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Singapore's 1987 "Malaysia Cup" Squad

This souvenir program Alas, how time flies – 1987 was the year this handbook was published by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), and to serve as a guide to Singapore's Malaysia Cup campaign that year. It was given to me by an aunt of mine more than 30 years ago when I was a primary school kid. I remember the idea behind the original blog post before repurposed to this present form was because I was asked by a friend if I got pictures featuring Singapore national team from the yesteryears. A sense of nostalgic sentiment flows as I flipped through the pages and was pretty shocked to see Fandi Ahmad playing against us (only to realize that he was earning a living as a professional footballer turning out for Federal Territory (FT) later Kuala Lumpur FA). The Lions of 1987 The centerfold of the souvenir magazine is the team photo taken at the old National Stadium. Mr Wong Kan Seng's message Former Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng was the then Minister for Community Dev

Grooming The Safe Hands is Now Rizal's Role ...

Rizal is now part of Tanjong Pagar United's coaching panel Rizal Rahman is the reason why I decided to take up football photography. I still remember that day we met for the first time face to face at a fast food outlet near the National Stadium when he asked if I have pictures from his playing days. Which, unfortunately, I had none as I had yet to start taking match photos back then and I could sense the disappointment which I thought was probably a good time to venture into something that was alien to me. The following repurposed content is the feature on the former Balestier Khalsa goalkeeper which was first published on 23rd April 2009 in a Q&A format. Additional details were added to this blog post recently to give an update on the ex-national youth goalkeeper. FROM THE VOID DECKS Like many Singapore boys, Rizal started playing football in void decks of HDB (Housing Development Board) residential blocks. As the primary school where he studied did not have a football team,

Thankfully, Fans Did Not Have Their Way

If not, we would not have seen what was claimed by many as the best-ever national team that played and won the Malaysia Cup in 1977.  I chanced upon the National Library Newspaper archive site one fine day, and out of curiosity, I decided to search through the site to see if I can find some of the clippings of the heydays of Singapore back in the 1970s. The result was these two clippings... 'Fans petition' in 1976 ( NLB archive ) It was interesting to note back on 16th December 1976, The Straits Times (ST) reported a fans' petition was organized to ask the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) to replace "Uncle" Choo Seng Quee, arguably the best coach we ever had, with Technical Advisor Englishman Trevor Hartley as the national team coach.  "POOR RAPPORT", "OUT-MODED" CLAIMED FANS These disgruntled fans claimed the coaching methods of Choo were "out-moded" and felt there was a "poor rapport" between him and several player

The "Russian Tank" of Singapore Football - Borhan Abu Samah

Borhan Abu Samah 1964-1999  (P.S1) The demise of Borhan Abu Samah at the young age of 34 back in 1999 was a shocker to many in the scene, as he only just quit competitive football barely two years before. One of the vivid memories I had on the day (29 October 1999) he passed away was, I was at Toa Payoh Stadium after a match where a TV crew gathered some of his former teammates to talk about the man who passed away because of liver cancer One after another, these former squadmates of Borhan took turns to share their individual memories of the late former defender on video that were shown on television later. LIONS DEBUT IN 1987 Born on 30 November 1964, Borhan began his football career with Mountbatten CSC, Tiong Bahru CSC before joining Geylang International in 1990. He made his debut for the Singapore National Team on the 4th of March 1987 when he was featured in the victory over Indonesia in the Olympics Qualifiers at the old National Stadium. That 2-0 triumph over the Garudas, with

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

Ibrahim Corner And The "Curva" Culture in Singapore Football

Snapped this before I was ushered back to the main stand No one, except for Sembawang Rangers fans, knows why it was called the "Ibrahim Corner" at this part of Yishun Stadium, where I took my place here prior to the start of the S.League match between Harimua Muda and Albirex Niigata (Singapore) back in March 2012. But one thing is for sure, for many Stallions faithful in the past, this stand facing the main stand of the stadium holds many memories for them. This was the place where local football used to have some of its most passionate supporters congregated during the Stallions' home games in yesteryears until the club decided to pull out in 2003 because of financial difficulties. One of the things I remembered of these Sembawang supporters was in 2005 when they turned up in numbers at Ibrahim Corner to show their support to former Sembawang Rangers coach Vorawan Chitavanich, who was in charge of Tampines Rovers, at a league game against the Young Lions at this sta

The Singaporeans' Hong Kong League Debut In Nov 1950

"The Kung Sheung Daily News" report on the Singaporeans' debut for Kitchee in November 1950 This is a follow-up entry on the post regarding the  seven Singaporean players who played for Kitchee SC in Hong Kong First Division back in the 1950s . "Hong Kong Football History Society" , the Facebook Page that contributed the old newspaper clippings to the said entry back last month, posted a summary of the Singaporeans' debut in Kowloon on 12th November 1950. The summary was based on the match report filed by "The Kung Sheung Daily News" (工商日報) dated 13th November 1950. THE "TIGER BALM" CONNECTION  At the beginning of the summary, it was revealed that the recruitment of the Singaporeans was the brainchild of the late Aw Hoe (胡好) of the famed "Tiger Balm" Aw family despite at that point of time he had already exited from Hong Kong football scene and returned to Singapore in July 1950. "Not willing to see the

That special kind of magic...

"Singapore-Selangor" was a crowd-puller ** The unique football rivalry between Singapore and Selangor can only be appreciated by those who have lived through that era. This rivalry is unique in the sense that it is not caused by different social classes (as in Argentina's elite-based River Plate and working-class linked Boca Juniors) or close-town rivalries like AC Milan and Inter. Instead, it was likened to the rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool. Despite languishing in the lower tier of the Malaysian League back in 1993, both Singapore and Selangor entertained a packed National Stadium in a second-division clash. To this day, some of us are still savouring those nostalgic moments of the swinging 1970s when the likes of Quah Kim Song, Samad Allapitchay, and Dollah Kassim were up against some of the best players in Asia those days, namely Mokhtar Dahari, Soh Chin Aun, and Santokh Singh who were playing for both Malaysia and Selangor. "SINGAPORE VS MALAYSI