BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

Bishan Stadium is under the re-turfing process This is the current condition of the field of Bishan Stadium, the designated "home" ground of two Singapore Premier League (SGPL) clubs - Lion City Sailors and Balestier Khalsa, as seen from the nearby Bishan Sports Hall days ago. It was learned that such re-turfing of the natural grass surface would take approximately five to six months to complete and the process began late last year. NEW SEASON K.O. IN LATE FEB One recent Straits Times article suggested the Community Shield, the annual pre-season opener for the SGPL, will be staged on 20th February. If it is what the mentioned broadsheet suggested, the 2021 SGPL season is likely to kick off on the following weekend based on past scheduling of fixtures. However, given the present condition of the Bishan surface, it is understood Balestier Khalsa will play their home fixtures at Toa Payoh Stadium while LCS will be ground sharing the newly-refurbished Jalan Besar Stadium (JBS) w

Called it an obsession or mere British influence when it is not uncommon in this part of the world to name a football club as whatsoever "United". Just look around the region, you already have Buriram United, Bangkok United, and Muangthong United in Thailand where national custodian Hassan Sunny used to play for the dissolved Army United . Down south in Malaysia, there is a team rebranded as Kuala Lumpur United which is formerly known as Kuala Lumpur FA - the team that once boasted the likes of the Singapore triumvirate of Fandi Ahmad, Malek Awab, and K Kanan in their 1980s heydays. BRITISH INFLUENCE RESULTED IN "UNITED" EVERYWHERE? On the other end of the Causeway in Singapore, names like Farrer Park United and Toa Payoh United were some of those listed in the then-newly formed National Football League (NFL) in the mid-1970s. Moving into the mid-1990s, these were the names to mark the start of the professional era like Geylang United (which later changed to G

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 update p

SGPL - Geylang Int'l 2-3 Balestier Khalsa 241020 Shuhei Hoshino (9) raised at the near post in this aerial attempt. Balestier Khalsa Football Club maintained their winning form while Geylang International FC continued their losing streak since the resumption of AIA Singapore Premier League after Tigers walked away with a 3-2 win at Our Tampines Hub earlier of the day. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Tanjong Pagar Utd 0-0 Hougang United 011120 HGFC's Lionel Tan found himself being sandwiched  Both Tanjong Pagar United and Hougang United concluded their AIA Singapore Premier League fixture on a scoreless ending on 1st November at the Jurong East Stadium. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES SGPL - Lion City Sailors 6-1 Tanjong Pagar United 131120 LCS' Shahdan Sulaiman made sure he won this header Lion City Sailors maintained their fiery form by scoring another big margin win when they anchored Tanjong Pagar United 6-1 a

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