BoLASEPaKO•COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

I don't feel sorry or have kind words to say about the recent ground-sharing move that will see only four (local) venues being used for the upcoming Singapore Premier League (SPL) season. Why should I or rather we feel sorry to see clubs uprooted from their "roots" to find themselves sharing grounds with their contemporaries in a struggling league system plagued with so many woes that don't seem to have any remedy formula to cure them all? Toa Payoh Stadium will not be used in the 2019 SGPL season When our own professional football league was launched in 1996, one of the key emphases was community outreach by having clubs based strategically around the island to see themselves fused into the vicinities they were based. But two decades down the road since it started, it seems to me that most clubs are still aliens to where they are based and we hardly see the bonding between the clubs and residents (not fans) like how I asked a co-worker of mine if he has tha...

I thought one of the good initiatives of the rebranded Singapore Premier League (SGPL) is to allow fans to buy their match tickets online, which is a laudable move as it is a practice in tandem with many other sporting events held in Singapore. However, I wish to highlight matters pertaining to those tickets, which are now printed on better quality material, bought on match days at the game venues. After a few rounds of matches, it is regrettable tickets purchased over the counter not longer detailed those match information except these words, as shown in the picture below. The "22/7/18" match saw Albirex Niigata (S) clinched the SGPL title No one seems to be able to give an answer when I asked causally why the changes were made. As one may never know these ticket stubs, which were usually discarded by many after games, may be an important testament to something significant that happened during that particular match. I, myself, still have those match ticket stu...

Am I glad the season is over! It must be one of the most dreadful seasons since my involvement when I breathed a sigh of relief after Albirex Niigata (Singapore) was finally awarded the trophy  that accoladed them as the inaugural champions of the revamped professional league aka Great Eastern-Hyundai Singapore Premier League (SGPL), despite the confirmation months earlier after their draw against Balestier Khalsa at Toa Payoh to close the 2018 season. Albirex Niigata (Singapore) established a dynasty in local football In an attempt to distance itself from the S.League which was associated with much of the flaws of the old regime, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) announced the rebranding of the Republic's only professional sporting league as SGPL in a glittering setting at the Singapore Sports Hub (SSH) amid much skepticism from the ground . SUPERFICIAL CHANGES? Perhaps the only difference between the SGPL and the S.League is the change in the name and the...

Playing on an artificial surface  ... provides for more optimal deployment of resources” and “also frees up the other stadiums to be adapted for greater community use These words replied by the stadium landlord Sport Singapore (except for Our Tampines Hub which is owned by People’s Association) to the queries from The Straits Times, as quoted in an article by The Monitor , on the day the news broke out should be enough to explain the reasons behind the ground sharing decision which caused a ruckus in the scene of late. NOT SORRY AT ALL ... The fact is when those "evacuated" clubs, while at their allocated grounds, aren't doing enough to pack the stands at their home games (let's face it), there is no case for them to argue when the authority wants their stadiums to be more prioritised for community use. After all, the idea of ground sharing is not new when it was already mooted years ago  before the materialising of it next season. However, the issue we s...

71st SCC Rugby 7s @ Padang - 031118 A ball boy tossing the ball before the start of a game The SCC 7s is affectionally dubbed as the ‘Friendly Sevens’ and over the decades, legends like the late Jonah Lomu, New Zealand Rugby World Cup Sevens winning captain Eric Rush, All Blacks’ Hall of Famer Tana Umaga and South Africa’s former World Player of the Year Cecil Afrika graced the Padang on their ascendency to rugby stardom. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES 71st SCC Rugby 7s @ Padang - 041118 "There is a card for you" The SCC 7s is affectionally dubbed as the ‘Friendly Sevens’ and over the decades, legends like the late Jonah Lomu, New Zealand Rugby World Cup Sevens winning captain Eric Rush, All Blacks’ Hall of Famer Tana Umaga and South Africa’s former World Player of the Year Cecil Afrika graced the Padang on their ascendency to rugby stardom. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES AFF Suzuki Cup - Singapore 6-1...