BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

Jose Mourinho (credit:  Playmaker SG ) It was disappointing not being able to see Jose Mourinho in person when it was announced he and his AS Roma will not be coming to Singapore for the Tiger Cup showdown against one of his former clubs, Tottenham Hotspur in the upcoming Singapore Festival of Football Driven by CDG Zig (SFOF23) . CHAIN EFFECT LED TO NO SHOW Originally scheduled on 26th July as part of the Italian club's pre-season tour to this part of the world, the three-time "Scudetto" winners scrapped the plan following the cancellation of their two friendlies in South Korea . In the place of the "I Giallorossi" the organisers announced through a press statement issued on 12th July stated Singapore Premier League (SPL) side Lion City Sailors (LCS) will face the north Londoners instead . LCS' PREP FOR ACL  In the words of LCS chairman Forrest Li, the upcoming fixture at Kallang is an opportunity to allow his team to prepare for their AFC Champions ...

(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...

Led by English entrepreneur Reg Lambourne , the contingent comprised of English powerhouse Arsenal, Scottish giants Celtic FC, and Yugoslavian titans Red Star Belgrade arrived in Singapore to give local football fans one unforgettable experience in the Metro 20th Anniversary Tournament back in July 1977. I doubt scenes like this would ever happen today when I prowled and read what I gathered from newspapers archives for details on the Metro 20th Anniversary Tournament which took place in July 1977, when three groups of footballers descended together at the old Paya Lebar Airport for the abovementioned quadrangular which was part of the "World of Soccer Cup" friendly tournament played in both Singapore and Australia. "$24-MILLION WORTH OF TALENT" Was how it was labeled by The Straits Times in their report when renowned footballers such as Malcolm "Super Mac" MacDonald, Liam Brady, Danny McGrain, and Vladislav Bogicevic were part of the contingent welcome...

 SGPL - Lion City Sailors 2-4 Albirex Niigata (S) 081022 Albirex's supporters in jubilant mood after securing SPL title Albirex Niigata (Singapore) overpowered Lion City Sailors 4-2 to reclaim the Singapore Premier League title - their fifth league triumph since joining the Singapore football scene. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Singapore Cup - Geylang International 2-3 Tampines Rovers 281022 What a crowded six-yard box  Good exciting game for the neutrals to see how Geylang International fought back from a two-goal deficit but saw a flash across from Stags' Kyoga Nakamura wrapped up all three points in the dying moments over their co-tenants. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Singapore Cup Final - Hougang United 3-2 Tampines Rovers 191122 Cheetahs claimed their first major trophy in the professional era Hougang United clinched their first major trophy since joining the top flight when they beat Tampines Rovers 3-2 to win the S...

Nineteenth-time English league champions Liverpool concluded their South East Asian tour with a 2-0 win over fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace to clinch the Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy last evening at the National Stadium. The result meant the Reds fly out of the region with a record of a win and a defeat (4-0 loss to Manchester United in Bangkok). Liverpool fans at the match (credit: Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy 2022) In front of 50,217 fans, the fixture was the first that featured the two European top-flight clubs played in Singapore since 2019. Other than a small number of Palace fans that congregated behind one of the goals, it was almost a partisan Liverpool crowd that recreated the Anfield atmosphere at Kallang, such as the rendition of the club's iconic anthem - "You'll Never Walk Alone" during the night. Liverpool took an early in the 13th minute when skipper Jordan Henderson fired past Eagles' keeper Vicente Guaita in the box after...

The VIPs at the announcement of the match  Nineteenth-time English league champions Liverpool will take on fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace in the Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy 2022. A press conference was held this morning at Gardens by the Bay to announce the match will be played on 15th July at the National Stadium. FIRST MATCH FEATURING EUROPEAN CLUB SIDES SINCE 2019 Organized by TEG Sport in partnership with Standard Chartered, Singapore Tourism Board (STB), and CARRO, the confirmation of this fixture will see the Reds and the Eagles being the first two European top-flight clubs to play in Singapore since 2019. Brendon Bainbridge, Managing Director of TEG Asia “TEG is proud to bring live sporting action to Singapore once again. As the organisers of the Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy 2022, our priority is to provide an exceptional sporting event in an atmosphere with all the elements that make watching live sport an incredible experience for all fans in att...

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...

Did you see the rainbow? Good day to all, Plenty of things happened over the last few days. ➡️ The resuming of the AIA Singapore Premier League. ➡️ The two-and-half-year partnership between Lion City Sailors and Borussia Dortmund. ➡️ Another Tampines Rovers player tested positive for the Covid19 after returning from the AFC Champions League campaign in Uzbekistan. ✅ ✅ The first two are, no doubt, some positives injected to the scene while, and hopefully, the infected Tampines players will get well soon 🙏. 🤒 From what I read, not only Tampines players are infected, six persons from Gamba Osaka and Frontale Kawasaki are infected as well. 🤒 Gamba reported having two players and two accompanied staff down with the virus, while Frontale non-playing staff were infected, according to Sohu, a China news portal. 🤦🏻‍♂️Although, it is regrettable to come across some nonsensical comments targeted at those infected Tampines players which clearly shown the lack of empathy towards anyone who is...

Was not thinking of penning this annual review since it was a shortened season due to the ongoing pandemic. Nonetheless, I decided to come up with a short piece, to sum up my thoughts on the extraordinary year that not only affected local football but also our daily life as well. First of all, congratulations to Albirex Niigata (Singapore) for regaining the Singapore Premier League (SGPL) title which they last won in 2018 as part of their clean sweep of local major honours. A PACKED 2021 CALENDAR - A HEADACHE FOR FAS AND CLUBS The ongoing Covid19 pandemic resulted in a number of competitions, both regional and domestic, being postponed or canceled thus it is likely to see a packed footballing calendar next year. Not only will we see Tampines Rovers, Lion City Sailors, and Geylang International taking part in continental tournaments like the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup, but the AFF Suzuki Cup is also scheduled to return next year  (though in December 2021 at the latest...

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...

We may not see the return of the International Champions Cup Singapore (ICCSG) tournament due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic but it is worthwhile to look back on some happenings that took place in the past when foreign teams came to our shores to play a few friendly matches. The arrival of those marquee names in the world football to this dot of the globe in recent years has always been a crowd-puller that not only drawn local fans from their couches from Jurong to Tampines and Woodlands to Bedok by making their way down to Kallang, the ICCSG, as it is commonly known as, has also been a lure for the regional supporters of those European clubs as well like how the Indonesian fans of Inter made their presence felt in their match against Chelsea in the 2017 edition. Advertisement for Anchor Soccer Festival' 74 ( NLB archive ) The trend of such visits by these foreign sides did not start during the 1970s when there were tournaments like the Anchor Soccer Festival in 1974 (so...