2021 Singapore Premier League

The 2021 Singapore Premier League (also known as the AIA Singapore Premier League due to sponsorship reasons) is the 4th season of the Singapore Premier League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association football clubs, since its rebranding in 2018.[1] The champions of the 2021 Singapore Premier League will qualify for the AFC Champions League group stage automatically.

Singapore Premier League
Season2021
← 2020
2022 →

Format

The following key changes were made to the rules since the 2020 season:[2]

  1. Singapore Premier League clubs can sign a maximum of four foreign players in the 2020 season, up from three as compared to 2019.[3]
  2. From 2019, only four stadiums host regular matches. The 8 teams (excluding DPMM) will host the matches in the following stadiums: Our Tampines Hub (Tampines Rovers and Geylang International), Jalan Besar Stadium (Young Lions and Hougang United), Bishan Stadium (Home United and Balestier Khalsa) and Jurong East Stadium (Albirex Niigata and Warriors FC).[4]
  3. Each team is now able to register up to 28 players in their squad, an increase of 3 players as compared to 2018.
  4. It was reported at the start of the year that FAS had instructed Warriors FC to sit out the 2020 Singapore Premier League season due to their financial issue. However, the chairman is appealing to-date.[5]
  5. Tanjong Pagar United to replace Warriors FC in Singapore Premier League 2020.[6]
  6. Home United changed its name to Lion City Sailors Football Club ahead of the new season after being taken over by SEA Group. It is the 1st club in the SPL to be privatized.[7]
  7. Local SPL clubs are required to have a minimum of six U-23 players for a squad size of 19 to 25 players; this increases to seven (squad size 26), eight (27) and nine (28).
  8. Players in the League shall be allocated jersey numbers 1 to 50. Jersey numbers that have been registered shall not be reused during the same season.[8]

New rules for 2021.

  1. From 2021, Albirex is allowed to sign a maximum of 2 overage Singaporean players. [9] As in 2019 and 2020, Albirex must have two Singaporeans in their starting lineup for each game.
  2. Young Lions and Lion City Sailors Football Club to play their home games at Jalan Besar Stadium while Balestier Khalsa will play at Toa Payoh Stadium. Bishan Stadium is under renovation till end of season.
  3. SPL clubs will be equipped with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) devices - among other performance and tracking gear. Total value of the sponsorship is worth around $620,000.[10]

Teams

A total of 8 teams competed in the league. Albirex Niigata (S) are invited foreign clubs from Japan respectively. Despite large criticism and discussion against the Young Lions project, the Young Lions will continue to compete till 2019 for the purposes of training and preparing for the 2019 SEA Games.[11]

Stadiums and locations
Team Stadium Capacity
Albirex Niigata (S) Jurong East Stadium 2,700
Balestier Khalsa Toa Payoh Stadium 3,800
Geylang International Our Tampines Hub 5,000
Hougang United Hougang Stadium 3,800
Lion City Sailors Jalan Besar Stadium 6,000
Tampines Rovers Our Tampines Hub 5,000
Tanjong Pagar United Jurong East Stadium 2,700
Young Lions Jalan Besar Stadium 6,000

Personnel and sponsors

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Main Shirt sponsor Other shirt sponsors
Albirex Niigata (S) Keiji Shigetomi Kazuki Hashioka Mizuno Canon Kirin
EnglishCentral
Lensmode
Kubota
Reeracoen
Gain City
Nippon Medical Care
Fitogether
Balestier Khalsa Marko Kraljević Zaiful Nizam Adidas Jeep Weston Corporation
Project Vaults
StarBalm
Geylang International Mohd Noor Ali Yuki Ichikawa FBT Epson Heng Motor
Chiang Kong
Broadway
D2D Sports
SoundTech
Hougang United Clement Teo Warrix SportCenter by Zup
Polar Water
Lion City Sailors Aurelio Vidmar Puma SEA Shopee
Tampines Rovers Gavin Lee Yasir Hanapi Mizuno Hyundai Avante ANA Courier Express
StarBalm
Tanjong Pagar United Hasrin Jailani Faritz Abdul Hameed Adhoc Apparel Tokyo Century Samtrade Academy
Young Lions Nazri Nasir Jacob Mahler Nike Catapult

Coaching changes

Team Outgoing Head Coach Manner of Departure Date of Vacancy Position in table Incoming Head Coach Date of appointment
Young Lions Nazri Nasir Rested 15 January 2021 Pre-Season Philippe Aw 15 January 2021

Foreigners

Singapore Premier League clubs can sign a maximum of four foreign players in the 2021 season, up from three as compared to 2019.[3] However, one of them has to be 21 years old or younger on 1 January 2021 (Or at the age of registration).

Albirex Niigata can sign up unlimited number of Singaporean players for the new season. Only 1 local player above 23 years old is allowed.[12]

Players name in bold indicates the player was registered during the mid-season transfer window.

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC Player SG U-23 Player 1 Former Players
Albirex Niigata (S) Hyrulnizam Juma'at [13] Fairoz Hassan [14] Ong Yu En [15] Fikri Junaidi [16] Nicky Melvin Singh [17]
Sunny Tia [18] Kenji Austin [19] Ameer Maricar [20] Irsyad Azarudin [21] Ali Manaf [22]
Balestier Khalsa Kristijan Krajcek [23] Šime Žužul [24] Ensar Brunčević [25] Shuhei Hoshino [26]
Geylang International Matheus Moresche Barry Maguire [27] Sylvano Comvalius Yuki Ichikawa [28]
Hougang United Tomoyuki Doi [29] Kaishu Yamazaki [30] Maksat Dzhakybaliev [31]
Lion City Sailors Diego Lopes [32] Jorge Fellipe [33] Stipe Plazibat [34] Song Ui-young [35]
Tampines Rovers Zehrudin Mehmedović [36] Boris Kopitović [37] Armin Bosnjak Kyoga Nakamura [38]
Tanjong Pagar United Luiz Júnior [39] Blake Ricciuto [40] Reo Nishiguchi [41] Shodai Nishikawa

Note 1: Albirex is allowed to sign as many locals as their budget allows. However, the club are only allowed one Singaporean over the age of 23.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Albirex Niigata (S)[lower-alpha 1] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 Balestier Khalsa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage
3 Geylang International 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for AFC Cup group stage
4 Hougang United 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Lion City Sailors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 Tampines Rovers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 Tanjong Pagar United 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 Young Lions[lower-alpha 1] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Updated to match(es) played on 29 November 2020. Source: Singapore Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of wins
Notes:
  1. The foreign club – Albirex Niigata (S) – as well as the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) under-21 team, Young Lions, are ineligible for any AFC competition spots.

Results

Home \ Away ALB BAL GEY HOU LCS TAM TPU YLI
Albirex Niigata (S) —
Balestier Khalsa —
Geylang International —
Hougang United —
Lion City Sailors —
Tampines Rovers —
Tanjong Pagar United —
Young Lions —
Updated to match(es) played on 20 March 2020. Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Statistics

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