best – sport. So, when I heard about SportCares and how they use football to engage the youth, it really resonated with me." said Lee in the said media advisory. The 37-year-old kicked off his donation drive in the SportCares’ Saturday Night Lights (SNL) event yesterday (23/4) at Clementi Stadium where Lee joined the youth players in their football drills and shared some pointers with them on the field. Lee showing pointers to SNL participants Following the drills, Lee also joined the Muslim participants for iftar...

Neymar Jr said "Goodbye" before making his exit from the Nigeria game due to an injury   The Brazilian national team concluded their whirlwind tour of Singapore that saw them pit against Senegal and Nigeria over the past few days at the National Stadium. These friendly matches were scheduled as part of the exclusive arrangement between the Brazilian FA (CBF) and Pitch International, a leading sports marketing agency, under the "Brasil Global Tour" package that began in 2012 and will continue till the 2022 World Cup tournament. Liverpool's Roberto Firmino (20) made his attempt against Nigeria POOR CROWD FIGURES  As compared to the 51,557 that packed the same arena five years ago to witness the "Seleçāo" featured against their Japanese counterparts and saw superstar Neymar Jr. netted all four goals, a paltry crowd of 20,621 turned up for the designated hosts' one-all draw with Senegal on the first night despite having some of the bigges...