Month: October 2021
The clock is ticking down on the 2021 Singapore Premier League (SPL) season. Some eight months of hard work will come down to the final 90 minutes of football this Sunday (10 October).
The script of this year’s title race could not have been written any better. With multiple protagonists, plot twists, postponements, and even moments personifying poetry in motion, the captivating story of the 2021 SPL season stands at the cusp of its resolution with the Lion City Sailors and Albirex Niigata (S) locked on 45 points going into the season finale.
The Sailors hold the upper hand, with a superior goal difference of +35, four better than the White Swans (+31), and also the advantage of having scored more goals (55, to Albirex’s 46). As it stands, should the Sailors beat Balestier Khalsa 1-0, Albirex will need to defeat Tanjong Pagar United in a concurrent match by at least 6-0 to be crowned kings of Singapore football.
Given the circumstances, Kim Do-hoon’s men are widely viewed as the favourites for the title, but the players are adamant that nothing will be taken for granted – they will need to go out onto the Jalan Besar Stadium’s plastic green stage, do their jobs and defeat a tricky Balestier side.
The last time these teams met in August, Marko Kraljevic’s Tigers put in an impressive shift with the Sailors requiring a 95th-minute Stipe Plazibat penalty to rescue a point at the Toa Payoh Stadium.
“We’re of course excited (at the prospect of winning the title), but we are clear that we have not won anything yet, and we cannot get ahead of ourselves at all,” emphasised Hariss Harun who has been a constant presence in the team since arriving from Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) in the mid-season transfer window.
“We didn’t do that well against Balestier at their home ground, but this time we’re playing at Jalan Besar so we need to take advantage of that. It’s important that we keep the focus to finish this final step.”
Young full-back Nur Adam Abdullah sang from the same hymn book.
“Once we step on the pitch, we have to adopt a winning mentality, play with our hearts out and settle for nothing less,” said the 20-year-old, who is in his first season with the Sailors after joining from Young Lions.
“If we score one, we have to keep going for more to boost our goal difference. We’ll never know what’s happening over at the Albirex game, so all we can do is to control things on our side and let fate settle the rest.”
It has been a testing season for the Sailors who had to navigate choppy waters to get to this point. Four points from their opening three games left them playing catch-up, and just eight games into the season when form was beginning to pick up, Australian coach Aurelio Vidmar left to pursue other opportunities.
But the Sailors soldiered on, winning the three matches under the interim charge of Under-21 Head Coach Robin Chitrakar, before proceeding to put up a run of five wins and four draws under Kim.
Now on a club-record 17-match unbeaten record since losing 3-1 to Hougang United in mid-March, a title at the end of what has been a roller-coaster season would be particularly sweet for all the club.
“We struggled as a team at the start and there were people doubting whether we could win the title, but we stuck together,” said Nur Adam. “Gradually we found chemistry and began to play really well together. Everyone put in a lot of hard work and it would just be amazing for us to win the title to cap off the year.”
The Sailors have shown resilience all campaign, most notably bouncing back from a heartbreaking 1-1 draw against Albirex in which they conceded a last-minute goal to concede the title initiative. They won their next two matches (6-1 against Tampines Rovers and 3-0 against Geylang International), and were helped by the White Swans’ shock 0-0 draw against Tampines that turned things back in their favour.
“It’s normal in a season that there are some games that we don’t do well in. The challenge is to pick ourselves up mentally, and we’ve shown over the course of the year we are strong enough to bounce back,” said Hariss. “By our own hard work and some luck, we have stayed in the mix and it’s key that we keep improving and take the next step.”
Nur Adam is an example of a player who has thrived at the Sailors and brought his game to the next level in 2021. His enterprising displays at left-back have not gone unnoticed – he has been nominated for the Young Player of the Year gong alongside teammate Saifullah Akbar and Albirex’s Ryoya Taniguchi.
Noting the “understanding of the game” as his biggest improvement, Nur Adam believes this nomination would not have happened without the support system within the club.
“I appreciate how the senior players here always encourage and give us advice, instead of being hard on us, whenever we make mistakes,” said the 2018 Dollah Kassim Award winner. “I’ve learnt a lot about game management. For example when we’re winning, they will tell me ‘why should you dribble? Just keep the ball’, and things like that.
“Now I’m better at knowing when to release the ball, when to dribble – when to do the right things basically. I’ve also learnt a lot of new things under Coach Kim – he always teaches me how to position myself. It’s a really healthy environment at this club where I can truly grow as a player.”
With 90 minutes separating them and destiny, the Sailors are determined to complete the mission that they set out for themselves since their 2020 inception.
For a number of the players including Nur Adam, it would be their first-ever title in their careers and they simply cannot wait to get out onto the field in front of an expectant sell-out crowd on Sunday.
“To be SPL champion will be a great addition to my CV and something that I will remember for the rest of my life,” he said. “We’re looking forward to seeing a great crowd at Jalan Besar and my family members will be coming down as usual to give their support. Hopefully we can have a big celebration at the end of the game.”
For Hariss, it would be his first domestic title as well – which could come as a slight surprise to many given that he has seven Malaysia Super League (MSL) crowns to his name.
“It’s not just me, it’ll also be Gabriel’s (Quak) first as well. It’s also long overdue for my teammates like Hassan Sunny (who last won with Warriors FC in 2014) and Shahdan Sulaiman (who won with Tampines back in 2013). It’s been a while since we had a local side winning the title so it would be something nice for the fans,” said the 30-year-old.
“The first title is always the most difficult. I remember in my early years at JDT, we were facing strong competition from Pahang, Kedah and Selangor. The most important thing is to get across the finishing line and build on from there in the seasons to come.”
This Sunday, the Lion City Sailors will battle for the Singapore Premier League (SPL) title on the final matchday of the season (10 October). And while the players are firmly fixing their gaze on the Balestier Khalsa match at the Jalan Besar Stadium, the club will be well represented at the 2021 Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Awards Night that follows two days later.
Stipe Plazibat, with 14 goals and seven assists to his name in 17 appearances this year, is one of three nominees for the AIA Player of the Year award, his second consecutive nomination for the award.
He is joined on the nominees list by teammate Jorge Fellipe. The 32-year-old Brazilian has been a giant in defence and also equally important in the attacking third, scoring important goals – most notably against Albirex Niigata (S) and Young Lions – to keep the Sailors’ title hopes on track.
Hougang United’s Tomoyuki Doi – the league’s current top scorer with 19 goals in 20 matches – rounds up the nominees list for the award that was won by Sailors’ attacker Gabriel Quak last year.
Saifullah Akbar stood alongside Gabriel on stage in 2020, winning the AIA Young Player of the Year, and the 22-year-old midfielder is once again among the nominees for players aged 23 or under.
He will have to beat off competition from Albirex’s Ryoya Taniguchi – the White Swans’ leading goalscorer (nine) and assist-provider (eight) this year – as well as teammate Nur Adam Abdullah.
Nur Adam has been a picture of consistency in his debut season with the Sailors, making the left-back spot his own, with an eye-catching swashbuckling style.
There will be 10 award categories at the awards ceremony to be held at the Aux Media Studio. This is one more than last year, with the new Golden Glove Award – presented to the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in the SPL – for the first time.
Albirex custodian Takahiro Koga will become the SPL’s first Golden Glove winner. He has racked up eight clean sheets, three more than the next closest goalkeeper and cannot be overtaken with one game left to play.
The Sailors were big winners last year with Gabriel and Saifullah taking the biggest individual awards and Stipe named as league’s top-scorer.
The appointment of Kim Do-hoon as Lion City Sailors’ new head coach in May made waves in the local football fraternity. It was a move signalling the Sailors’ lofty ambitions to not just dominate the Singapore Premier League (SPL), but also a step towards growing into one of the best clubs in the region.
After all, the 51-year-old has won the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) with K League 1 side Ulsan Hyundai as recently as last December. He also has a proven track record of improving the playing style and results of teams that he managed in his native Korea.
Just over three months since Kim officially came on board in late June, it already appears things are working out well. The Sailors are unbeaten in nine matches under him, with the report card showing five wins and four draws.
Kim is pleased with what his side has dished out on the pitch so far – both in terms of results and performance – and a key reason behind that is the Sailors’ firm commitment to adapt to his demands.
“A club like ours is expected to win every game and we know the expectations that are put on us. We’ve not been able to do so, but in every match there have certainly been positives that we can take away,” reflected the South Korean.
“The fact that we’ve been maintaining an unbeaten run shows that this team has a lot of grit and character.”
Coming into a team that already has the tools to succeed, Kim knew he had to manage things delicately and not throw the baby out with the bathwater. In short, change needed to come via evolution, not revolution – no matter how successful his methods were at Ulsan.
The first order of business, team cohesion.
From Day One, he moved to establish a club rule: players and officials form a circle before training sessions giving high-fives to one another. After the sessions, they will gather and clap three times before they leave. It is something centre-back Tajeli Salamat noted has improved the morale and vibe within the team.
“Building a positive club culture is very important to me,” said Kim. “At Ulsan, I established something similar. I want the players to not only feel a sense of belonging to the club, but feel like they’re part of a family together.”
And this has had an impact on the pitch. The Sailors are becoming a hardworking team that fights for the ball and are compact at the back, an improvement that complements their slick attacking qualities that were already in place.
But it was not all plain smooth-sailing.
The Sailors drew his first two matches in 1-1 draws against Albirex Niigata (S) and Balestier Khalsa. In the latter game, they struggled to break down a gritty Tigers outfit and had to rely on a 95th-minute Stipe Plazibat penalty to rescue a point.
That copped quite a bit of criticism on social media, but the Sailors committed to the change, and were confident of the work in progress, and duly delivered Kim’s first win in style, with a 4-1 thrashing of Tampines Rovers.
“Of course winning is always important, but time is needed for players to adapt to new tactics,” explained Kim. “Even during the first two games, the players and staff were committed to the philosophies that I’ve introduced, and I had confidence in them.
“The win over Tampines only served to enhance the confidence in what we’re doing.”
Under Kim, training has also been more physical and intense. The impact is undeniable. The Sailors have shown an improved ability to last throughout matches, coming from behind four times under his charge to rescue points.
One of those was a 3-1 win over Young Lions, a match in which they scored late goals to turn things around after trailing at half-time.
“Lasting the 90 minutes both physically and mentally has to be a basic for football players,” asserted Kim. “I’m happy to see how the players are able to do that and have always responded well to my training regime.”
Kim has also displayed a shrewd ability to get the best out of a quality squad. Under his charge, the likes of Tajeli Salamat, Song Ui-young and Hafiz Nor have been revitalised, including Faris Ramli who has racked up two goals and five assists in nine outings, this after just one goal and one assist in his first 10 appearances this season.
“I truly believe in squad rotation – giving everyone a chance to show what they got and also keep them match fit,” he said. “Keeping morale high is important for team cohesion. Furthermore, injuries can happen anytime and we need all players to be ready. Rotation of players therefore keeps the squad fresh and ready.”
The hard work and persistence could be rewarded handsomely. The Sailors are now on the verge of a first-ever SPL title. Having remained hot on the heels of Albirex all season, they took over at the summit at the end of Matchweek 20 and will now go into the final day of fixtures with destiny in their own hands.
Level on points with the White Swans albeit with a better goal difference, all the Sailors have to do is to equal or better Albirex’s result on 10 October to get their hands on the big prize.
Kim is proud of how far the team has come.
“The boys have been very cooperative and have shown a strong willingness to learn. It’s never easy to learn things under time constraints, but they’ve done really well to commit to what I’ve implemented for them,” said Kim.
“The team now looks more in sync, like a well-oiled machine. There’s definitely a better understanding in terms of attack and communication in defence. We’ve not just improved physically, but also mentally with increased durations of focus.
“We kept our heads high and carried on as professionals to win the next two games after dropping two points against Albirex (in September’s 1-1 draw). That is a huge credit to the team’s fighting spirit and winning mentality.”
While the focus is on winning the SPL, Kim has already set his sights on a bigger goal – excelling in the ACL next season.
“The players will deserve to celebrate and have a good rest after this season, but once we return, they know there’s more work to be done ahead of the ACL,” he said. “We have to continue to work hard together to forge higher standards for other Singaporean players and clubs to aspire to.”
A tasty season finale awaits
After a roller-coaster year of twists, turns and even corkscrews, the 2021 Singapore Premier League (SPL) season will come to a close this Sunday (10 October).
The Lion City Sailors now sit atop the eight-team SPL standings, ahead of Albirex Niigata (S) on goal difference, and will host Balestier Khalsa at the Jalan Besar Stadium at 5.30pm.
Victory could seal the Sailors’ first SPL title, but that will of course depend on the result of the Tanjong Pagar United-Albirex match happening at the same time.
The Sailors are heartened to have seen sensational support in stadiums across the island since restrictions were loosened to allow for 1,000 Singapore football fans into SPL matches.
We look forward to your continued support as we bring one of the most thrilling SPL seasons to a close.
Ticketing Information
Season Pass 2020 & 2021 – Complimentary
Adult – $15
Concession – $5
Each Season Pass is entitled to redeem 2 tickets.
Non-season pass holders may purchase up to 5 tickets
*Concession tickets are applicable to the following, with Concession Cards and a recent Photo ID requested upon entry for verification purposes:
– Students aged 16 and below with a valid Student Concession Card,
– Senior Citizens aged 60 and above with a valid Senior Citizen Concession Card.
Ticket Sales
North Entrance of Jalan Besar Stadium
1500hrs-1530hrs: Season Pass Redemption
1530hrs-1730hrs: Season Pass Redemption and General Sale
Conditions of Entry
The following conditions must be met for entry to SPL matches:
- Individuals must have completed the full vaccination regimen including the two-week (14 days) period after the second dose for the vaccination to take effect. Eligible vaccines include the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, or any other vaccine in the World Health Organisation’s Emergency Use Listing (WHO EUL), including Sinovac-CoronaVac, Sinopharm, and AstraZeneca.
- Fans who produce proof of a negative Antigen Rapid Test (ART) result, will also be allowed entry. The ART must be valid until the end of the event and must be taken at a Ministry of Health-certified ART practitioner; self-test kit results will not be valid for use of entry.
- Individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 will be exempted from having to produce a negative ART result, but will need to present a Pre-Event Test Exemption Notice from any clinic offering ART or PCR testing services.
- Fans are required to produce proof of their completed vaccination status via the TraceTogether or the HealthHub app on their mobile phone, proof of negative ART test or Pre-Event Test Exemption Notice along with a valid form of identification such as NRIC or driver’s licence for verification purposes.
- Individuals aged 12 years and below are allowed entry for SPL capped at 20% of the actual event size.
Igniting a Sailors’ fire – The 12th man
Football is nothing without fans.
The adage has long been relegated to the sporting cliché dump, alongside the likes of “we’re taking it a game at a time”, and “we gave 110 percent.” But the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has seen a bright spotlight turn to stands in stadiums across the globe, and pulled the stark reality of the adage back to the forefront of the sporting psyche – it is true.
In the Singapore Premier League (SPL), it has become clear that passionate fandom is alive and kicking.
The SPL was played behind closed doors in various pockets of the 2021 season, and the silent scream from empty stands was conspicuous, and wildly so. Once fans were allowed back in, the electricity in the air at stadiums across the island was palpable – and on the pitch, it sparked higher tempo, higher intensity football matches.
A number of the Lion City Sailors’ best performances this season have come when there are fans in the stadiums, with attacker Gabriel Quak adamant that the vociferous support has “brought life” to football matches.
“Fans in the stadium definitely make a huge difference – while in Singapore we can only have 1000 fans now, compared to the 30,000 or 50,000 in Europe, but the impact is still significant,” said the 30-year-old.
“You can feel the euphoria from the stands whenever we score, and with every tackle we make. Whether you’re chasing the game or trying to hold on to a lead, the fans give us an extra push and extra energy.
“That’s really important – it brings out that extra 10 or 20 percent from us.”
As the Sailors surge towards their first-ever league title, the interest for the game here has grown and recent sell-out crowds at their matches at the Jalan Besar Stadium underscores the point.
For the top-of-the-table clash with defending champions Albirex Niigata (S) some weeks ago, fans were spotted queuing up for the tickets even three hours before the game with the allocated quantity of 1,000 quickly snapped up. It is a welcome sight that Gabriel hopes can be built on into the seasons to come.
“It’s such a great feeling to see so many people queuing up when we arrive at the stadium on match day. Be it having 10 or 1000 fans, every one of them count because they make the effort to turn up,” he acknowledged.
“I hope it’s not a COVID-19 thing, with watching football one of the few things that people can do despite the restrictions we have in Singapore. Hopefully we can progress from here to having 2,000 or even 4,000 fans in the stadium.
“I guess fans feel good about watching the game in a full-house stadium where you look to your left, right, up and down, there are people watching with you. Likewise, we feel great about having their support up close.”
September’s Young Lions fixture was one that stuck out in Gabriel’s mind. The 2020 SPL Player of the Year believes the fans truly made a difference in the 3-1 win that saw the Sailors come from a goal down to win courtesy of a rare double from Jorge Fellipe.
“It wasn’t an easy game, but when Jorge scored the equaliser we could feel the force coming from the stands and that pushed us to go for the winner,” he recalled.
“And when he scored again, he took off his top and the whole team went to celebrate in front of the fans. It was just such a great moment to savour and honestly that could not have happened in an empty stadium.”
For Sailors fans, it has been such a stop-start season in terms of changing regulations. With the first five matches of the season being played behind closed doors, conditional entry was finally granted to 250 fans in early April as long as they produced proof of a negative COVID-19 test result.
That only lasted for three rounds, before reverting to the status quo for the whole of May (three matches) due to a rising number of cases. When the league resumed in late July, 100 fans were allowed in (for two matches) before the number was raised to 500 in August (one match) and subsequently 1,000 (six matches since) from mid-August onwards.
During the period when fans were not allowed in, the Sailors organised online watch-alongs via Zoom for a number of matches and it was an initiative Sailors fan Eddy Hirono was very appreciative of.
“We’ve very thankful of what the club has done for us – these watch-alongs were crucial to helping us fans get to know each other and feel more connected to the club,” said the 33-year-old in-house lawyer.
“It’s nice that they got youth players from the club to join in these sessions, so we were just having fun asking Adib (Nur Hakim) and Justin Hui questions from hairstyle and their personal lives to who’s the joker in the dressing room.”
Eddy, who is part of a 30-strong official Sailors fan club, The Crew, is one who has attended every Sailors game possible this season. He believes the most important aspect of being physically present at the stadium is the fellowship with like-minded individuals from all walks of life.
“It’s so heartening to see people from anywhere and everywhere – there are some makciks sitting with us and even a six-year-old boy, whose dad trusts him to sit with us,” he revealed. “Nur Adam’s (Abdullah) family usually sits very near us and they always thank us for supporting him, which is very nice.
“At the moment, we cannot bring in things like drums. But the supporters have been great in improvising – be it by whacking the chairs, stamping their feet or just clapping very loudly. There’s also a bit of healthy banter with opposition fans – which is all fun and games really.
“This is just the start and hopefully we can get more people together as time goes along – we want to be the consistent voice for this football club.
For Eddy, being at a match means he can live through the whole range of emotions as a football fan, and he is definitely going to be there in the stands as the Sailors look to cross the finish line against Balestier on 10th October.
“I recall that Albirex game where there was everything – the euphoria and the party atmosphere after going 1-0 up, then that layer of tension knowing one goal will change the whole title equation,” said the long-time supporter, who started supporting the club in 2012 in its previous iteration as Home United.
“While we did not hold out for the win, that’s what we fans live for – to experience all these emotions of a football match, it’s not just about the victories. I hope to see the club win the title this Sunday, but if we don’t, I wouldn’t be too disappointed. Because it’s a matter of time before we pick up trophies,” said Eddy.
Buoyed by the unwavering support from the fans, Sailors attacker Song Ui-young wants to make sure they do not go home disappointed this Sunday.
“I know how much our fans love us and how they would love to see a local team win the title after so long,” said the newly-minted Singaporean. “The fans are part of our football family and we cannot exist without them.
“I know many of them are excited for this last match against Balestier. We’re going to be very well prepared for this match because we want to lift the trophy in front of all our fans. We want to give them something to cheer about because they deserve it for all their support.”
Five milestones on the road to 10 October
In 10 days, the Lion City Sailors will line up in what will be the most important match in the club’s 20th month of existence.
Kim Do-hoon’s charges host Balestier Khalsa at the Jalan Besar Stadium on 10 October, the final matchday of the Singapore Premier League (SPL) season, still in control of their destiny and the destination of the SPL trophy.
A win will put the Sailors in prime position to become Singapore’s champions for the first time in the club’s history, with Albirex Niigata (S) needing to beat Tanjong Pagar United, and win by five more goals than whatever margin Hassan Sunny and his team manage victory.
In what has been a bit of a rollercoaster 2021, we look back at five key milestones on the Sailors’ journey into uncharted waters.
1. Jorge Fellipe’s first goal in Singapore football, 7 April
After a topsy-turvy start to the 2021 season that witnessed two wins, a draw and a loss, the Sailors lined up against defending SPL champions Albirex – and the match was not going particularly well.
Two goals down in the first half, the Sailors pulled one back just before half-time. The second period saw the boys in blue throw everything at Albirex to no avail – even missing a penalty.
Up stepped big Jorge, with a towering header off a Naqiuddin Eunos right-wing cross to level things up with just three minutes left to play – his first goal in Singapore football.
The Sailors rescued a point – and prevented their main title rivals from gaining two – in a result that sparked reaction from the side that went on a six-match winning streak immediately after to get the season back on track.
2. That Diego Lopes wondergoal, 24 April
The Sailors lost 3-1 to Hougang United in March – the Cheetahs are the only team to have beaten the club in 2021 – and were struggling to break down a Hougang side that were again set up to frustrate.
Receiving the ball at the edge of the box from a Faris Ramli throw-in, Diego swiveled and unleashed a right-foot volley that seemingly defied the laws of physics as it curled outwards and dipped into the top corner of the Hougang net.
That goal silenced the Hougang Stadium, and ensured the Sailors exorcised ghosts of the club’s solitary defeat.
3. Kim Do-hoon’s first training session, 29 June
This may have been an introductory session held behind closed doors at the Jalan Besar Stadium, but it was a game-changer. Kim would be the third man taking charge of the Sailors in 2021, but the Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) winner brought more than just stability.
On that day, he set in place demands on fitness, and an attitude of excellence that has held true since the Korean took charge. The Sailors are still on a 16-match unbeaten run – with Kim in charge for nine of those matches – including four matches in which they had to come from behind to secure points.
As a bonus for football fans in Singapore, Kim’s Sailors play an entertaining brand of attacking football.
4. A momentary lapse that changed threatened to derail the title charge, 17 September
A win over Albirex would have put the Sailors firmly in the driver’s seat for the SPL title, with just three games to play – and things were looking good at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Haiqal Pashia put the Sailors in front in the 23rd minute, and the Sailors held the fort for the 70 minutes that followed, even creating chances to kill off the match.
But a lapse in concentration saw the Sailors fail to pick up the run of Ryoya Taniguchi, whose header trickled over the line, with just seconds left to play.
The result gave Albirex the advantage in the title race, with the Sailors now needing to win their remaining games, and hope for a favour from Albirex’s two remaining opponents – Tampines Rovers and Tanjong Pagar United.
5. A resounding thumping of the Stags, 21 September 29
The Sailors dismantled the Stags at Our Tampines Hub, with a display of clinical finishing to take advantage of an error-strewn Tampines performance and triumph 6-1.
The thumping proved to be a wake-up call for Tampines that put in an inspired display of disciplined defence in their next fixture – a 0-0 draw with Albirex Niigata.
Those two results saw the Sailors regain the advantage, and wrestled control of their SPL destiny back from the White Swans, taking us to the present day, where a win over Balestier Khalsa on 10 Oct, could see the Sailors take the final step across the line, and be crowned SPL champions for the first time.
