Singapore Premier League
| Singapore Premier League | |
|
|
| abbreviation | SPL |
| Association | Football Association of Singapore |
| First edition | 1996 |
| hierarchy | 1st League |
| Teams | 9 |
| master | DPMM FC (2nd title) |
| Record champions | Warriors FC (9 wins) |
| Current season | 2020 |
| Website | www.spl.sg/ |
| Qualification for |
AFC Champions League AFC Cup |
The Singapore Premier League , until 2017 S. League , is the top division in Singaporean football . Its history goes back to the beginning of the 20th century. As a "closed" league there are no promoted or relegated teams. The lead association, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), decides on the basis of certain criteria whether a new club can join the league.
history
1904-1960
The first recorded soccer games in Singapore took place at the end of the 19th century. Initially, the teams mostly consisted of ship crews that were just docking in Singapore and local crews. Due to the popularity, the first division was installed in Singapore in 1904. The then Singapore Amateur Football Association was responsible. Founded in 1892, it is considered the oldest football association in Asia. At the beginning the league was dominated by the European / English teams, before local teams were later added. The first master, 1904, was the 1st Battalion Manchester Regiment.
1952 the Singapore Amateur Football Association was replaced by the Football Association Singapore.
1960-1987
From 1961 to 1974 there was no more official league operation. Nevertheless, an unofficial league took place, which became known as the National Football League. A total of 118 clubs and teams were involved in this league. In 1975 the FAS decided to adapt the National Football League as the official league. The name was retained and limited to 30 teams.
In 1988 the National Football League was renamed the Premier League. The National Football League remained as a lower league.
1988-1995
The Premier League was a semi-professional football league, which played only a minor role with the fans and the public. Because the national team of Singapore regularly took part in the Cup and the Malaysian League at that time. Later, after the end of the season in Malaysia, the players played again in the local clubs in Singapore.
The dominant team at that time was Geylang International , which won the championship six times in a row from 1988 to 1993.
In 1994 the league complied with the request to do something for the league in order to attract more spectators to the stadiums and to win new fans. The FAS then invited two teams from Australia to participate in the league, the Perth Kangaroos and the Darwin Cubs . Incomprehensibly, all national players who also played in the Malaysian league were withdrawn from the local league. As a result, both teams from Australia dominated the league in 1994. The Perth Kangaroos became undefeated champions, followed by the Darwin Cubs. The following year, the FAS surprisingly withdrew the national team from Malaysia and let them play in the domestic league. This ended a 75 year old tradition. It came as no surprise that the national team became undefeated champions in 1995.
From the spring of 1995, the FAS commissioned a task force to develop a professional football league in Singapore.
1996 – today
At the end of 1995, the FAS Task Force submitted its results. Initially, a league should be created with eight teams, later increased to twelve, all playing in regional stadiums. Two rounds should be played, each with a return game. The two winners of each round should then compete in a final for the championship. This proposal was then immediately put into practice with the help of the Singapore Professional Football League PTL, which was founded especially for the league . The first season of the S. League was opened by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in 1996. The national teams of Singapore and Thailand competed in a friendly match in the Kallang National Stadium.
The eight founding members of the S. League included:
- Balestier Central
- Geylang United
- Police United
- Sembawang Rangers FC
- Singapore Armed Forces FC
- Tampines Rovers
- Tiong Bahru United
- Woodlands Wellington
The first S. League champion was Geylang United . In the final, the Singapore Armed Forces FC were beaten 2-1. The format from the first season with two separate game rounds and play-offs was discarded in 1997 and a regular league system was played. The FC Police club was renamed FC Home United and FC Jurong joined the league as the ninth team. In 1998 two more teams were added, until 1999 the full league strength of twelve clubs could be reached, which still exists today. In order to give young national players more playing practice, the Young Lions were added to the league in 2003. The Young Lions are largely made up of U-23 players from the Singaporean national team. They report directly to the FAS. From 2003 to 2005, Gombak United had to pause due to financial difficulties.
For the 2008 season, Dalian Shide Siwu replaced the club Liaoning Guangyuan in the S. League. After just one season with a disappointing tenth place in the 2008 season, Dalian Shide retired from the S. League. DPMM FC from Brunei , who previously played in the Malaysia Super League , now replaced Dalian Shide. Due to disagreements between the Malaysian Federation and the Ministry of Sports, the DPMM FC club was banned from the Malaysian top league. Due to the blocking of the Brunei Football Association by FIFA from October 2009, DPMM FC is no longer eligible to play in the S. League until further notice.
For the 2010 season two new clubs joined the league. Beijing Guoan Talent Singapore FC as an offshoot of the Chinese club Beijing Guoan and Etoile FC , a club whose squad consists only of French-born players. While Beijing Guoan Talent only reached tenth place in the table and was dissolved again after one season, Etoile FC surprisingly won the championship (as the first foreign team) and also won the Singapore League Cup. In 2011 Beijing Guoan Talent was replaced by Tanjong Pagar United FC , which is back in the S. League after a seven-year break.
In 2012 Etoile FC withdrew from the S. League. In return, two other foreign clubs moved up into the S. League. One club was again the DPMM FC from Brunei , whose participation after the suspension of the Brunei Football Association by FIFA on May 30, 2011, nothing stood in the way. The other club was Harimau Muda A from Malaysia . Instead of all teams competing against each other three times, as of this season, a double round was played, which reduced the number of season games from 33 (with 12 clubs) to 24 (with 13).
In early November 2012, the club Gombak United announced that he would take another season out. The reason are financial problems that would not have allowed regular game operations in the 2013 season.
From the 2013 season, the S. League will be played in a new format. After the twelve clubs have competed against each other in a double round, the league is divided into two groups: The first six teams play the championship in their round, while the last six play for the final position. In both groups, the clubs play against each other once, so that all teams play 27 games.
Championship history
Number of championships
| rank | society | Championships | Championship season |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warriors FC (until 2012 as Singapore Armed Forces) | 9 | 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014 |
| 2 | Tampines Rovers | 5 | 2004, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2013 |
| 3 | Albirex Niigata | 3 | 2016, 2017, 2018 |
| 4th | Geylang International (until 2012 as Geylang United) | 2 | 1996, 2001 |
| Home United | 2 | 1999, 2003 | |
| DPMM FC | 2 | 2015, 2019 | |
| 7th | Etoile FC | 1 | 2010 |
Best goalscorers since 1996
Awards
Player of the year
Young Player of the Year
| season | Surname | society |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 |
 Robin Chitrakar
|
Geylang United |
| 1997 |
Ahmad Latiff Khamaruddin
|
Geylang United |
| 1998 |
Lim Soon Seng
|
Tanjong Pagar United |
| 1999 |
Yazid Yasin
|
Home United |
| 2000 |
Indra Sahdan Daud
|
Geylang United |
| 2001 |
Indra Sahdan Daud
|
Home United |
| 2002 |
Noh Alam Shah
|
Sembawang Rangers |
| 2003 |
Baihakki Khaizan
|
Geylang United |
| 2004 |
 Fahrudin Mustafić
|
Tampines Rovers |
| 2005 |
 Issey Nakajima-Farran
|
Albirex Niigata |
| 2006 |
 Ludovick Takam
|
Balestier Khalsa |
| 2007 |
Shariff Abdul Samat
|
Tampines Rovers |
| 2008 |
Khairul Amri
|
Tampines Rovers |
| 2009 |
 Gabriel Obatola
|
Gombak United |
| 2010 |
Hariss Harun
|
Young Lions |
| 2011 |
 Tatsuro Inui
|
Albirex Niigata |
| 2012 |
 Wan Zack Haikal
|
Harimau Muda A.
|
| 2013 |
 Sirina Camara
|
Home United |
| 2014 |
 Nicolás Vélez
|
Warriors FC |
| 2015 |
 Azwan Ali
|
DPMM FC
|
| 2016 |
Anumanthan Kumar
|
Hougang United |
| 2017 |
Hazzuwan Halim
|
Balestier Khalsa |
| 2018 |
Adam Swandi
|
Albirex Niigata |
| 2019 |
Hami Syahin
|
Home United |
| 2020 |
Coach of the year
| season | Surname | society |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 |
Vincent Subramaniam
|
Singapore Armed Forces |
| 1997 |
Vincent Subramaniam
|
Singapore Armed Forces |
| 1998 |
Jita Singh
|
Sembawang Rangers |
| 1999 |
 Robert Alberts
|
Home United |
| 2000 |
Fandi Ahmad
|
Singapore Armed Forces |
| 2001 |
 Jang Jung
|
Geylang United |
| 2002 |
M. Karathu
|
Woodlands Wellington |
| 2003 |
 Scott O'Donell
|
Geylang United |
| 2004 |
 Vorawan Chitavanich
|
Tampines Rovers |
| 2005 |
Vorawan Chitavanich
|
Tampines Rovers |
| 2006 |
Richard Bok
|
Singapore Armed Forces |
| 2007 |
Richard Bok
|
Singapore Armed Forces |
| 2008 |
Hiroaki Hiraoka
|
Albirex Niigata |
| 2009 |
Richard Bok
|
Singapore Armed Forces |
| 2010 |
Vorawan Chitavanich
|
Tampines Rovers |
| 2011 |
Koichi Sugiyama
|
Albirex Niigata |
| 2012 |
 Vjeran Simunić
|
DPMM FC
|
| 2013 |
Lee Lim-Saeng
|
Home United |
| 2014 |
Marko Kraljevic
|
Balestier Khalsa |
| 2015 |
 Steve Kean
|
DPMM FC
|
| 2016 |
Naoki Naruo
|
Albirex Niigata |
| 2017 |
Kazuaki Yoshinaga
|
Albirex Niigata |
| 2018 |
Kazuaki Yoshinaga
|
Albirex Niigata |
| 2019 |
 Adrian Pennock
|
DPMM FC
|
| 2020 |
See also
Individual evidence / explanations
- ↑ Joe Gorman: The forgotten story of ... Perth Kangaroos The Guardian, March 27, 2014.
- ↑ sleague.com: report on the preparations for founding the S. League
- ↑ sleague.com: Report on the establishment of the S. League
- ↑ rsssf.com: An overview of all masters
Web links
- Official website of the Singapore Premier League (Engl.)
- Official website of the S. League (Engl.)
- Official website of the FAS (Engl.)
- List of all the Masters since 1904 (Engl.)
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