BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

Years of involvement made me learn to adopt a precautionary stance on almost everything that came along as a way to buffer myself from disappointment. Even though I stick to that belief, it's no difference again when we are drawing close to another year with things ending sour again and no improvement to the scene when we thought it would at the start. Some painted a picture of optimism that our own S.League would gain from Lions XII's acrimonious exit from the Malaysian league with a large part of their playing staff, long perceived to be the best in the country, being snapped by various clubs in the beleaguered setup. Jermaine Pennant graced the league not long ago Furthermore, setting things into the groove saw big spending Tampines Rovers, under new chairman Krishna Ramachandra, acquired the biggest name in the league history by recruiting former Liverpool and Arsenal winger Jermaine Pennant , inked a partnership with Brazilian legend Ronaldinho to set...

It is that time of the year again when S.League clubs begin the tidying of their roster to deliberate who should stay and who they should be leaving upon fulfilling their contractual obligations. Unlike the early seasons of the league when newspapers were able to compile a list of "retain/release" and printed out of the sports pages once the season was over, this coveted name list is something held in utmost confidentiality these days. Some details tend to be overlooked ... As what we knew all along, a sizable number of players were on that infamous "eleven-month contract" which has always been the grouse among those whose livelihood depends on the game to feed their families. NO INCOME IN DECEMBER Generally, a normal playing contract under the "eleven-month" term will start on the 1st of January of the calendar year and expires on the last day of November. In another word, December is the month when there will be NO income for those whose co...

The former players featured in last weekend's “Battle Of Europe” match between England Masters and Germany Masters had many of those at the game recalled those good old memories when they saw the likes of legends Lothar Matthäus, Teddy Sheringham, etc. took on each other in one of football's most storied rivalries at Kallang with Yusof B Ibrahim , among those at the game, who penned his thoughts on that evening. Teddy Sheringham and Lothar Matthäus skippered their teams It has been fifty years since England last won their first ever and only major international football honour to date - 1966 FIFA World Cup by beating West Germany 4-2 under one of the most controversial circumstances ever which is still much of a debate today. As such, there was a sense of Déjà vu over the last weekend when the England Masters repeated the same scoreline by defeated the Germany Masters in the Battle of Europe 2016 that took place at the iconic National Stadium of the Singapore Sports H...

Coach Sundram (in blue jacket) facing the media To sum up the Singapore National Football Team's final warming up before heading off to Manila this coming Tuesday – to win the game, the feeling is great but to score a goal, it's bonus. The one-nil win over the visiting Cambodian national team at the Bishan Stadium was indeed a relief to everyone in the Lions setup whose preparation for the biennial regional showpiece – the AFF Suzuki Cup, hasn't been smooth sailing since national caretaker coach V Sundram moorthy took over back in May. With the most of the participating countries already confirmed their list of 23 for the tournament, the former Lions striker decided to buckle the trend by stated he will only do so when arrived in the Philippines in reply to a query from the media after the game. “I will only reveal when we are in Philippines,” said Coach Sundram during the post-match press conference on the to-be-finalized squad which is now trimmed to 24...

Outgoing FAS president Zainudin Nordin "It is an important milestone in Singapore football!" as declared by the outgoing Football Association of Singapore (FAS) president Zainudin Nordin in the press conference that took place after the Extraordinary General Meeting (EOGM) at the Jalan Besar Stadium last evening. EXHAUSTIVE ENGAGING The EOGM was called upon to pass the proposed new constitution for the game's local governing body after the initial plan to approve it was aborted in late September following requests from delegates for further consultations and amendments to be made to it. And the outcome eventually saw the delegates (38 out of the 46 of them) presented at the EOGM unanimously vote in favour of endorsing the new constitution and paved the way to have elections in place for the FAS office-bearers for the first time in over 30 years. Lim Kia Tong confirmed his intention to form a team Throughout the media session, the panelists, who also includ...