1996 S.League

The 1996 S.League was the 1st season of the S.League, the top professional football league in Singapore.

S. League
Season1996
ChampionsGeylang United
1st S.League title
Asian Club ChampionshipGeylang United
Matches played113
Goals scored364 (3.22 per match)
Top goalscorer Jure Ereš (28)
Biggest home winSingapore Armed Forces 5-0 Tampines Rovers
(27 July 1996)
Tiong Bahru United 5-0 Sembawang Rangers
(19 October 1996)
Biggest away winPolice FC 0-5 Tiong Bahru United
(5 October 1996)
Highest scoringSingapore Armed Forces 6-2 Sembawang Rangers
(11 May 1996)
Police FC 3-5 Woodlands Wellington
(19 October 1996)
1997 →

The S.League came into existence as a result of a fragmenting of relations between Singapore and Malaysian football associations. A dispute over the division of gate receipts for the Singapore representative in the Malaysian Premier League saw Singapore withdraw from the competition in 1995, ending a footballing connection between the two nations that stretched back to 1921, with the first participation of a Singapore team in the Malaya Cup.

The semi-professional FAS Premier League was founded in 1988, but had failed to find support amongst the local communities and media. The S.League was therefore created to fill the need to have a fully professional football league within Singapore. The Football Association of Singapore invited applications for clubs to compete in the newly formed league. Eight successful applications were made, these eight teams took part in a two-stage league season, with the winner of each stage qualifying for the end of season championship decider. The first half of the season was known as the Tiger Beer Series and the second half was known as the Pioneer Series.

Geylang United defeated Singapore Armed Forces FC in the end of season Championship Playoff to be crowned the 1st S.League champions.

Clubs

Eight sides took part in the first S.League campaign; two of whom had been competitors in the former Singapore Premier League. These former Premier League clubs were Balestier United FC who changed their name upon joining the S.League to Balestier Central and the former Singapore Premier League powerhouse Geylang International, winners of six back-to-back Premier League titles, who renamed themselves Geylang United for the first S.League season. The rest were clubs drawn from the amateur National Football League: Police, Singapore Armed Forces, Tampines Rovers, Tiong Bahru United and Wellington Football Club, who renamed themselves Woodlands Wellington.

Sembawang Rangers were formed from a merger between two NFL sides, Gibraltar Crescent and Sembawang Sports Club.

Location of teams in 1996 S.League
Team Stadium Capacity Location
Balestier CentralToa Payoh Stadium 3,900Toa Payoh
Geylang UnitedBedok Stadium 3,900Bedok
PoliceJalan Besar Stadium 8,000Kallang
Singapore Armed ForcesJurong Stadium 6,000Jurong
Sembawang RangersYishun Stadium 3,400Yishun
Tampines RoversTampines Stadium 3,600Tampines
Tiong Bahru UnitedQueenstown Stadium 3,800Queenstown
Woodlands WellingtonWoodlands Stadium 4,300Woodlands

Foreign players
Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5
Balestier Central Ljutvo Bugucanin Goran Paulić Marko Kraljević Esad Sejdic Nathaniel Klay Naplah[1]
Geylang United Mohammad Khakpour Hamid Reza Estili Chris Riley Zlatko Vidan Mohsen Garousi
Police Egmar Goncalves Fabio da Silva Joao Batista Neto Sergio Cleveland
Singapore Armed Forces Ivica Raguž Jure Ereš Velimir Crljen Davor Mioč Goran Grubesic
Sembawang Rangers Anderson Da Silva Laszlo Kardos Mark Atkinson Ousmane N'Diaye
Tampines Rovers Nagy Gabor Marco Antonio Scott O'Donell Seidu Suleiman Anas Nikolic Miroslav
Tiong Bahru United Vlado Bozinoski Tibor Szaban David Miller Pedro Ricoy Ivan Kelic
Woodlands Wellington Ervin Boban Sandro Radun Jan Janostak Joe Caleta Steven Rocknean

League tables

Series 1 (Tiger Beer Series)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Geylang United 14 9 1 4 27 14 +13 28 Qualification to
S.League Championship
play-off match
2 Woodlands Wellington 14 8 2 4 25 20 +5 26
3 Balestier Central 14 7 3 4 22 18 +4 24
4 Singapore Armed Forces 14 5 3 6 27 25 +2 18
5 Tiong Bahru United 14 4 5 5 20 19 +1 17
6 Police FC 14 4 5 5 22 23 −1 17
7 Sembawang Rangers 14 3 4 7 17 32 −15 13
8 Tampines Rovers 14 3 3 8 18 27 −9 12
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored

Series 2 (Pioneer Series)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Singapore Armed Forces 14 9 5 0 32 14 +18 32 Qualification to
S.League Championship
play-off match
2 Tiong Bahru United 14 8 3 3 35 18 +17 27
3 Balestier Central 14 7 3 4 25 19 +6 24
4 Woodlands Wellington 14 6 3 5 29 25 +4 21
5 Geylang United 14 6 3 5 20 16 +4 21
6 Sembawang Rangers 14 4 3 7 14 23 −9 15
7 Tampines Rovers 14 2 2 10 10 28 −18 8
8 Police FC 14 2 2 10 18 40 −22 8
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored

S.League Championship Playoff
Singapore Armed Forces1–2Geylang United
Jure Ereš  52' Mohammad Khakpour  46'
Hamid Reza Estili  61'
Attendance: 30,000

The Geylang United victory in the Championship Playoff saw them qualify for the 1997–98 Asian Club Championship. This was the first Singaporean representation in the Asian Club Championship since 1991–92, when Geylang International participated in 1st Round qualifying. Geylang were comfortably defeated by 1996 J. League champions Kashima Antlers in the first round of the East Asian half of the competition, Kashima finishing with an 8–2 aggregate win.

Top scorers
RankNameClubGoals
1 Jure ErešSingapore Armed Forces28
2 Goran PaulićBalestier Central22
3 Egmar GoncalvesPolice19

References
  1. "balestierkhalsafc.com". www.balestierkhalsafc.com.
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