That special kind of magic...

"Singapore-Selangor" was a crowd-puller **

The unique football rivalry between Singapore and Selangor can only be appreciated by those who have lived through that era.

This rivalry is unique in the sense that it is not caused by different social classes (as in Argentina's elite-based River Plate and working-class linked Boca Juniors) or close-town rivalries like AC Milan and Inter. Instead, it was likened to the rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool.

Despite languishing in the lower tier of the Malaysian League back in 1993, both Singapore and Selangor entertained a packed National Stadium in a second-division clash.

To this day, some of us are still savouring those nostalgic moments of the swinging 1970s when the likes of Quah Kim Song, Samad Allapitchay, and Dollah Kassim were up against some of the best players in Asia those days, namely Mokhtar Dahari, Soh Chin Aun, and Santokh Singh who were playing for both Malaysia and Selangor.

"SINGAPORE VS MALAYSIA"

"It was a big match in those years when you talk about Singapore playing against Selangor, as everybody wants to see and know the result." said Mr Dollah Kassim, one of the crowd-pullers of the Singapore national team back in the 1970s.

Mr Dollah Kassim hoisted the Malaysia Cup ##

"You see, for the Singapore players, it was playing for the national team, whereas for Selangor, they comprised most of the Malaysian national team. So it was like Singapore playing Malaysia who were having great players like both late Mokhtar (Dahari), R Arumugan with guys like Santokh (Singh) and (Soh) Chin Aun.

"I consider the 1977 Malaysia Cup two-legged semi-finals against them as my most memorable moment because we won on both occasions, home and away before we went on to beat Penang in the final." added the man nicknamed the "Raja Gelek" who was one of the goal scorers in the 2-1 first-leg win over Selangor in the 1977 Malaysia Cup semi-final series.

THOSE FOND MEMORIES.....

In a similar vein, a long-time fan who used to queue overnight for tickets at the National Stadium in order to watch his heroes play, as well as soak up the "Kallang Roar" atmosphere that many visiting teams would not be able to play their normal games due to the intimidating atmosphere generated by the partisan supporters.

Farid with the Malaysia Cup (credit: Farid Omar)

Said Mr Farid Omar: "We had so many good players from both sides that it was like a Cup final whenever we played against Selangor.

"The likes of those players of Samad (Allapitchay), Mat Noh, Dollah (Kassim), Quah Kim Song, Mokhtar (Dahari), Santokh Singh had got everybody excited. And it was our midfield that boasted the likes of Zainal Abidin (Manan), M Kumar, and Gulam Mohamad who hold the key in those matches when we beat them."

** The picture was extracted from the book "The Malaysia Cup" written by Mr Godfrey Robert 

## This picture was added on 11th September 2022 as part of the repurposing of this blog post.

(P.S 1: Some images in this entry were reproduced from sources, as credited, should anyone feel it's inappropriate to have any of the media shown, please kindly email me as soon as possible and I will remove them upon request.)

(P.S 2: I stand to be corrected should there be any mistake in this entry, please feel free to email me if there is, thanks)