BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

Some time ago, I received some images of a few black-and-white photographs from a member of the family of the late Mr Foo Hee Jong, a defender who represented Singapore during the 1950s. The 1950 MCFA tour contingent arrival at Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong (as credited) One of them was a group photo (above) taken at the Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong. Based on some information gathered, it is likely that the photo had been taken in mid-January 1950, and the contingent was the MCFA (Malayan Chinese Football Association) Sino-Malay team with Mr Foo being one of the members. THE RETURN OF THE HO HO CUP One of the objectives of the tour was to resume the Chinese Interport Football Competition, popularly known as the "Ho Ho Cup" (for sponsorship reasons) - a match that was contested by ethnic Chinese teams representing both Hong Kong and Malaya that traced its roots back to 1928. The MCFA contingent walking on the tarmac of Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong (as credited) In the middle of...

When ground sharing among Singapore Premier League (SPL) clubs started in 2019, there were mixed reactions from the fraternity. To some fans, the uprooting of their favourite clubs from their allocated home ground was like “losing the sense of identity.” Jurong East - one of the "shared stadiums" (file) After all, when professional football was introduced in 1996, one of the key emphases was community outreach. Clubs were strategically located around the island so that they could embed themselves into the neighbourhoods they represented. LOSS OF COMMUNITY ROOTS AND FAN IDENTITY Take the case of Hougang United. They have been playing their home games at Jalan Besar Stadium (JBS) in recent years after moving out of Hougang Stadium when they were still known as Sengkang Punggol. To this day, the HOOLs, the supporters’ group of the Cheetahs, still identify “Gate 3” as their meeting point. This was the spot near Gate 3 of Hougang Stadium where they congregated directly behind the...

For a large part of the first half, Singapore was literally swimming against the tide with the Indians dominating much of the possession. More spaces needed to be created to move the ball forward, and we have to be reminded that this is not a rugby match! Song's double against India saved the campaign (file snap) Song Ui-young's (file pictured) equaliser before the interval put the much-needed confidence back into the Lions. The Lions midfield was struggling to hold up the home team, who were storming through the middle of the park. It was a question of whether Singapore could hang on to the lead after Song doubled his tally in the 58th minute. Simply because too much space was given to India, which allowed them the flexibility to plan their movements to cocoon the visitors at their own half. It wasn't easy when the Lions literally threw their bodies towards the end of the game to salvage this important 2-1 win over India, keeping the AFC Asian Cup qualifying campaign alive...

Facing the "lobang" at Kallang I still have that distraught feeling after the blunder that allowed India to level the game at the closing stages of it. We did not utilise the numerical advantage since the early period of the second half. The back pass that led to the Indian equaliser was secondary when Lions were guilty of not being more aggressive in the final third. It was either we intended to hold the ball long enough to frustrate the Indian or we just couldn't find our way to break them down at their back. Did the substitution in the second half played a part when some questioned the effectiveness of it? I don't know? I am just a photographer. ℹ️ For those unbeknownst, the abovementioned thoughts were from the AFC Asian Cup qualifying match between Singapore and India played on 9th October 2025 that ended in one-all draw. - 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎'𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍 -