2011 - 2015: Critical Years for S.League

So much flak flared up again about the S.League following the mass brawl at Jalan Besar Stadium between players and officials from Young Lions and Beijing Guoan Talent that led to the abandonment of the match with less than a few minutes remaining at 1-1.  

That, together with dwindling attendances and decreasing sponsorship money pumped into Singaporean clubs, showed how despised the S.League has been to the general populace.

It is not entirely the Football Association of Singapore's (FAS) fault that the league has seen a decrease in interest.

No, it is not the introduction of foreign teams that has caused this too. Neither is the so-called decreasing standards. Yes, the standard of play is generally stale but there have been some nail-biters and quality matches as well.

Winning Singaporeans back and make them flock to the local neighbourhood stadiums, with all the distractions of Orchard Road, Mohammed Sultan Road and City Hall and the well-designed and built shopping complexes popping up all over Singapore, will remain a massive challenge for S.League, FAS President Zainuddin Nordin and Secretary-general Winston Lee.

The novelty of a Singapore league wore off after the first few years of its establishment in 1996.

The fateful announcement of Singapore's withdrawal from the Malaysia Cup in early 1995 ensured that a generation of football fans, including this writer, would grow up having foreign football as its staple of football diet. Any surprises that English football is so popular here, to the amusement from national coach Radjoko Avramovic to the league's foreign players?

Now with no Malaysia Cup stars from the class of 94 playing, there is nothing for these old-timers to look at and harp on their former heroes in action on the pitch. A generation of football supporters has also long been lost in this process.

The concept of grassroots rivalry, unfortunately, has never fully blossomed, save for Tampines Rovers, who have a core group of vocal and quiet fans supporting the team from their neighbourhood. Apart from uniformed groups Singapore Armed Forces and Home United and developmental team Young Lions, perhaps the other local football teams can do more in tapping on the constituency support?

The league itself have successful businessmen who are thriving elsewhere. But even they are finding the S.League the hardest nut to crack in their business decision making. Kwek Leng Joo, as the league's first chairman who laid its early foundations, and Teo Hock Seng, Tampines chairman, have been there. But even the latter's support is dwindling due to various disappointments.

This league is now at a crucial point, where it is nowhere close to being shut down, but not rising up any further. It lacks the colour and spark to carry it in a positive light. Singaporeans' perceived ignorance of Asian football is not helping matters as regional rivalry in Southeast Asia still comes first.

To kill the S.League right there and right now will effectively mean at least 80 per cent of the jobs in this industry will have to be scrapped. The better-educated ones can find other jobs elsewhere, but how about those who seek this path for honest living but now have nothing to look forward to? Perhaps the Singapore Police Force Commissioner can anticipate in a rise in statistics for criminal offences if this happens.

If there is no S.League, where will the likes of K. Vikraman and Jonathan Xu Weihua go? Will Richard Bok Kok Chuan, Mike Wong Mun Heng, Nasarudin Jalil and A Shasi Kumar have new head coaching jobs elsewhere in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam or Thailand, if they are not offered them by FAS? Or do they have to switch to other lines, as former players, coaches, referees and officials have been doing in recent years?

Without the S.League, will these people mentioned be even familiar to a few faces if at all? There will be no talk of a steady stream of footballers becoming coaches, whether developmental or competitive, and administrators when they hang up their boots and give back to football.

To scrap the only (perhaps so-called, in our eyes) fully professional sports league is also sending a signal that sports is not a viable career option in this tiny island. Singaporean Chinese parents may feel vindicated by this. But how about their Malay and Indian counterparts, especially the former? Other national sports associations will be discouraged by the S.League's closure and may not think of doing something similar, or remain content to keep their elite leagues semi-professional at best.

Thus the next five seasons will be very critical for the S.League authorities. It is not only about mere dollars and cents. They need to be fully cooperative with the clubs, who have generally been trying despite their limited resources.

Smart decisions have to be made if this league and the local clubs are to survive beyond just two decades. Certain present sponsorships may need to be reconsidered. Not all are that helpful, in fact, one has ensured FAS are under its mercy.

Singaporeans are an increasingly sophisticated and harder-to-please, but as the Youth Olympic Games football tournament suggests, there is a way one can tap on that support, only if they think out of the box.

Tap on the present young generation of fans who can form the new supporters of tomorrow. They are too young and may not know anything about the Malaysia Cup. They only know the likes of Shahril Ishaks and Aleksandar Durics as their present Singapore football heroes, not the Fandi Ahmads and V Sundramoorthys. They have given their best support and convinced the older Singaporeans to rally the Cubs in the recent YOG.

By the end of 2015, if there is some improvement, statistically and asthestically, there is still hope for the S.League, for its imperfections that will remain for some time.

Otherwise, FAS may need to consider rejoining the Malaysia Cup for short-term gains once more and appease the unhappy 5 million coaches.