Football in Singapore - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Association football, known more popularly as football in Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, is the national sport

National sport

A national sport or national pastime is a sport or game that is considered to be an intrinsic part of the culture of a nation. Some sports are de facto national sports, as baseball is in the U.S., while others are de jure as lacrosse and ice hockey are in Canada.-De jure national sports:-De facto...

of the nation. The sport reached its peak in the 1980s and 90s during the Singapore Lions

Singapore Lions

The Singapore Lions is the name given to a representative team of footballers representing the Football Association of Singapore in domestic competitions run by the Football Association of Malaysia...

' time in the Malaysia Cup

Malaysia Cup

The Malaysia Cup is an annual association football tournament in Malaysia. It is currently the longest-running football competition in Asia...

, where they dominated the competition. Singapore

Singapore

is home to the Football Association of Singapore

Football Association of Singapore

The Football Association of Singapore is the governing body of football in Singapore. It was founded in 1952. Prior to that, the Singapore Amateur Football Association, founded in 1892, was the governing body for football in Singapore...

, formerly known as the Singapore Amateur Football Association, the oldest football association in Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, its roots coming from The Football Association

The Football Association

The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...

, in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The nation's national teams include the men's

Singapore national football team

The Singapore national football team is the national association football team of Singapore. The team comes under the organization of the Football Association of Singapore...

, the women's

Singapore women's national football team

Women's football in Singapore is becoming more popular since the Football Association of Singapore took women’s football under its wing in 2000. A Women’s Football Division was set up with the FAS in September 2004....

and the boys'

Singapore national youth football team

The Singapore national youth football team is a team with two departments: the Under-16s, the team that represented the nation in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games and the Lion City Cup, and the Under-15s, which also represented the nation in the Lion City Cup, and also the AFF U16 Championship...

. The Singapore Lions

Singapore Lions

, the team which plays in the Malaysia Cup

Malaysia Cup

The Malaysia Cup is an annual association football tournament in Malaysia. It is currently the longest-running football competition in Asia...

, is not counted due to the team being more like a club, since there is the allowance of foreign players or transfers in the team, and the Malaysia Cup

Malaysia Cup

The Malaysia Cup is an annual association football tournament in Malaysia. It is currently the longest-running football competition in Asia...

being a club competition among Malaysian states and Singapore

Singapore

.

Singapore

Singapore Lions

left the Malaysia Cup

Malaysia Cup

The Malaysia Cup is an annual association football tournament in Malaysia. It is currently the longest-running football competition in Asia...

in 1994 and came back in 2012. The current champions of Singapore in football is Etoile FC

Etoile FC

Etoile Football Club is a professional football club which was formed to play in Singapore's S.League in 2010.Etoile FC is the first team of players all born in Europe to ply their trade in Singapore's professional league, and the first in Asia...

, having won the S.League

S.League

The S.League is the top men's professional association football league in Singapore. The league was launched in 1996 and currently involves 12 clubs.-History:...

in 2010, and with the 2011 S.League

2011 S.League

The 2011 S.League is the 16th season since the establishment of the S-League, the top professional football league in Singapore. The season began on 12 February 2011 and is scheduled to end at 28 November 2011. Etoile FC are the defending champions...

season not finished yet.

History

Singapore football began with a game between two teams of British engineers in 1889. The Singapore Amateur Football Association (SAFA), now under the name of Football Association of Singapore

Football Association of Singapore

(FAS), was formed in 1892 by a group of British in colonial Singapore

Singapore

. Soon, the four first-generation ethnicities of Singapore – the Arabs, the Chinese, the Indians and the British all regarded football as their recreation, though it was played most by the British.

S.League

The S.League

S.League

The S.League is the top men's professional association football league in Singapore. The league was launched in 1996 and currently involves 12 clubs.-History:...

is the national football league of Singapore

Singapore

, but it has failed to attract the whole nation to support it, proven by the dwindling attendances to the matches and television view ratings. The S.League has invited foreign clubs to play in it, in attempt to attract more fans. This is possible due to the fact that there is no league system in Singapore, no promotion

Promotion and relegation

In many sports leagues around the world, promotion and relegation is a process that takes place at the end of each season. Through it, teams are transferred between divisions based on their performance that season...

or relegation.

The league was officially formed in 1996 when Singapore

Singapore Lions

left the Malaysia Cup

Malaysia Cup

The Malaysia Cup is an annual association football tournament in Malaysia. It is currently the longest-running football competition in Asia...

in 1994, due to disputes with the Football Association of Malaysia

Football Association of Malaysia

The Football Association of Malaysia is the governing body for football in Malaysia, responsible for organising the Malaysian national football team and the major football and futsal tournaments within the country. The Football Association of Malaysia main headquarters is located at Wisma...

Malaysia Cup

Joining the Malaysia Cup

Malaysia Cup

The Malaysia Cup is an annual association football tournament in Malaysia. It is currently the longest-running football competition in Asia...

in 1921, known as the Malaya Cup at that time, Singapore were the champions of the inaugural competition. They would further succeed in getting 24 titles for themselves during their time in the competition from 1921–1994, a span of 74 years.

In this competition, and the Malaysia league, Singapore submitted a representative team, which operated like a football club more than a national football team

National football team

National football team may refer to:*List of men's national association football teams*List of women's national association football teams...

. It was called the Singapore FA

Singapore Lions

in the country's 74 years in Malaysian football. The competition helped bring the likes of Fandi Ahmad

Fandi Ahmad

Fandi bin Ahmad is a football coach and former professional footballer from Singapore. During his playing career, he enjoyed success playing in both Europe and Asia, and was captain of the Singapore national football team...

and Dollah Kassim

Dollah Kassim

Dollah Kassim was one of the most famous Singaporean footballers during the 1970s. In 1977, he helped Singapore bring the Malaysia Cup to the country....

, with the former being the only Singapore

Singapore

an to have played for European clubs – he played for FC Groningen and OFI Crete

OFI Crete

OFI , the Sportfriends Association Heraklion, is a Greek association football club based in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. Outside Greece, the club is generally known as OFI Crete F.C., however, the name Crete is not actually part of the club's official title.OFI is the club with most...

GOAL 2010

Goal 2010 was a goal

Goal

A goal is an objective, or a projected computation of affairs, that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve.Goal, GOAL or G.O.A.L may also refer to:Sport...

and objective, set by then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong

Goh Chok Tong

Goh Chok Tong is the Senior Minister of Singapore and the chairman of the central bank of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He also served as the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore from 28 November 1990 to 12 August 2004, succeeding Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime...

in 1998. It was an objective for the Singapore national football team

Singapore national football team

The Singapore national football team is the national association football team of Singapore. The team comes under the organization of the Football Association of Singapore...

to reach the 2010 FIFA World Cup

2010 FIFA World Cup

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...

finals in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, but the goal was not reached, and was laughed at in mid-2010, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup

2010 FIFA World Cup

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...

National teams

The football teams of Singapore, excluding the Singapore FA

Singapore Lions

, have all brought back honours to the country. The Singapore men's senior team are currently the most successful team in the AFF Cup with 3 titles, won in 1998, 2004 and 2007. The youth team has won bronze in the inagural football event

Football at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics

The football competition at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics took place between 12–25 August. The draw was made on 18 May 2010. Playing time was made up of two periods of 40 minutes with a half-time break of 15 minutes.-Teams:-Medal summary:-Boys:...

of the Youth Olympic Games

Youth Olympic Games

The Youth Olympic Games is an international multi-sport event first held in Singapore from August 14 to August 26, 2010. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consistent with the current Olympic Games format. The age limitation of the athletes is between 14 to 18...

, runners-up and third for the revived 23rd Lion City Cup

Lion City Cup

The Lion City Cup, is an annual international association football competition organized by the Football Association of Singapore, contested by the Under-16 soccer teams. It was founded in 1977 as the only Under-16 soccer tournament in the world. It helped in the creation of a FIFA U-16 World...

Stadium

The stadium both male national teams use now is the Jalan Besar Stadium

Jalan Besar Stadium

Jalan Besar Stadium is a football stadium located along Jalan Besar, in the Kallang area of Singapore and is the current home stadium of Young Lions, a S.League football team. The stadium can also be used for any Singapore national football team matches as the National Stadium, Singapore is being...

, with the senior's team using it temporarily and the youth team making that as their home stadium. The former stadium of the Singapore men's national team was the now-demolished National Stadium

National Stadium, Singapore

The Singapore National Stadium was located in Kallang. Opened in July 1973, the National Stadium was officially closed on 30 June 2007 and has demolished to make way for the Singapore Sports Hub and New Singapore National Stadium which is expected to open in 2014.The stadium has played host to...

in Kallang. They will continue using it on 2014 after the Singapore Sports Hub

Singapore Sports Hub

The Singapore Sports Hub is a proposed sports complex located in Kallang, Singapore to be built on the present site of the National Stadium, which was officially closed on 30 June 2007 and demolition started on 29 September 2010...

finishes construction and the new stadium is built.

History

S.League

Malaysia Cup

GOAL 2010

National teams

Stadium

See also