Geylang United FC - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Geylang United Football Club is a professional football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

club from 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...

, currently playing in 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:...

. The club is based in Bedok

Bedok

Bedok is a neighbourhood in the eastern part of Singapore. Bedok New Town is the fifth Housing and Development Board new town; its development started in April 1973 and continued over some 15 years....

and their home ground is Bedok Stadium

Bedok Stadium

Bedok Stadium is located in Bedok, Singapore, and has a capacity of 3,900 people. The stadium is home to the football team Geylang United FC in the S-league. Constructed in 1981, the stadium facilities are open to the public facilities from 4:30 am to 8:30 pm daily unless it is exclusively booked...

. Their mascot is an eagle

Eagle

Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...

, and hence the team is also known as "the Eagles".

History

Geylang were founded as International Contract Specialists (ICS) in 1973 and won the 1974 Non-League Championships. During their early years, the club were funded by donations from well-wishers and the players were not paid. After a change of name to Geylang International, they debuted in the revamped National Football League (NFL) in 1975, bagging the league and President's Cup double. They won the President's Cup again in 1977 and the league the following year. A relegation in 1981 prompted the arrival of a new management committee that guided the club back to the top division in 1983.

In 1984, club president Kasim Chik financed the club and businessman Patrick Ang managed to secure sponsors for the Eagles. Despite being relegated that year, they returned to Division I of the NFL the following season and a golden era began. The FAS Premier League, formed in 1988, was dominated by Geylang, as they won six consecutive titles, then finished third in 1994 (behind two guest clubs from Australia) and runners-up to the national team in 1995. Hence they were one of eight clubs selected for the S.League (which replaced the FAS Premier League from 1996 onwards) and renamed to Geylang United.

The club were founder members of the S.League in 1996, and captured the inaugural championship title that year. In its inaugural season, the S.League competition was split into two series. In each series, the eight teams in the league played each other home and away, and the table-topping teams from each of the two series then met each other in a season-ending play-off match to determine the champions. Captained by Singapore's most famous football star 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...

, Geylang won the first series. The second series was won by Singapore Armed Forces Football Club

Singapore Armed Forces Football Club

The Singapore Armed Forces Football Club is a professional football club that represents the Singapore Armed Forces and plays in the top-tier S.League. Singapore Armed Forces Football Club was officially established on 16 February 1996...

(SAFFC). Geylang beat SAFFC 2-1 in the season-ending play-off match to be crowned the first S.League champions, with Mohammad Khakpour

Mohammad Khakpour

-Football career:Khakpour played for a few clubs, including Persepolis FC, Pas Tehran, Vanspor, Geylang United and MetroStars . He played for the Iran national football team and was a participant at the 1998 FIFA World Cup....

scoring one of the best free kicks to be seen in the S.League in that match. One week later, the Eagles completed the double by beating SAFFC again, this time on penalties, in the Singapore FA Cup final.

The club captured the S.League title for a second time in 2001 under South Korean coach

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

Jang Jung

Jang Jung is a South Korean football player. He mostly played at defender.He formerly played with Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso in South Korea, Perak FA and Singapore FA in Malaysia and Geylang United in Singapore....

, the defensive wall of Lionel Lewis

Lionel Lewis

Lionel Lewis is a Singaporean footballer who currently plays as a goalkeeper for Home United FC and the Singapore national football team. Lewis is known for his bulky frame, remarkable shot-saving abilities and ferocious presence in goal...

, Hasrin Jailani, Winston Yap

Winston Yap

Winston Yap is a Singapore international football player who plays for Woodlands Wellington.-Club career:Previously, he played for Tampines Rovers and Gombak United. Signed for Geylang United for the AFC 2010 competition, he had a serious injury and this made the 2010 season one for him to...

, Zulkarnaen Zainal

Zulkarnaen Zainal

Zulkarnaen Zainal is a retired Singapore football player. He spend his career play as a defender. He was the member of the Singapore national football team that won the 1998 Tiger Cup...

, winger

Winger (sport)

In certain sports, such as football, field hockey, ice hockey, handball, rugby union, lacrosse and rugby league, the term winger is the name of a position. It refers to positions on the extreme left and right sides of the pitch . In American football and Canadian football, the analogous position...

Noor Ali, key midfielder

Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

Billy Bone plus star strikers Aleksandar Duric

Aleksandar Duric

Aleksandar Đurić , is a Yugoslav-born Singaporean professional association football player who plays as a striker for the Tampines Rovers in the S...

and Brian Bothwell

Brian Bothwell

Brian Bothwell is a retired Australian football player and formerly played for Brunei in the M-League before retired.During his career with Brunei FC, he's converted to Islam and later his name is Brian Iman Bothwell....

.

Geylang finished 6th in both the 2007 and 2008 S.League seasons, and have undergone a major overhaul for the 2009 season in hopes of finishing within the Top 4.
This was something they failed to do in 2009, and in 2010, the same performance was repeated. This resulted in the club undergoing a second overhaul for the 2011 season, in which they hoped to finish in the top 4.

Records

Geylang United FC started of as ICS Football Club and founded by Colin Ng Managing Director of International Contract Specialist Private Limited a Company in waterproofing contracts and at the same time distributors of Stylo Soccer boots and Bauer Ice Skating Shoes. During this time footballers in the National Team namely Arshad Khamis and Gulam Mohammed was employed by the Company together with another Player Isman Kwek. Players from the National side like Samad Allapitchay, Dollah Kassiam, Omar Ashiblee and Samsuddin Rahmat and more were drawn in to the team playing the Division 3 league. The team was fully sponsored by International Contract Specialist Private Limited and were paid accordingly to play and a coach Sebastian Yap was also brought in to trained the players. The team won the Division 3 tiltle and even went on to win the FA Cup beating the division 1 teams. Thus the team was encouraged to promote to Division 1 and played in the league formed then as Geylang United Football Club.Everything was paid for including the players allowances. After winning several championship cups from 1973 to 1978 the founder and president Colin Ng had sponsors and together with his own personal funds rewarded the team to England, Philippines and Brunei playing in several friendly tournaments. In 1979, the President then decided to moved to the United States and also to England where his parents and family members lived to try a new life. All players were paid accordingly including the coach brought in. That was how the then Patrick Ang was brought it by another official from the Club to join in. Then came the start of the Singapore S-League.

Singapore Championship

1997 - Champions
1998 - Champions
1999 - Quarter-finals
2000 - Champions
2001 - Runners-up
2002 - Champions
2003 - Champions
2004 - Champions
2005 - First Round, due to renovations.
2006 - Champions
2007 - Champions
2008 - Did not qualify, due to lack of players.
2009 - Champions
2010 - First Round

S.League Record

1996 - Champions (Series 1: Champions; Series 2: 5th place; beat SAFFC
Singapore Armed Forces Football Club
The Singapore Armed Forces Football Club is a professional football club that represents the Singapore Armed Forces and plays in the top-tier S.League. Singapore Armed Forces Football Club was officially established on 16 February 1996...

2-1 in the championship final)
1997 - 5th place
1998 - 3rd place
1999 - 4th place
2000 - 3rd place
2001 - Champions
2002 - 3rd place
2003 - Runners-up
2004 - 7th place
2005 - 8th place
2006 - 10th place
2007 - 6th place
2008 - 6th place
2009 - 6th place
2010 - 5th
2011 - 7th or 8th place

Pre-S.League championship titles

Premier League: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993
National Football League: 1975, 1976, 1977

Singapore Cup Record

1997 - Runners-up
1998 - First Round
1999 - Quarter-finals
2000 - 3rd place
2001 - Runners-up
2002 - 3rd place
2003 - Runners-up
2004 - Champions
2005 - First Round
2006 - First Round
2007 - First Round
2008 - First Round
2009 - Champions
2010 - First Round
2011
2011 Singapore Cup
The 2011 Singapore Cup starts in June 2011. It is the 14th staging of the annual Singapore Cup tournament....

- First Round

Singapore League Cup Record

2007
Singapore League Cup 2007
The inaugural Singapore League Cup soccer competition was held in 2007, contested by eight of the twelve teams who played in Singapore's S.League. The tournament was held before the start of the S.League season that year...

- Did not take part
2008
Singapore League Cup 2008
The 2008 Singapore League Cup marks the second occasion on which the Singapore League Cup competition has been staged. . Its official sponsored name for 2008 is the Avaya-J&J League Cup....

- First Round
2009 - Quarter-finals
2010 - Quarter-finals
2011
2011 Singapore League Cup
The 2011 Singapore League Cup will be held between 19 to 30 July. The draw was held on Friday, 1 July 2011 in Singapore. The matches are played on a one match basis....

- Quarter-finals

Other cup tournament wins

Singapore FA Cup: 1996
President's Cup: 1976, 1978, 1990, 1991, 1995

Performance in AFC competitions

AFC Champions League
AFC Champions League
The AFC Champions League is the premier Asian club football competition hosted annually by Asian Football Confederation . The tournament is contested among the top thirty-two clubs from the top 10 Asian leagues, two of which must qualify through the playoffs...

: 1 appearance

2002-03

AFC Champions League 2002-03

The 2002–03 AFC Champions League was the 22nd edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament and the 1st edition under the current AFC Champions League title...

: Qualifying East - 3rd Round

Asian Club Championship: 4 appearances

1989: Qualifying Stage

1990: Qualifying Stage

1991: Qualifying Stage

1998: First Round

AFC Cup
AFC Cup
The AFC Cup is an annual international association football competition between domestic clubs sides run by the Asian Football Confederation . Qualification to the competition is to clubs from AFC-affiliated countries which fall into the AFC's 'developing nations' category as laid out in their...

: 2 appearances

2004

AFC Cup 2004

The 2004 AFC Cup was the 1st edition of the AFC Cup, playing between clubs from nations who are members of the Asian Football Confederation.-Qualification:...

: Semi-Finals

2010

AFC Cup 2010

The 2010 AFC Cup was the 7th edition of the AFC Cup, playing between clubs from nations who are members of the Asian Football Confederation.With the Asian Football Confederation currently reviewing the format of the AFC Champions League between 2009 and 2010 season, significant changes were made in...

: Group Stage

Asian Cup Winners Cup
Asian Cup Winners Cup
The Asian Cup Winners' Cup was an association football competition run by the Asian Football Confederation . The competition was started in 1991 as a tournament for all the domestic cup winners from countries affiliated to the AFC...

: 2 appearances

1990/91

Asian Cup Winners Cup 1991

The 1990–91 Asian Cup Winners' Cup was the first edition of the continental football competition for cup winners of member nations of the AFC. Persepolis of Iran were duly crowned champions after defeating Muharraq of Bahrian 1:0 over two legs in the final....

: First Round

1991/92: First Round

Current Squad

Nationality given from place of birth

*Players in bold have National Team appearances.

Prime League Squad

Former Players/Coaches

Walter Ardone

Walter Ardone is an Australian former association footballer.-Club career:Ardone played his early football for Sydney Olympic, making his National Soccer League debut in 1992. He moved in 1993 to Parramatta Eagles where spent a season before moving again to Heidelberg United. After a year at...

(2002) Brian Bothwell

Brian Bothwell

(2000-01) Brendon Santalab

Brendon Santalab

Brendon Šantalab is an Australian football player, currently playing as striker for Chengdu Blades.-Club career:...

(2003), (22 app 23 goals) Warren Spink

Warren Spink

Warren Spink is a former soccer player from Australia. He made 38 appearances for the Socceroos scoring 9 goals, and also represented Australia at under-20 and under-23 levels....

(1997) Zlatko Vidan (1988-96) Billy Bone (1998-01) Daniel Hill (2004) Max Nicholson

Max Nicholson (footballer)

-Football career:Nicholson began his career as a trainee with Doncaster Rovers and was given his professional debut in 1988 by former Scotland captain Billy Bremner...

(1998) Lutz Pfannenstiel

Lutz Pfannenstiel

Lutz Pfannenstiel is a German football goalkeeper.- Club career :Pfannenstiel is mostly famous for having played for 25 different clubs all around the world during his career, including stints in Germany, England, New Zealand, Singapore, USA, Brazil, South Africa, Finland, Malaysia, Malta,...

(1999-00) Ballamodou Conde

Ballamodou Conde

Ballamodou "Balla" Conde is a retired Guinean footballer, who played as a midfielder.Most of his professional career was spent in Australia.-Club career:...

(2007) Hamid Estili (1996) Mohammad Khakpour

Mohammad Khakpour

(1996) Ali Reza Mansourian (1997) Jalal Talebi (1996) Coach

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

Wayne O'Sullivan (2004-05) Jason Batty

Jason Batty

Jason Batty is a retired New Zealand football goalkeeper who is currently the goalkeeper coach for the San Jose Earthquakes. Batty frequently represented his country in the 1990s. He later coached Dartmouth College in the U.S...

(1999)
Douglas Moore (1998) Coach

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

Alan Vest

Alan Vest is a New Zealand football manager who also represented New Zealand as a player in the 1970s.-Biography:Vest had a notable playing career, scoring on his full international debut for the All Whites in a 4-1 win over New Caledonia on 17 September 1972 and ended his international playing...

(1999-00) Coach

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

Stewart Petrie

Stewart Petrie is a former Scottish football player who is currently assistant manager of Arbroath F.C. who compete in the Irn Bru Scottish Third Division.-Career:...

(2004) Vasile Ghindaru

Vasile Ghindaru

Vasile Ghindaru is a Romanian football player, currently under contract at CSMS Iași. He pays as a Defensive Midfielder.-Geylang United FC:...

(2009-11) Fandi Ahmad

Fandi Ahmad

(1988-93), (1996) Mohd Rafi Ali

Mohd Rafi Ali

Rafi Ali is a Singaporean footballer that last played for Tampines Rovers. He is part of the Singapore national football team that won the 1998 Tiger Cup...

(1998) Malek Awab (1988-93) Jerry Bartholomeusz (1999-01) Indra Sahdan Daud

Indra Sahdan Daud

Indra Sahdan bin Daud is a professional footballer who is currently playing for SAFFC as a striker.-Club career:...

(1997-00) Aleksandar Duric

Aleksandar Duric

Aleksandar Đurić , is a Yugoslav-born Singaporean professional association football player who plays as a striker for the Tampines Rovers in the S...

(2001-04) Syed Faruk

Syed Faruk

Syed Faruk is a Singaporean football manager. Faruk was on the Singapore national team from 1988 to 1994.Faruk is currently the first team manager and assistant coach of the Stags.-References:...

(1988-96) Lim Tong Hai

Lim Tong Hai

Lim Tong Hai was a defender for the Singapore national football team from 1990 to 1999, and is now the team manager of Geylang United of the S.League.-Club career:...

(Player: 2002-04), (Coach: 2005-07), (Current Team Manager) Hasrin Jailani (1998-02) Shahril Jantan

Shahril Jantan

Shahril Jantan is a Singaporean football player who is currently a goalkeeper for the S.League club Singapore Armed Forces Football Club .-Club career:...

(1998-02) K. Kannan (1988-93)
Ahmad Latiff (1997-98) David Lee (1996-97) Lionel Lewis

Lionel Lewis

(2001-03) Jefri Rahmat (1988-93) Razali Saad

Razali Saad

Razali Saad is an Singaporean football Defender who played for Singapore in the 1984 Asian Cup.-References:*...

(1988-96) Borhan Abu Samah

Borhan Abu Samah

Borhan Abu Samah was a Singaporean footballer in the 1990s, who played in the Singapore national football team. He died on October 29, 1999 of liver cancer at the age of 34....

(1988-93) D. Tokijan (Player: 1988-93), (Current First Team Assistant Coach) John Wilkinson

John Wilkinson

John Wilkinson may refer to:* John Wilkinson * John Wilkinson , British industrialist who suggested the use of iron for many roles where other materials had previously been used...

(2001-03) Kadir Yahaya (1996-02) Winston Yap

Winston Yap

(1998-02) Zulkarnaen Zainal

Zulkarnaen Zainal

Zulkarnaen Zainal is a retired Singapore football player. He spend his career play as a defender. He was the member of the Singapore national football team that won the 1998 Tiger Cup...

(1996-02) Jang Jung

Jang Jung

(Player: 1997), (Coach: 1998-02) Rastislav Beličák

Rastislav Belicak

Rastislav Beličák is a Slovakian footballer who plays as a midfielder. He tired from professional football in 2010.-Football career:Beličák grew up as a footballer in the youth system of MFK Košice, and stayed with the club when he started his professional career, before moving to Malaysian Super...

(2008-10) Peter Tomko

Peter Tomko

Peter Tomko is a professional Slovakian association footballer currently playing for MFK Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš in 2. liga.-Career:...

(2010)

External links

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