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Association football, known more popularly as football in Singapore, is the national sport of the nation. The sport reached its peak in the 1980s and 1990s during the Singapore Lions' time in the Malaysia Cup, where they dominated the competition. Singapore is home to the Football Association of Singapore, formerly known as the Singapore Amateur Football Association, the oldest football association in Asia, its roots coming from The Football Association, in England. The nation's national teams include the men's, the women's and the boys'. The Singapore Lions, the team which plays in the Malaysia Cup, is not counted due to the team being more like a club, since there is the allowance of foreign players or transfers in the team, and the Malaysia Cup being a club competition among Malaysian states and Singapore.
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Singapore left the Malaysia Cup in 1994 and came back in 2012. The current champions of Singapore in football is Tampines Rovers FC, having won the S.League in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The 2014 S.League season not finished yet.
History
Singapore football began with a game between two teams of British engineers in 1889. The Singapore Amateur Football Association (SAFA), now under the name of Football Association of Singapore (FAS), was formed in 1892 by a group of British in colonial Singapore. Soon, the four first-generation ethnicities of Singapore – the Arabs, the Chinese, the Indians and the British all regarded football as their recreation, though it was played most by the British.
S.League
The S.League is the national football league of Singapore, but it has failed to attract the whole nation to support it, proven by the dwindling attendances to the matches and television view ratings. The S.League has invited foreign clubs to play in it, in attempt to attract more fans. This is possible because there is no league system in Singapore, no promotion or relegation.
The league was officially formed in 1996 when Singapore left the Malaysia Cup in 1994, due to disputes with the Football Association of Malaysia.
Malaysia Cup
Joining the Malaysia Cup in 1921, known as the Malaya Cup at that time, Singapore were the champions of the inaugural competition. They would further succeed in getting 24 titles for themselves during their time in the competition from 1921–1994, a span of 74 years.
In this competition, and the Malaysia league, Singapore submitted a representative team, which operated like a football club more than a national football team. It was called the Singapore FA in the country's 74 years in Malaysian football. The competition helped bring the likes of Fandi Ahmad and Dollah Kassim, with the former being the only Singaporean to have played for European clubs – he played for FC Groningen and OFI Crete.
Goal 2010
Goal 2010 was a goal and objective, set by then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in 1998. It was an objective for the Singapore national football team to reach the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa, but the goal was not reached, and was laughed at in mid-2010, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
"Look at the French World Cup football team. In the final against
Brazil, I picked Zidane as the most outstanding French player. He is of Algerian descent. Of the 22-players, more than half did not look "French". They looked Argentinian, Armenian, Basque, Caribbean, Ghanaian, New Caledonian. Some were born in France, but of immigrant parents. Others are first generation French citizens. When they went up to receive their medals, President Chirac embraced all of them as Frenchmen. He sent a strong political signal for multi-racialism and against xenophobia: that in France, so long as you contribute to the French cause, it does not matter what colour your skin is or where you were born.
Last year I told you Singapore would never have a chance in the World Cup, because the rules require all players to be citizens. But after watching the French victory, I have changed my mind. Maybe if we change our immigration criteria to bring in top football talent and make them citizens, then one day we too can get into the finals. In
National teams
The football teams of Singapore, excluding the Singapore FA (Not to be confused with the current Singapore Lions XII which has rejoined Malaysia Super League in 2012 and was placed as runner-up in the tournament); have all brought back honours to the country. The Singapore men's senior team are currently the most successful team in the AFF Cup with 3 titles, won in 1998, 2004 and 2007. The youth team has won bronze in the inaugural football event of the Youth Olympic Games, runners-up and third for the revived 23rd Lion City Cup.
Stadium
The stadium both male national teams use now is the Jalan Besar Stadium, with the senior's team using it temporarily and the youth team making that as their home stadium. The former stadium of the Singapore men's national team was the now-demolished National Stadium in Kallang. The team has since returned to the new National Stadium, after it was completed in 2014.