Category: News
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.
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.
Join The Crew!
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
Countdown to 2022 season begins
In an exhilarating 2021, the Lion City Sailors were crowned Singapore Premier League (SPL) champions for the first time in October.
A week from today, the Sailors have an opportunity to win the club’s second trophy at the AIA Community Shield, the traditional curtain raiser for the domestic football season.
The Sailors will face closest rivals for the SPL trophy in 2021, Albirex Niigata (S) at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Saturday, 19 Feb, in a standalone fixture that returns for the 14th time after its pandemic-enforced absence in 2021.
Up to 1,000 fully-vaccinated spectators will be allowed into the stadium, under prevailing Safe Management Measures.
This year’s curtain raiser, as with previous editions, will be considered a neutral match, with tickets available for sale– administered via SISTIC Singapore – from 3pm today, 12 Feb on the Football Association of Singapore website.
The 2022 season promises much excitement, with the Sailors poised to make the club’s debut in the Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL). The club have made slew of new signings in Singapore internationals Izwan Mahbud and M Anumanthan, further strengthening the squad with the acquisition of Brazilian defender Pedro Henrique, Korean international Kim Shin-wook, and Belgian wide-man, Maxime Lestienne.
The 2022 AIA Community Shield will also be broadcast LIVE via Singtel TV and StarHub TV as well as streamed online via the SPL Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Ticketing Details
Adult: S$15
Concession*: S$5
* Children aged between 3 and 12, and senior citizens aged 60 and above
Lion City Sailors have added UEFA Champions League (UCL) experience to their squad with the signing of 29-year-old Belgian winger Maxime Lestienne. The move comes as Kim Do-hoon’s charges ramp up preparations ahead of the 2022 season that will see the club defend its Singapore Premier League (SPL) title and make its debut in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL).
The 1.77m left-footed wide player joins from Belgian top-tier side Standard Liege on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract. The move was completed ahead of the closure of the European transfer window on 31 January – the SPL window closes on 25 March – with Lestienne expected to arrive in Singapore prior to the opening of the domestic football season on 19 February when the Sailors face Albirex Niigata in the AIA Community Shield.
Lestienne was a part of PSV Eindhoven’s 2015/16 UCL squad that fell at the Round of 16 to eventual finalists, Atletico Madrid. The Dutch giants came out of Group B at the expense of Manchester United, with Lestienne recording two goals and two assists for PSV during that European campaign.
He has a record of 29 appearances and six goals in UEFA’s second tier regional competition, the Europa League, with Standard and fellow Belgian side Club Brugge.
Lestienne is a direct winger blessed with a turn of pace, an eye for a pass, and composure in tight situations. He promises to bring much to the Sailors’ squad with the added ace up his sleeve – the ability to deliver quality balls from set-pieces.
“The Sailors’ vision of building a strong football culture in a country like Singapore is a project that really excites me. The club’s commitment to youth development and improving football capabilities only adds to the allure of its drive for success on the pitch,” said Lestienne, who is part of Belgium’s Golden Generation of players and has been called up to the national team on several occasions, but has yet to receive a senior cap.
Lestienne, a product of the now-defunct Mouscron academy, has been capped at all Belgian youth levels and has proven ability in several leagues across Europe, including in Spain’s LaLiga with Malaga and the Italian Serie A with Genoa.
“I can’t wait to get started with the Sailors, especially as the club competes for the first time in Asia’s Champions League.”
Lestienne’s direct style promises to bring an added dimension to a Sailors attack that has an arsenal stocked with the silky Brazilian Diego Lopes, the aerial prowess of Korean international Kim Shin-wook and the tricky Singaporean trio of Faris Ramli, Gabriel Quak and Hafiz Nor.
Head Coach Kim Do-hoon believes that Lestienne will be the final piece of his Sailors puzzle, as he looks to build on a team that was crowned SPL champions in dramatic fashion on the last day of the season in 2021.
“Maxime will give us added quality in the attacking third with his technical ability, and he will help take us to the next level as we move towards being competitive against the best clubs in Asia at the ACL,” said Kim.
“The team is improving with each training session so far, but there is still a lot of work ahead of us, and with the quality and professionalism that Maxime adds to our dressing room, I’m confident we’ll get there faster,” said the man who masterminded Ulsan Hyundai’s 2020 ACL triumph.
Sailors Chief Executive Chew Chun-Liang believes that with the club’s final foreign player on board, there will be much to look forward to in the 2022 season.
“It is important that we continue to bring in top-quality players like Maxime, Pedro Henrique and Shin-wook to boost our domestic and regional ambitions, while also continuing to deliver excellence and excitement to the Singapore football fraternity,” he said.
“Their presence will rub off on local players as well, serving both as an inspiration and helping raise professional standards at the club.
“We will continue to match such improvements in our off-the-field efforts as well as the Sailors drive towards our vision in what promises to be an exciting 2022.”
After making their respective debuts at Asean’s premier football tournament when they turned out for the senior Lions at last year’s Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup, Nur Adam Abdullah and Saifullah Akbar return to international action with the Republic’s Under-23s.
Nazri Nasir has called up a 29-man provisional squad for the 14-26 February AFF Under-23 Championship in Cambodia. The final squad of 23 will be named before the team’s departure on 12 February.
The 11 participating teams were split into three groups, with Singapore facing Thailand and Vietnam in the three-team Group C.
Nur Adam enjoyed a breakthrough 2021 at left-back, and was named the Singapore Premier League’s (SPL) Young Player of the Year, while attacking midfielder Saifullah – the SPL’s Young Player of the Year in 2020 – ended the year with four goals and three assists.
Singapore’s U23s finished as runners-up in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2005, behind winners Thailand.
The Lion City Sailors will kick off the 2022 domestic football season on 19 February, taking on Albirex Niigata (S) in the AIA Community Shield, in a year that promises Singapore the most football action witnessed in the Covid-19 era.
The Community Shield is a standalone fixture that serves as the curtain-raiser of the 27th season of the Singapore Premier League (SPL) season that will be played over four rounds instead of the three-round format witnessed in 2021.
The league explained that the increase in number of matches is designed to inject a higher level of competition, while also allowing players to earn more minutes on the pitch.
The Sailors will start the defence of their SPL crown on 27 Feb, against Hougang United at the Jalan Besar Stadium, with Geylang International, Tampines Rovers and Albirex to come in a thrilling March fixture calendar.
More players
Fans will be able to witness more players taking to the pitch as well, with the league allowing clubs to register 20 players for each matchday. There will be nine substitutes allowed on a team’s bench – up from seven last season – with clubs permitted to make up to five substitutions per match.
More tournaments
The Singapore Cup will return in 2022, with the tournament slated to commence on 25 October. The 23rd edition of the tournament will see teams competing in a single-round group stage. The top two teams in each of the two groups will then progress to the semi-finals, which will be played over two legs, in a home and away knockout format.
This will be the Sailors’ maiden Singapore Cup campaign, with the tournament returning after a pandemic-enforced absence in 2021 and 2020, the year the club was established.
More leeway for coaches
The 2022 SPL season will see the youth quota that was introduced in 2018 lowered. Clubs were originally required to field a minimum of three Singaporean Under-23 players for the entire duration of the first half in every SPL match in 2018, a number that will be reduced to one in the 2022 season.
While spectator figures will remain capped at 1,000 as it was in 2021, with spectators required to produce proof of vaccinations according to existing guidelines, SPL fans will continue to be able to watch every match LIVE on broadcast via Singtel TV and StarHub TV as well as live streaming online via the SPL Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Pedro Henrique signs for the Sailors
The Lion City Sailors have moved to strengthen its squad with the acquisition of Pedro Henrique ahead of the 2022 season that will see the club make its debut in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL).
The 1.90 metre defender joins from Vitoria Guimaraes for an undisclosed fee and will join the club on a three-year contract. Henrique, 29, joins fellow Brazilian Diego Lopes at the Sailors, and will look to form a defensive partnership with Singapore internationals the likes of Amirul Adli, Tajeli Salamat and Hariss Harun.
Henrique was a target for Portuguese giants FC Porto in the summer of 2017, a year that saw Vitoria finish fourth in the Portuguese top tier, and runners-up in the Portuguese Cup, behind Benfica. Then aged 23, Henrique enjoyed a breakthrough year that also saw him win the league’s fairplay award, after finishing the season with just one yellow card in 33 matches.
He brings aerial prowess to the Sailors backline, along with positional sense and a composure that complements his ability to distribute the ball from the back, and will look to add more steel to a defence that conceded only 21 goals in the 2021 Singapore Premier League (SPL) season.
The Sailors’ tight defence was a key facet of a season that saw the club win their first league title, with only second-placed Albirex Niigata (19) conceding fewer goals all season.
“I wish I could’ve been part of the team when the club won the league last year, but I’m excited about everything else that the club is doing off the field as well – the Sailors project is very ambitious, and I’m delighted to be able to play a part in making that vision a reality,” said Henrique, who has tasted Asian football with Saudi Arabian side Al-Wehda in 2021.
“I’m looking forward to working with Diego, and club head coach, Kim Do-hoon who won the ACL as recently as 2020. With so many of the squad having international experience with the Singapore team, I’m confident we will grow to be a team to be reckoned with.”
The club has also followed up its SPL title with the signing of Korean international Kim Shin-wook, a move that has kept the flames of interest in local football burning in the off season, with its acquisition of Henrique underlining its intentions of being competitive in the ACL.
“Pedro comes with qualities that will help the team improve even further. We are very clear that we must work to become competitive at the Asian level, and I’m confident that Pedro will help us on our journey,” said Kim.
“I can’t wait to get started with the team in 2022. With the likes of Shin-wook and Pedro, along with the local players we have brought on board, I believe we will be more effective in improving our football.”
The Lion City Sailors will face opposition from China, Japan, and either Korea or Thailand in their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) debut later this year. This was revealed earlier this afternoon (17 January) at the ACL draw conducted virtually in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.
The Sailors, 2021 Singapore Premier League (SPL) champions, are placed in Group F (East Zone) along with reigning Chinese Super League (CSL) champions Shandong Taishan, Japanese Emperor’s Cup holders Urawa Red Diamonds and the winner of the playoff between K League 1 second runners-up Daegu FC and Thai powerhouse Buriram United.
The 2022 edition of Asia’s flagship club competition continues in the 40-team expanded format introduced last year, with both the East and West regions featuring five groups of four teams. The five group winners and the best three runner-ups from each region will then advance into the Round of 16.
Group-stage matches will be played on a double round-robin basis in centralised venues between April 15 to May 1, with the Round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals – all single-leg – scheduled for August. The grand final will be played over two legs in February 2023.
The Sailors face a challenging group, against teams who have featured in the ACL on numerous occasions in the past.
Shandong – China’s defending league and cup champions – boast several China internationals, as well as former Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini in their ranks. Fellaini will come up against a familiar foe in Sailors’ midfielder Hariss Harun, who was skipper of the Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) side that suffered narrow 1-0 and 2-1 losses to Shandong in the 2019 group stages.
Urawa have ACL pedigree, having won the competition twice in 2007 and 2017 as well as finishing runners-up in 2019. Amongst their squad is a seasoned Japanese international in Hiroki Sakai, who returned to play domestically in Japan after almost a decade away in Europe with Hannover 96 and Marseille.
Daegu reached the ACL Round of 16 in 2021, while Buriram have recently re-signed Theerathon Bunmathan to add to their array of Thai stars including Narubadin Weerawatnodom, Supachai Chaided and Suphanat Mueanta and are currently atop the Thai League 1 standings.
The Sailors can count on the expertise of head coach Kim Do-hoon, who led Ulsan Hyundai to the 2020 ACL title, while the addition of experienced forward Kim Shin-wook, who won the competition twice in 2012 and 2016 with Ulsan and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors respectively, will also come in handy.
“We’re looking forward to the challenge of testing ourselves against the best in Asia, even as we continue to strengthen and build capabilities at the club,” said Sailors Chief Executive, Chew Chun-Liang.
“Coach Kim and the team are under no illusions about the task that lies ahead in the ACL, but plans have been made, and the team are working hard so we can fly the Singapore flag with pride when the competition kicks off.”
