A nine-month long wait that began at the end of last season will finally come to fruition on Sunday (25 August) night, when the Lion City Sailors Women’s Team step out onto the pitch in Jordan’s Prince Mohammed Stadium to take on Indian Women’s League champions Odisha FC in their Group B opener of the inaugural AFC Women’s Champions League (AWCL) Preliminary Stage. 

They will then take on Jordan Women’s Pro League winners Etihad FC three days later at the same venue to round off the Preliminary Stage. 

Speaking at the pre-tournament press conference, captain Umairah Hamdan believes it will be a bag of emotions. 

“We’ve been training so hard, so it’ll be a surreal moment to walk out at the stadium tomorrow with the AFC anthem playing in the background. For our club to be representing Singapore in the AWCL is a huge and proud moment, and I want all our girls to cherish this moment and fight together as one team,” said the 22-year-old. 

“We’ve been diligently working on the game plan that Coach wants us to play, and we’re ready to go out there to show the best version of ourselves.”

In preparation for the first-ever flagship club competition for women’s football in Asia, the Sailors have ramped up the regularity and intensity of training with an emphasis on establishing a more cohesive team shape and structure. 

Head Coach Daniel Ong’s charges also embarked on a training trip to Thailand two weeks ago, testing themselves against Thai Women’s League 1 sides Bangkok WFC and Kasem Bundit FC, and are raring to go for this unprecedented challenge. 

A 23-strong squad set off from Singapore’s Changi Airport on Thursday (22 August) night and took over 15 hours – including a nine-hour long transit in Bahrain – to finally arrive in the Jordanian capital of Amman on Friday noon local time (five hours behind Singapore). 

The Sailors Women are placed in a group with opponents representing countries way above 138th-ranked Singapore in the FIFA World Rankings – India are ranked a whole 70 spots higher at 68th, while Jordan are placed at 74th.

And while the Sailors play their domestic football in the still-amateur Deloitte Women’s Premier League, Odisha and Etihad Club play in countries which have had professional football structures and leagues for women for the past decade. 

Both sides also boast players who have tasted top-tier European football – Odisha’s Kiran Pisda was on the books of Croatian Women’s League club ŽNK Dinamo Zagreb and was part of the team which won the Croatian Women’s Football Cup as recently as June 2024, while Etihad’s Enas Al-Jamaeen used to turn out for Turkish Women’s Super League club Fomget G.S.

With only the group winners advancing to the Group Stage, it would appear that the Sailors Women face an uphill battle in Jordan. 

Nonetheless, a youthful Sailors outfit – with the majority of players aged 22 and below – remain undaunted as they look to fly the Singapore flag proudly at the regional level. 

“Yes, we have many young players in the team, but these are players who not only have high potential but are extremely willing to learn and eager to develop themselves,” said Daniel, who has had two days to acclimatise his side to the conditions in Jordan. 

“Of course it will be difficult to play against these full-time players, but this is such a valuable opportunity for the girls to elevate themselves and be exposed to what the level is like in top Asian football. We’re ready to challenge – we’re not here just to pump the ball high and see what happens, we want to play the way we’ve been trying to play in the WPL and try to keep the ball as much as possible.”

Echoing Daniel’s sentiments, Umairah stressed that success in the campaign constitutes to beyond results alone, and that the team have a bigger picture in mind. 

“Instead of being afraid of these high-quality opponents, we’d like to take this opportunity to learn and compete. We want to look back on this years from now and reflect on how fortunate we are to have had the chance to play in this tournament,” said the defender, who has made 28 appearances for the Singapore national team. 

“We’ll try to play our passing football and that’s the only way for us to improve. This experience is going to help the young girls in this team, and help greatly improve Singapore women’s football as a whole. 

“Ultimately, we have a bigger objective than just results – we want to be the best representation of Singapore women’s football on this stage and we vow to give our all in these two matches.”