The Football Association of Singapore Premier League was a semi-professional football league competition held in Singapore between 1988 and 1995.[1] The Premier League succeeded the National Football League Division One as the top tier of the Singapore football league structure. It was replaced by the S.League in 1996.

History

The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) entered a representative team in the Malaysian League and Malaysia Cup competitions up to 1994. The Singapore team's participation in these competitions was the main focus of most Singapore football fans at the time, and the local league was generally considered to be a fairly minor competition. The Singapore league season was usually held fairly early the year, and many of the Singapore players in the Malaysian competitions also played for clubs in the local Singapore league.

Eight clubs - Hwee Seng SC, Jurong Town FC, Changi CSC, Armed Forces, Tampines Rovers, Tiong Bahru CSC, Balestier United RC and Geylang International - were selected to contest the inaugural season in 1988.[2] The dominant team in the FAS Premier League was Geylang International, which won the league six consecutive times from 1988-1993.[3]

In 1989, Tyrwhitt Soccerites joined the Premier League.[4]

In 1993, the start of the league was postponed from January to June.[5]

In 1994, in a bid to add some spice to the Premier League and generate increased fan interest, two teams from Australia were invited to participate – the Perth Kangaroos and the Darwin Cubs. However, after confirming the participation of the two Australian clubs, the FAS then decided to withdraw all the players in its Malaysian League team from participating in the local league that year. This considerably weakened the strength of the local clubs. Perth Kangaroos won the Premier League that year without losing a game, and the Darwin Cubs finished second. The experiment did not succeed in bolstering fan interest. Halfway through the season, Perth Kangaroos' management company, Global Football Australia, declared bankrupt and handed over control of the team to the Soccer Association of Western Australia.[6] As a result, Perth Kangaroos was disbanded after the end of the 1994 season.

In 1995, the FAS unexpectedly decided to withdraw the Singapore team from the Malaysian League. Most of the players on the Singapore national football team had been due to play in the Malaysian League team. It was therefore decided that the national team should play in the 1995 Premier League competition[7] as a stop-gap measure until the establishment of the S.League the following year. The national team is restricted to the first 16 players on the team, no foreign signings and not entitled to the league's prize if they won the league.[7] Tickets are not charged for all matches except for the national team's matches held at the National Stadium.[7]

The initial matches of the Lions drew lots of fans, with thousands of fans attending its matches but interest waned after the Lions beat all the clubs one-sidedly.[8] In August, Darwin Cubs pulled out of the league due to financial problems.[8] The season ended with the Lions on top of the league but the winner of the league was Geylang International who was placed second as the Lions was not eligible as the winner.[8]

The Premier League was disbanded with the formation of the professional S.League in 1996.

Clubs

Team Founded Based Stadium Capacity
Geylang International FC 1974
Tiong Bahru Constituency Sports Club 1974
Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association 1975
Darwin Cubs FC 1994 Marrara Oval 14,000
Gibraltar Crescent
Police Sports Association 1945
Tampines Rovers FC
Balestier United Recreational Club 1898
Singapore Lions
Jurong Town Football Club 1975
Tyrwhitt Soccerites 1985

Premier League champions

Season Champions (number of titles)[9]
1988 Geylang International
1989 Geylang International (2)
1990 Geylang International (3)
1991 Geylang International (4)
1992 Geylang International (5)
1993 Geylang International (6)
1994 Perth Kangaroos IFC
1995 Geylang International (7)[a]
  1. ^ The Lions was top of the league but was not eligible to be the winner due to the competition rules. Geylang International placed second in the league became the winner.

See also

References

  1. ^ Boon Lay Chew; Kheng Chuan Chew; Evelyn Chew (2002). Chew Boon Lay: a family traces its history : a family album. The Compiler. p. 167. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  2. ^ Dorai, Joe (14 June 1987). "The eight for Premier League named". The Straits Times. p. 24.
  3. ^ Singapore Business. Vol. 16. Times Periodicals Pte. Limited. 1992. p. 58. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  4. ^ "Tyrwhitt deep in the woods". The New Paper. 28 December 1989. p. 29. Retrieved 4 December 2023 – via NewspaperSG.
  5. ^ Pereira, Bernard (21 January 1995). "FAS' NO TO TYRWHITT". The New Paper. p. 74. Retrieved 4 December 2023 – via NewspaperSG.
  6. ^ "Perth Kangaroos : A History". members.iinet.net.au. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  7. ^ a b c "FAS to keep Lions intact this year". The Straits Times (Overseas ed.). 11 March 1995. p. 9. Retrieved 28 April 2023 – via NewspaperSG.
  8. ^ a b c Dorai, Joe (2 October 1995). "Curtain down on Premier League's fated final season". The Straits Times. p. 46. Retrieved 4 December 2023 – via NewspaperSG.
  9. ^ "Singapore - List of Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
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