Author: Nicolette Ten
In From the Bridge, we step away from celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the Lion City Sailors to glance in the rear view mirror, to see how far the club has come in the previous year, before turning our eyes to the path ahead.
In this piece, Sailors’ Head Physiotherapist Nurhafizah Abu Sujad reflects on the speedy growth of her department, and the exciting times ahead when the Sailors move to their Mattar Road home later this year.
In July 2021, the Lion City Sailors roped in a familiar face from the Singapore football industry – as the Head of Physiotherapy to support the club’s drive for football excellence through building a robust sports medicine structure.
In a short space of time, Nurhafizah Abu Sujad has already seen the club lift its first-ever Singapore Premier League (SPL) title and AIA Community Shield, and she will continue to be an important figure as the club embarks on its historic Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) campaign alongside the region’s best in April 2022 – this just two short months after the club celebrated its second birthday on 14 February.
Despite the trophies, it has not exactly been a walk in the park.
Working with a demanding coach like Kim Do-hoon who emphasises a higher level of intensity at training and 100 percent commitment from the players, there is pressure on the medical department to help ensure that players continue to stay fit and fresh, but it is a pressure that Fizah has embraced.
“Expectations are higher this year, not just on the players but also on our department to deal with issues that may arise, so I have to say it’s been quite stressful in the lead-up to the season,” she said.
“But it’s good that we have stress – it pushes us to be better. The good team that we’ve assembled helps all of us cope – in times of stress, we help each other and become even stronger as a unit.”
Players are critical assets for any team looking to raise levels and mix with the best in the business, and it is also important to have a robust medical department working behind the scenes to ensure that those at the front and centre of achieving results for the club remain in the best condition to continue to do exactly that.
Most of the work takes place below the deck, far from the public eye, but there are precious few who would contest the assertion that the club’s medical team is critical to its overall vision.
There has been much progress
After eight months or so on the job, Fizah, as she is affectionately known as in football circles, is pleased with progress, after having laid out a good framework and firming up processes to make things “more effective and efficient” in the areas of injury prevention and management.
Fizah’s Sailors team includes sports trainer Fazly Hasan, sports therapist Fathul Nur Hakim and performance coach Shazaly Ayob, with each working well in their own areas, although she admits the club can always make do with more hands on deck.
“We’ve certainly beefed up our structure. There is increased manpower for recovery of our players, including providing massages and treatment. We try to ensure it’s a seamless process for any injured player – from identifying the issue to managing them well and returning them to training and playing as safely as possible,” said Fizah.
“We now have a strong medical team, but we’re always looking for more people who can join us – especially because 2022 is going to be a big, tough year for us with the (ACL) coming up. We need to ensure the players are always in top condition and top form. Having extra manpower will surely help us in terms of managing player recovery.”
Going beyond the first team
Fizah’s responsibilities are not just focused on the first team. In the months and years ahead, she aims to have firm and consistent sports medicine processes that extend beyond the senior squad through to the club Academy’s age-group teams.
“The key is that when a player is promoted from the Academy into the first team, the medical processes remain the same as those they are already comfortable with. We are in regular discussions with the Academy – people like Mark Onderwater (Academy’s Head of Performance) and Mike Kerklaan (Academy’s Head of Physiology) to ensure this becomes a seamless process – that is our common goal,” she shared.
“We’re going to be sharing the same facilities at Mattar Road later this year, and processes will probably be smoother by then. In addition to beefing up our medical departments, we’ll also conduct workshops and knowledge sharing between both sides.”
But with the Mattar training facility poised to be operational only in the second half of this year, players and medical staff continue to shuttle between Bishan Stadium and the gym at Jalan Besar Stadium for rehabilitation work.
A challenging, but rewarding path ahead
Fizah and company have to put in longer hours, reporting at least four hours before kick off on match day to make sure medical equipment is properly set up, and staying behind as long as three hours after training sessions to make sure the players get the treatment they need.
Up there amongst the biggest and trickiest issues to tackle, is managing expectations of not just players, but also coaches. Fizah recalls the heat being turned up at the end of 2021, when now-departed forward Stipe Plazibat suffered an unfortunate ankle injury and missed the last four games of the season.
“Whenever a key player gets injured, there is always pressure on the medical team. We assess, diagnose, and provide an estimated timeline for him to recover, but sometimes the player wants to rush and return earlier because they want to fight for their place in the first 11,” she said. “Sometimes it’s the coaches who may want him to return faster and are wondering why this player isn’t back in training yet.
“So we have to sit down with everyone to discuss what’s best for the team and we try to find a balance and it’s never easy. The most important thing is that the player returns to action – safely – that’s always the ultimate goal.”
Improved communication and clarity, not just within Fizah’s burgeoning sports medicine department, but across the whole club is an area which gives her the most satisfaction in her short tenure thus far.
“It was quite overwhelming when I first came in,” she admitted. “But we sat down, re-organised, and we now know our individual roles. Of course there will be some overlaps, but we have clarity on what each of us contributes.
“Things are now getting across more smoothly, now that we’re communicating well with the technical staff and members of the management as well. Any issues that arise, we talk, trial and sort things out as one team.
“For example, for the new signings, our department and Head of Sport Science, Mario Jovanovic, actually sat down with Badri (Ghent, Sporting Director), and he shared with us the type of players the club is looking to sign and we give our inputs in terms of the issues that we have to look out for and the things that we need to work on when they join us.”
Players are already helping the collective cause
Fizah counts herself fortunate that she does not need to do much to educate players, and that is largely because a large number of players are experienced, consummate professionals.
“Players have evolved in recent times… Especially in the Sailors, they know they’ve to take good care of themselves to perform their best. They actually have good knowledge and they always ask questions,” she said.
“Of course there are the younger ones, and we need to educate them more, but they want to emulate senior players like Hariss (Harun) and Hassan (Sunny). These seniors will also give the medical team advice, knowing what’s best for themselves and that helps us.”
The pre-season is always the busiest period for the medical department that has to monitor players’ physical conditions and key indicators like body fat percentage after returning from weeks of inactivity, as well as conducting a series of tests on new arrivals to have a clear picture on injuries and make sure they are ready for the gruelling season ahead.
Fizah has been impressed by the Sailors’ new foreign signings, Pedro Henrique and Kim Shin-wook, and is eagerly anticipating the opportunity to work with a player like Maxime Lestienne who comes with experience at the very highest level.
“Physical attributes-wise, they’re great… They know how to take care of themselves and they will approach the medical team themselves, in terms of injury prevention. They’re also sharing their knowledge – having played in top leagues – and that makes our job so much easier,” she said.
“They’re physically and mentally ready, and they just want to win things here. I’m already looking forward to working with Maxime, who has immense experience in top European leagues.”
With the squad witnessing no major injuries in pre-season and the Community Shield fixture, Fizah is feeling optimistic about the year ahead. She hopes to see the team retain the SPL title and put up respectable performances in the ACL, but over and above that, Fizah wants her sport medicine department to continue to evolve and sustain best practices like the best in the business.
“We have to keep upgrading ourselves, continually learning and studying so that we can be better medical professionals.”
It was just one clean swing of his right boot, but in that technique, timing, and temerity, Kim Shin-wook has started to demonstrate why he is worth all the hype surrounding his high-profile arrival at the Lion City Sailors.
The score was locked at 1-1 and with just three minutes left on the clock, the 2022 AIA Community Shield between the Sailors and Albirex Niigata (S) on 19 February looked poised for a penalty shootout.
But “Wookie” was having none of that.
As the ball hung in the Jalan Besar air after an excellent Diego Lopes cross, the South Korean – who had scored over 100 goals in K League 1 – spotted the opportunity and moved into position, a predator poised to strike. He connected with a sweet acrobatic volley with an athleticism not often associated with a 1.98m giant, and sent the ball flying past Takahiro Koga to make it 2-1 and win the Sailors the Shield – the club’s second trophy after being crowned SPL champions last October.
It was an incredible strike which probably will be replayed over and over again in the season ahead – a strike that clearly signalled Wookie’s arrival in the Singapore Premier League (SPL).
Earlier that evening, Shin-wook had already introduced himself to the local public by showcasing his trademark aerial prowess to get in between the Albirex centre-backs and nod home Tajeli Salamat’s teasing right-wing cross for the equaliser.
It was all in an evening’s work for the 33-year-old, his clinical brace helping to overturn an early deficit against the White Swans, who had drawn first blood through Tadanari Lee’s penalty conversion.
Shin-wook was undoubtedly the star of the show, but he was happy to stay out of the limelight in the ensuing trophy celebrations as he stood with a face of calmness in the back row. As the Sailors’ players and staff lifted the Shield, he clapped briefly for a few seconds before exiting the podium first to do some stretching on his own.
There was a whiff of the dedication that fuels Shin-wook’s winning mentality – one that perhaps showed that the two-time Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) winner has his eye set to achieve even more with the Sailors.
When asked about how he rated his performance, he laughed as he said: “I felt that the team had one man less in the first half because I didn’t do too well. In the second half, it was better, but I cannot do it alone of course. I need my teammates to give me good balls and I’m happy I’m at the end of two brilliant assists.
“I would give myself a 7/10.”
On a sweltering Saturday afternoon, the Sailors did not have it all their way in the season’s curtain-raiser. Albirex – back under two-time league winner Kazuaki Yoshinaga – proved to be a real handful with their swift and neat passing.
Lee made the most of a soft foul from Shahdan Sulaiman in the penalty area to put the White Swans ahead from the spot on 14 minutes, before centre-back Keito Hariya saw his header denied by the woodwork six minutes later.
Shin-wook’s equaliser four minutes before half-time altered the momentum of the game as the Sailors began to play with more verve and intensity in the second half.
Debutant Pedro Henrique showed his class at the heart of defence alongside new skipper Hariss Harun, with the former Vitoria Guimaraes captain showing poise on the ball and aggression in winning it back to limit the Albirex attackers.
Behind him was the evergreen Hassan Sunny who pulled off two superb saves – one of those a superb reaction save to deny Lee from point-blank range – to keep the score level.
Coach Kim Do-hoon drew on the strength of his bench, with M. Anumanthan coming on at half-time to inject steel in midfield on his Sailors bow, before calling upon Hafiz Nor and Diego for more attacking impetus in the final stages of the game.
In the end, it was the latter two who combined to great effect down the right leading up to Shin-wook’s brilliant late winner as the Sailors began a big 2022 season on a positive note – a first win over Albirex in six competitive meetings and another piece of silverware for the trophy cabinet.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Kim expressed his pleasure of seeing his Sailors turn the tide to win a game in which they were admittedly not at their fluent best.
“Football is a 90-minute game, not 45. Our transitions – both defensive and offensive – didn’t quite work for us in the first half,” said the 51-year-old. “Of course there was some pressure in the dressing room coming into this important match against a strong opponent.
“And what impressed me was the boys’ will and spirit to give everything on the pitch and bring the Shield back home. If we can keep up the quality football and pressing that we showed in the second half, I believe they can bring many more good matches for the fans to enjoy.
“I’m happy we’ve finally managed to beat Albirex and this will help to give us a good start to the league.”
The Sailors will begin their SPL defence with a home match against last season’s second runners-up Hougang United next Sunday (27 Feb).
On the pitch and in our heads
After a tough couple of weeks pushing physical boundaries in pre-season training, Hariss Harun and the Lion City Sailors stand on the threshold of the 2022 Singapore Premier League (SPL) season, and will face Albirex Niigata (S) in Saturday’s AIA Community Shield, its traditional curtain raiser.
The Sailors’ skipper is determined for the team to start the domestic football season on the right foot – against a White Swans side that pushed the title race down to the wire in 2021 – and he believes that the Sailors must win the mental side of the game if they are to retain their SPL crown.
“We are acutely aware that it is going to be a challenging season ahead, because teams always have extra motivation when playing against the defending champions, and every SPL team has already made moves to strengthen their squads,” said the 31-year-old.
“To handle everything that will come at us this year, we will need to win the mental battle in our own heads from the start.”
The Sailors have the opportunity to win the club’s second trophy – the Community Shield – just some four months after their first SPL title, and Hariss was clear that the target for 2022 must be to try and win every domestic title on offer.
“We’re aiming for excellence and to raise the bar for ourselves and Singapore football, to do that we have to go out and win matches consistently,” said the captain of Singapore’s Lions.
“We have expectations of ourselves, and there will of course be external pressures placed on us as well – and we haven’t even started talking about the football side of things yet.
“We’ll need level heads if we do find that games are not going our way, and we will also need to keep our heads even when we’re winning, to make sure that we can close out games. So simply put, every Sailor will need to have the right mentality from the get go.”
The signs are positive.
In 2021, the Sailors were made to dig deep – chasing down then league leaders Albirex with three games to go at the business end of the season – and found cool heads and steely nerves.
Hariss and company won three games on the trot, convincingly beating Tampines Rovers 6-1, overcoming Geylang International at Our Tampines Hub, then sealed the title with a 4-1 victory over Balestier Khalsa on the final day of the season.
It is that same resilience and calm that Hariss believes will put the Sailors in good stead for another successful domestic football season.
“We’ve shown that we have what it takes, and from how the team is shaping up in pre-season, I’m feeling positive about the new season. The new signings have settled in well, and we’re all pushing each other at training sessions,” said Hariss.
“With the work that we’ve put in, I think we’ll be able to play at a higher intensity, with more speed and sharpness too. And with the added aerial threat that (Kim) Shin-wook brings with him, there are various dimensions to our game.”
Alongside South Korean international forward Kim, the Sailors have signed Brazilian defender Pedro Henrique and Belgium’s Maxime Lestienne, adding European top-fight pedigree to the squad.
Singapore internationals Izwan Mahbud and M Anumanthan are the Sailors’ two other major signings ahead of a season that will see the club make its maiden appearance in the Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL).
“We want to give a good account of ourselves at the ACL, test ourselves to see where we stand against the region’s best, and just what we need to do to play at that level,” said Hariss.
“It’s clear to me that we have the right ingredients in place for both the SPL and the ACL, and we’ll just need to put everything together consistently – and the first step to that is to approach it all with the right mentality.”
Standing on the pitch at the Jalan Besar Stadium, hands behind his back, Kim Do-hoon watched as his Lion City Sailors warmed up on the sidelines. This training session would be one of the last few before his charges raise the curtain on the 2022 domestic football season – as defending champions of the Singapore Premier League (SPL) – but there was no tension in his shoulders, or his eyes.
It was only his words that hinted at that winning mindset and relentless drive for excellence.
“There’s always tension and pressure on match days and that should only help our players to bring up their concentration for the game. In order for the Sailors to become a strong and great team, we need to overcome this and it’s also the job of our coaching team to prepare them to go into every game full of confidence,” said the man who led Ulsan Hyundai to the Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) title in 2020.
Expectations are understandably sky-high this season, with many expecting the Sailors to run away with the title and sweep all three domestic trophies – including this weekend’s (19 February) AIA Community Shield and Singapore Cup.
Kim acknowledged that pressure is something the Sailors have to learn to live with, but stressed that there are other barometers of success he is looking for in 2022, indicators that go beyond just winning silverware.
“We hope to improve endlessly and provide joyful and touching moments for the fans – not only through victories but also by showing our persistence in putting in our very best efforts till the last minute of every game. Only through that then more fans will gradually grow their love and affection over football,” he emphasised.
But the fiery drive to win clearly remains.
The first order of the season is the Community Shield clash against Albirex Niigata (S) and Kim wants his team to lay down the marker ahead of what could be another tough race to the SPL title.
“Winning the first game is a very important first step to the season,” he said matter-of-factly. “Albirex will obviously be up there again, but looking at the recruitments of the other teams we’re also expecting them to put up serious challenges.
“That can only lead to excitement, interest and development of the league – which can only be good for Singapore football in the long run.”
Behind the scenes, much work has gone into ensuring the team is well prepared to battle and win, this despite the fact that a large number of players only had a two-week break following the Singapore national team’s semi-final exit in December’s AFF Suzuki Cup.
“The preparations are not entirely smooth of course, but I’ve to say everyone is displaying the right attitude and effort in training to keep improving and developing physically to a standard that we need to be at,” he said.
At the very least, having a pre-season where there is more time to try and instil his philosophy and get his ideas across to the players ahead of his first full year at the club is something that has given Kim satisfaction, and he is delighted that he has – in the Sailors’ backroom staff – an excellent, committed team.
“Pre-season’s crucial for us to share the upcoming season’s directions and preparations through effective communication and meetings with the players. It’s not just the physical aspects, we also have to make improvements on players’ tactical and positional understanding,” explained Kim.
“I’ve happy that we’ve a strong technical team behind us – there’s Myung Jae Yong, Kim Young Kwang, Noh Rahman, Mario Jovanovic, Firdaus Maasar, Chua Lye Heng and many others who have put in many sacrifices to fulfil their specific roles and convey their experience to the players.”
To prepare for a proper assault on all fronts – including a first-ever ACL campaign coming in April – the Sailors have brought in credible foreign signings in the form of Maxime Lestienne, Pedro Henrique and Kim Shin-wook.
While Lestienne has yet to train with the team, the latter two have already “assimilated well”, with Coach Kim eagerly anticipating the impact that his fellow countryman Shin-wook – a scorer of over 100 goals in Korea – could make.
“I’m very thankful for the club’s support and assistance to recruit these great players. Shin-wook is a player that any manager would have the desire to work with. I’m sure his performances and level of professionalism is something that will rub off on the players and bring excitement to the fans,” he shared.
Having also recruited national team players Izwan Mahbud and M. Anumanthan, the Sailors now have a handy squad with good depth to call upon throughout the season.
“Healthy competition is necessary. We are planning to utilise the players based on the game strategy and their conditions,” he said.
Kim’s philosophy has been largely focused on having a strong defence and being compact as a team – indeed the Sailors have not conceded more than one goal in each of his 10 matches in charge.
While that will not change this season, the South Korean has hinted that the team could adopt a more front-foot attacking style with the number of quality attackers at his disposal.
“We’ve been focused on improving the speed of our game including on transitions… we’re working on scoring through various attacking combinations by creating space, changing and controlling the pace of the game in the attacking area, as well as our build-up and taking aerial advantages,” he revealed.
Kim is ready for a charge after a restful post-season, that included a family trip to his hometown in Korea – Tongyeong, Gyeongnam – before returning to Singapore to explore his newly adopted country.
But football was never far from his mind. The 51-year-old set aside time to watch his charges at the Suzuki Cup.
“This is the first time I have cheered for a country other than South Korea,” he said. “Hassan Sunny and Shahdan Sulaiman proved their worth with their performances, but the performance and persistence of the other players until the very last minute of the final game (against Indonesia) also touched the hearts of many fans.”
That, and the fresh memory of being crowned SPL champions – Kim’s first league title victory as a coach, that came just three months after taking the reins at the Sailors – seemed to have redoubled his resolve for excellence as the 2022 season looms.
“That was a very memorable moment for myself and the club,” said Kim.
“It was a title that allowed us to remind ourselves with a lesson that persistence without giving up will lead to great results.”
There is a new captain at the helm this year for the Lion City Sailors.
Hariss Harun will succeed Hassan Sunny, who held the role last season as the Sailors won their first Singapore Premier League (SPL) title, while Amirul Adli and Nur Adam Abdullah have been named co vice-captains.
Hariss is no stranger to the job, having skippered the Singapore national team in recent times in addition to various age-group levels and his previous club Johor Darul Ta’zim. A well-respected figure on the pitch and in the dressing room, the midfielder has always led by example and is looking forward to donning the armband for 2022.
“It is always an immense honour to be captain,” said Hariss, who has made 10 appearances for the club since signing last May. “This was discussed within the team and management, and I am happy to take the role. As a player, it does not change anything for me personally as I will continue to give my all.
”I have had a taste of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League – something that will be new to most of the team – and will use my experience there to help the players as we aim to give a good account of ourselves.”
The 30-year-old will work closely with Hassan and Shahdan Sulaiman, who remain key leadership figures in the team. The trio’s experience and guidance will serve as exemplary reference for Adli, 26, and Nur Adam, 21, whose appointments as vice-captains ensure that the younger age-groups in the squad will be represented in the leadership hierarchy as well.
“Hassan has been a wonderful captain for the past two years and I am pleased that I have good heads around me like him and Shahdan,” Hariss added. “For Adam and Adli, their new roles put a bit more responsibility on them and they are aware of that, but they are strong characters. It is important that we have a succession plan for the future and there is no better time for them to step up.”
Sailors Sporting Director Badri Ghent noted that the entire team is on board with the changes and is confident that the captains will set the right tone for the new season as the Sailors gear up for a big year.
“Hariss’ ability as a player is known to everyone but more importantly, he is a model professional and the way he conducts himself makes him an excellent role model for the Sailors,” he said. “Of course, we value Hassan’s contributions last season and together with Shahdan, the three of them will be superb leading figures to inspire and drive the entire team.
“With the Sailors competing on multiple fronts this season in the league, Singapore Cup and of course our maiden AFC Champions League campaign, we felt that it was also imperative that the younger players get the opportunity to step up – hence, the vice-captaincy choices of Adli and Nur Adam.
“Both are established and well-regarded in their own right in their age-groups and will work together with Hariss to form a robust leadership structure.”
This Saturday, Hariss will lead the Sailors out for the first time in 2022 as the Sailors face Albirex Niigata (S) in the AIA Community Shield to kick off the domestic season, in a Jalan Besar Stadium fixture that is already sold out.
“Pre-season has been tough and we have pushed ourselves to the limit, and we are ready to go,” he said. “We will come out strongly from the first whistle, all guns blazing and aim to get off to a winning start.”
Buriram the setting for Sailors’ ACL debut
The Lion City Sailors’ first steps in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) will be taken in Buriram, Thailand.
Earlier today, the AFC confirmed the host nations for the (East) group stage matches of the 2022 edition of the competition, which will be held from 15 April to 1 May.
The Sailors have been drawn in Group F, alongside China’s Shandong Taishan, two-time ACL winners, Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan, and the winners of the playoff stage fixture between South Korea’s Daegu FC and Buriram United.
Buriram United play their home matches at the Chang Arena in Buriram, a province some 400km northeast of the Thai capital of Bangkok.
Bangkok is the host city for the ACL’s Group G, a group that will feature Australia’s Melbourne City, Thailand’s BG Pathum United, Korean FA Cup winners Jeonnam Dragons and the Philippines’ United City FC. Group J will also be hosted in Thailand.
Group H, will be hosted in the Vietnamese capital of Ho Chi Minh, while Group I will be hosted in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
In From the Bridge, we step away from celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the Lion City Sailors to glance in the rear view mirror, to see how far the club has come in the previous year, before turning our eyes to the path ahead.
In this piece, Sailors’ Academy General Manager, Tan Li Yu, and Director, Luka Lalić discuss the challenging early years of the Academy, and a 2022 that promises much excitement.
In the last 20 months or so since its June 2020 launch, the Lion City Sailors Football Academy (LCSFA) has faced several challenges. It has had to operate against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, with restricted training and less than ideal facilities. But the Academy has found a way to navigate through these choppy waters, even thrive.
“When we went to Europe last year, the response I got from the European teams was ‘how do these guys play this way if they didn’t play 11-a-side football for two years?’,” said Luka Lalić, Academy Director. “It was an almost impossible task, but I think we’ve done pretty well with the limitations that we’ve had to contend with.”
In the last quarter of 2021, the Academy had a six-week training camp in Germany and the Netherlands, where its Elite Under-14 team got the opportunity to play against quality opponents like Borussia Dortmund (BVB) and FC Cologne – proving to be competitive with several of these teams – while the coaches enjoyed access and learned from some of the very best in the business.
That was just one highlight in a hectic 20 months that saw much growth.
Within just three months of setting up, the Academy received a one-star rating from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) – a rating system that grades the efficacy of academies – with three stars being the highest rating possible – the first in Singapore to achieve the feat.
The Academy’s Elite Development Program – a S$1 million scholarship programme – is in full swing, with two batches of youth players (those born in 2007 and 2008, and also in 2009 and 2010 respectively) benefitting from having training and other costs covered. Specialist staff including nutritionists, sports psychologists and data analysts have also been brought in to complement a setup filled with qualified, experienced coaches.
“It’s always about having the best players, best coaches and best facilities – and we’re close to getting there. It’s been so far so good with this first phase, but the critical period is probably the next phase when we reach the third year of the Academy going fully operational,” added Luka.
Academy General Manager, Tan Li Yu, divided the challenges they had into three main categories – infrastructure, with the Academy needing to cope with the reconstruction of the Mattar Road facility while continuing with training and development efforts.
Secondly, training in a pandemic-enforced constrained environment, with the Academy unable to train in the 11-a-side format and youth tournaments halted for the past couple of years.
Li Yu’s third point is the small talent pool in a country like Singapore and the challenges that come with trying to increase that base, something Li Yu believes is vitally important.
But there remains much to be excited about, with Li Yu already looking enthusiastically to the future.
“We’re very excited to be now looking forward to the completion of construction at Mattar and having proper facilities for both players and coaches. Right around you, there’s the changing room, locker room, gym, study room, briefing room, video analysis room… all these things which we’re missing right now. From a professional, comfort and functional perspective, that’ll be a crazy upgrade,” he said, of the Mattar Road training centre poised to be operational in the second half of 2022.
“And since the restrictions are probably not going to be changed much in Singapore, we’re going to look elsewhere (to play and train 11 vs 11) – especially for those boys who we brought them to an incremental level during the Europe trip, we simply cannot let them step a level down,” added Li Yu.
“In March, we’ll hopefully have a trip to Malaysia – we want to go there regularly, if possible. In June, we’re going to Spain, Netherlands and Germany. For September and December, let’s see… We want to keep training and competing at a high level.”
Luka is already eyeing additional software, to groom the cream of the Sailors crop that is poised to expand in 2022.
“We still lack three to five key staff… We’re carefully selecting people we want to bring on board,” he said. “And we’re targeting to have the third batch of scholars (those born in 2011 and 2012) pushed out so that all our youth teams (U13, U15 and U17) in the development phase are under the program and fully committed to training four to six times a week.
“With that and the completed facility, we can probably say that from July onwards, we will be 90 percent through our transition phase.”
Overseas exposure for players and staff – training camps or even experiential stints for individuals at top European clubs – is a key area the Academy will continue to emphasise in 2022, with Luka envisioning expanding partnerships to include four different European countries.
The club already has ongoing collaborations with BVB and Feyenoord – a three-year partnership that was announced yesterday, on the sidelines of the Sailors celebrations of the second anniversary of the club’s founding.
“We need to send our kids aged between 12 and 16 abroad as much as possible, to see how players in top academies play, how they behave, and what they do, so we have first-hand experience of the benchmark we need to aim for and exactly how to close that gap,” said the former Feyenoord Head of Methodology, International Development Coach.
“Also it’s important for our coaches to learn from their counterparts in these academies so that we gain a deeper understanding of how to develop our kids in Singapore.”
Li Yu agreed wholeheartedly.
“No matter how good a coach you are in Singapore, you’d likely have never seen what the best in the world between 10 to 12 years old can do. Until you’re there (in Europe) and can see for yourself, you’ll never have any benchmark to gauge the kids that you’re in charge of.
“Our coaches who went for the Europe trip saw first-hand what an elite 12-year-old player can do, and they now realise that is what our 12-year-olds need to aspire to.”
Both Luka and Li Yu are conscious of the fact that there are challenges that still lie ahead. They accept that shifting mindsets and changing the local culture will not be an overnight or linear process, but they have witnessed very positive improvements.
“When we just started, of course parents needed a lot of convincing and they wondered if we’re really willing to commit to developing their kids or if we were just paying lip service. But with this Europe trip, even for those who didn’t get to go for the trip, they now know the Academy is extremely serious,” said Li Yu, pointing to the six-figure sum the Sailors forked out to push through with the trip to Europe.
“They know we are serious when we say we’re investing in their child. They know they can look forward to something if they get the scholarship,” he added.
“Now the conversation has changed… We no longer need to convince people of what we’re setting out to do because we’re demonstrating that with our actions, by investing in a group of 13 and 14-year-olds.
“We can say: if you trust us with your kids, we can guarantee we’ll do our best for them because we know what we are doing and we are fully committed to the cause.”
The Lion City Sailors and 15-time Dutch champions Feyenoord Rotterdam have forged a three-year partnership focused on youth development and education. The commitment will see a series of youth development programmes, coaching, educational and professional exchanges as well as football training camps in the Netherlands, with Sailors supporting Feyenoord’s brand exposure in Singapore.
The partnership marks celebrations of the Sailors’ second anniversary following the club’s founding on 14 February, 2020.
The Sailors, the defending champions of the Singapore Premier League (SPL), will leverage the expertise of the Dutch giants and its acclaimed youth academy – that has won the Rinus Michels award for best academy in the Netherlands five times since 2009 – with the partnership also opening doors to individual training stints for top Sailors Academy footballers.
“Through this collaboration, we will contribute to the development of football in Singapore and the region,” said Feyenoord’s Manager of International Relations, Gido Vader. “The first team of Lion City Sailors are the reigning champions of Singapore and the club aims to become one of the best youth academies in Southeast Asia. We are delighted to be able to partner with Singapore’s most promising youth academy.”
Vader is delighted with the prospect of leveraging the Sailors’ presence in the global business hub of Singapore, and the opportunity of paving a path for young footballers in the region to Feyenoord.
He said: “Besides allowing us access to a very interesting commercial market, this partnership also enables Feyenoord to track the most talented players in the region. The Sailors’ Under-14 team visited the Feyenoord Academy in 2021. During this stay, their players and coaches have shown great development in a short period of time.
“We hope to welcome the players and staff of Lion City Sailors more often in Rotterdam now that there are more opportunities to travel.”
Sailors Chief Executive, Chew Chun-Liang, was elated with the multi-year partnership that he believes underscores the club’s drive towards excellence as the Sailors celebrate the club’s second anniversary.
“I can think of no better way for the Sailors to celebrate our second anniversary than with a partnership with a giant of the football world like Feyenoord,” he said.
“At this time of celebration, we’ve stopped to reflect on our vision and to redouble our efforts to become one of Asia’s top clubs and an elite hub of youth development – and this partnership with Feyenoord will be tremendously helpful in empowering us to get to where we want to be.”
This partnership was already in the making from 2021, with the Sailors’ Under-14 team visiting the Feyenoord Academy in November. During the two-week stay in Rotterdam, the Sailors’ players and staff enjoyed training sessions, friendly matches and team-building activities, as they got first-hand experience of European football standards and Dutch football infrastructure.
“Our boys had a chance to play against some very strong opposition, with the match against Feyenoord one of the highlights of our trip,” said Luka Lalić, Sailors’ Academy Director and former International Development coach at Feyenoord.
“It was a fantastic learning experience for all of us in Rotterdam, and we are looking forward to just how much more we can do in partnership with Feyenoord in the years ahead.”
The Feyenoord deal is the second such partnership the Sailors have forged, with eight-time German champions Borussia Dortmund (BVB) signing a similar agreement in July last year. The BVB partnership has already witnessed staff exchanges, workshops, community initiatives in various Singapore neighbourhoods, and provided the platform for the Sailors’ Academy’s 42-day training trip in Europe last year.
In From the Bridge, we step away from celebrating the founding of the Lion City Sailors to glance in the rear view mirror to see where we have come in the previous year, before turning our eyes to the horizon on the path ahead.
In the opening piece of the series, Sailors Chief Executive Chew Chun-Liang pens his thoughts as he reflects on victory in the Singapore Premier League in 2021, and the good work that continues behind the scenes as the club drives towards its lofty vision.
Today the Lion City Sailors celebrate the second anniversary of the founding of our club, and it brings me great pride to say that we celebrate as champions of the Singapore Premier League (SPL), and Singapore’s representatives in the Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) when the tournament kicks off in April this year.
Over the last two years, we have set essential blocks in place, have started to build upon that, even growing local capabilities, and are in the process of stitching all these elements together more effectively as we look towards achieving our vision of becoming one of Asia’s best.
And there has been much to celebrate.
On-field success is an important facet of the platform for our growth, and credit must be given to Head Coach Kim Do-hoon and the team, for not only getting us across the finish line, but for playing attractive football and perhaps more importantly, for the desire and gumption that the team displayed time and again as we battled on the pitch – they truly demonstrated what the Sailors stand for.
This was perhaps best illustrated in the last four games of 2021.
The team conceded a late goal to draw 1-1 with our closest title rivals Albirex Niigata (S), in September but I remember it like it was yesterday, largely because it felt like we lost more than two points in the dying minutes of that game – it felt like we had lost our chance to win the SPL.
That day, I told the team that while things were no longer in our hands, it was not over, and we should still be proud of ourselves if we go on to win the final three games of the season. And I must admit I was blown away by how Coach Kim and the boys rallied around each other and battled to three sensational wins for us to be crowned champions of Singapore for the first time. They demonstrated character and a never-say-die spirit and fought to the end – those three weeks or so gave me my best memories of 2021.
And that is saying something – as a club, the Sailors grew a lot in the year.
We started putting essential blocks in place in 2020, and we continued on a similar upward trajectory, and have started growing local capabilities in 2021.
This is witnessed in our specialist teams – the technical team, sports science, sports medicine and performance analysis – on the administrative side of the club from operations to fan and community engagement, and even in terms of forming key partnerships that can help us drive exponential growth in club capabilities and our youth development pathways.
Most of this work took place away from the public eye, but they all contributed to the success of the club, both on and off the pitch and have set a strong foundation for the club to achieve sustained success into the future.
For example, our performance analysts not only study patterns that arise in our opposition to help our technical team formulate tactics, they also leverage data to help the technical team search for new signings who can help the club get to the next level. Our sports science and medical teams also similarly contribute quietly, but importantly, to our on-field success.
Off the pitch, the Sailors signed a partnership with German giants Borussia Dortmund in July last year, and within some four months sent a 40-member delegation to Europe. It was a two-pronged trip: knowledge-sharing for our specialist and administrative teams, and training for our Elite Under-14 academy squad. The academy team spent some six weeks in Europe, managing to play 11-a-side matches – something we were unable to due to pandemic measures in Singapore – and even demonstrated that our boys can be competitive against some of Europe’s best.
There have been improvements on the fan-engagement and community-engagement fronts, and while these are still works in progress, we are moving towards bringing more value to Sailors’ fan club members – The Crew – deepening engagement on social media and our website, while also expanding our lifestyle offerings.
Our fans and the communities we live and work in remain at the heart of everything we do, and while Coach Kim and the team continue to excite and entertain you on the pitch, the Sailors will continue to do our part in communities, like we did – alongside our BVB friends – with MacPherson’s Grant a Wish initiative last year.
We will be able to dive even deeper into our communities soon, because of another bright spark of 2021 – the start of construction work on our Mattar Road training centre.
We are poised to operationalise the centre in the middle of 2022, and I am personally excited about kicking off programmes with our partners in Singapore’s sporting fraternity as well as our friends in the Mattar community, not to mention the massive boost the facility will provide us on the football front – both for the first team and the youth development pathways that we will be able to refine and grow.
With all hands on deck, the year ahead promises much for the club, and what we can do with our partners, our friends in the community, and you, our fans. Our commitment remains the same – we will continue to drive excellence and professionalism within the club, while contributing to the Singapore football fraternity.
I look forward to welcoming you to the Jalan Besar Stadium in the year ahead, and also to the various initiatives we will roll out in 2022.
Happy Birthday, Sailors!
Chun-Liang
Come sail with us!
The Lion City Sailors fan club was established last year with one mission, to unite all our supporters as one team – The Crew – behind the team. And we are looking for a spirited Crew to come aboard before we embark on our voyage into the 2022 domestic season and the Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL).
Memberships
The Crew will serve as a gateway for the Sailors to show our appreciation for your support, engage with as many of you as possible, and even give you a share in our spoils with exclusive Sailors rewards – starting with the Crew Pack that every 2022 member will receive.
We are grateful for the heartening support we felt from the stands in 2021, and to show our appreciation for the pioneer members of The Crew, all existing members will receive a free membership for 2022, when we launch memberships on Monday, 14 February.
Thank you for your invaluable support in a year that saw the club winning our first Singapore Premier League title.
Season Pass
Only members of The Crew will be eligible to apply to purchase a 2022 Season Pass – a front row seat for every time the Sailors take to the field at the Jalan Besar Stadium in home games during the domestic season.
Application for Season Passes will open at noon on Wednesday, 16 February.
There will be 14 home games in the SPL, with more coming in the Singapore Cup. And while the Season Pass will be good value, we are still working behind the scenes to provide added value to The Crew, and we will announce partner-discounts and new initiatives when we can.
We hope you will be patient with us as we put these – and other membership processes – in place ahead of the new season.
Come aboard the Sailors 2022 adventure!
Membership and Season Pass details:
Membership: The Crew
– Existing members of The Crew will be given free membership for 2022. This is to thank them for their support and loyalty, and those who qualify will receive an email from the club with instructions to activate their membership
– New signups will commence on Monday,14 Feb, the 2nd anniversary of the club. You – the fan – are at the heart of everything we do, and to celebrate the club, we must celebrate our fans
– Each membership costs $20, and is valid until 31 Dec 2022
– Members will be entitled to purchase 2 tickets for every home game at a 20% discount off regular prices, in priority sales periods before tickets are open to the public
– Members will receive a special fan pack – the Crew Pack – within 14 working days. The Pack comprises the Official The Crew membership card, a scarf, a pin and a mask
– Members will receive 5 x 20% Voucher Codes credited to their Shopee account for use at the Lion City Sailors Football Club Official Store on Shopee. Codes will be credited within 7 working days
– Only members of The Crew will be eligible to apply to purchase a Season Pass for the 2022 season
Season Pass
– A limited (250) number of season passes will be put on sale on Wednesday, 16 Feb at 12 noon (Singapore time)
– Season Passes are valid for all HOME games in the league and Singapore Cup
– Season Pass holders will be entitled to 1 guaranteed match ticket – at no further cost – and 1 ticket purchased at a 20% discount for all HOME games.
– Members will receive an email inviting them to express their interest in purchasing a season ticket
– Successful candidates, decided on a first-come-first-served basis, will then be sent a link for payment
– There are 2 Tiers to the Season Pass – Adult: $80, Concession*: $40
– Season Ticket holders will get priority access to away tickets.
*Concession: students aged 16 and under, seniors aged 55 and above. Applicants for concession Season Passes will have to be members of The Crew to be eligible
