Lion City Sailors FC

Lion City Sailors

Full name	Lion City Sailors Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Sailors
Founded	1940s (as Police FC) 1997 (as Home United) 2020 (as Lion City Sailors)
Ground	Bishan Stadium
Capacity	3,500
Owner	Sea Group
Chairman	Forrest Li
Manager	Aurelio Vidmar
League	Singapore Premier League
2019	Singapore Premier League, 6th of 9
Home colours Away colours

Lion City Sailors Football Club, formerly Home United Football Club, is a professional football club that plays in the Singapore Premier League.

History

The Police Sports Association was founded in the mid-1940s to organise football activities for the Singapore Police Force. It sent two teams to compete in the Singapore Amateur Football Association League in the 1950s and 1960s, but neither team won any trophies. Under coach Choo Seng Quee, Police SA won the inaugural President's Cup in 1968, then reached and lost the next two finals. In 1979, it joined the National Football League, was placed in Division III, and immediately earned promotion to Division II. In 1980, Police SA won the Division II title, the President's Cup and the Boggars Cup. In 1985, it was national league champions, after setting a national record as the only team to go unbeaten for 17 consecutive games. The performances of Police SA led to its selection as one of eight teams to compete in the newly formed S.League.

When the S.League was formed in 1996, the club was known as the Police Football Club. The following year, its name was changed to Home United to reflect the fact that the team represented not only the Singapore Police Force, but also other HomeTeam departments of the Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs such as the Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

Home United was two-time S.League winners and holders of a record six Singapore Cup trophies. It was the first club to achieve the S.League and Singapore Cup double in 2003.

The team's nickname was the "Protectors"; its mascot, a dragon; its home ground, the Bishan Stadium.

On 14 February 2020, the club was privatised for the first time in its history, when Singaporean billionaire Forrest Li announced that he had purchased a 100% stake in the club. Home United Football Club was officially renamed Lion City Sailors Football Club, and its signature red kits and badge were replaced with white tops and a blue crest.

Lion City Sailors Football Academy

Home United was the first and only S.League club to own and operate its own football academy. Located at 8 Mattar Road, HYFA comprises ten futsal courts, two full-size football pitches, an events plaza, staff offices, meeting rooms and a Sports Performance Centre.

According to its mission statement, HYFA will: help local, talented youths to achieve excellence in the sport of football as professional players, technical support staff, club administrators, or referees, in tandem with their academic pursuits; help them become law-abiding and responsible individuals; and help raise the standards for professional football clubs in Singapore so that Singapore qualifies for the World Cup.

In June 2020 numerous news sources announced the launch of the new the Lion City Sailors Football Academy and further plans on youth development and its investments.

Seasons

Season	League	Pos.	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	Pts	Singapore Cup	League Cup
1996-1	S.League	6th	14	4	5	5	22	23	17
1996-2		8th	14	2	2	10	18	40	8
1997		9th	16	2	1	13	17	41	7
1998		7th	20	8	4	8	42	28	28	Third place
1999		1st	22	15	6	1	42	16	51	Third place
2000		4th	22	11	7	4	38	21	40	Winners
2001		3rd	33	23	3	7	69	36	72	Winners
2002		2nd	33	18	10	5	71	42	64	Quarter-finals
2003		1st	33	26	2–3	2	104	42	85	Winners
2004		2nd	27	17	2	8	76	43	53	Runners-up
2005		4th	27	14	4	9	62	44	46	Winners
2006		4th	30	15	6	9	49	40	51	Preliminary
2007		2nd	33	24	6	3	73	35	78	Quarter-finals	Semi-finals
2008		3rd	33	23	3	7	75	31	72	Quarter-finals	Quarter-finals
2009		4th	30	16	5	9	50	32	53	Quarter-finals	Third place
2010		3rd	33	18	11	4	55	31	65	Round of 16	Quarter-finals
2011		2nd	33	25	2	6	81	29	77	Winners	Semi-finals
2012		5th	24	11	7	6	43	29	40	Quarter-finals	Quarter-finals
2013		2nd	27	16	3	8	42	25	51	Winners	Quarter-finals
2014		4th	27	13	5	9	51	41	44	Runners-up	Quarter-finals
2015		6th	27	9	9	9	38	34	36	Runners-up	Group stage
2016		4th	24	11	4	9	50	42	37	Quarter-finals	Semi-finals
2017		3rd	24	15	5	4	58	26	50	Semi-finals	Group stage
2018	Singapore Premier League	2nd	24	12	7	5	48	36	43	Semi-finals

• The 1996 season of the S.League was split into two series. Tiger Beer Series winners Geylang United defeated Pioneer Series winners Singapore Armed Forces in the Championship playoff to clinch the S.League title.
• 2003 saw the introduction of penalty shoot-outs if a match ended in a draw in regular time. Winners of penalty shoot-outs gained two points instead of one.

Players

Current squad

As of 27 Feb 2020

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
2	DF	SGP	Zulqarnaen Suzliman U23
3	DF	SGP	Tajeli Salamat
5	DF	JPN	Kaishu Yamazaki
6	DF	SGP	Abdil Qaiyyim Mutalib
7	MF	SGP	Aqhari Abdullah
8	MF	SGP	Shahdan Sulaiman
10	MF	KOR	Song Ui-young
11	FW	SGP	Hafiz Nor
12	MF	SGP	Iqram Rifqi
13	MF	SGP	Izzdin Shafiq (captain)
14	MF	SGP	Gabriel Quak
15	DF	SGP	Faizal Roslan
16	MF	SGP	Hami Syahin U23
17	FW	SGP	Shahril Ishak
18	GK	SGP	Hassan Sunny

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
19	MF	SGP	Naqiuddin Eunos U23
20	MF	SGP	Arshad Shamim U23
22	DF	SGP	Ho Wai Loon
23	FW	SGP	Amiruldin Asraf U23
24	GK	SGP	Rudy Khairullah
25	MF	SGP	Haiqal Pashia U23
27	MF	SGP	Adam Swandi
28	MF	SGP	Saifullah Akbar U23
30	GK	SGP	Adib Hakim U23
37	MF	SGP	Anaqi Ismit U19
40	GK	SGP	Prathip Ekamparam U19
44	DF	SGP	Danish Iftiqar U19
47	MF	SGP	Bill Mamadou U19
52	GK	SGP	Putra Anugerah Sahrin U19
—	DF	SGP	Naufal Ilham U19

Club officials

Management

• Chairman: Forrest Li
• General Manager: Badri Ghent

Technical staff

• Team Manager: Herwandy Hamid
• Head Coach: Aurelio Vidmar
• Assistant Coach: Noh Rahman
• Goalkeeper Coach: Chua Lye Heng
• Sports Performance Specialist: Shazaly Ayob
• Sports Trainer: Fazly Hasan

Head coaches

• Steve Darby (2002–2005)
• Zsolt Bücs (2006–2007)
• P. N. Sivaji (January 2008 – December 2009)
• Lee Lim-saeng (January 2010 – December 2014)
• Philippe Aw (December 2014 – July 2016)
• Aidil Sharin Sahak (July 2016 – October 2018)
• Saswadimata Dasuki (December 2018 – April 2019)
• Noh Rahman (April 2019 – June 2019)
• Radojko Avramovic (July 2019 - August 2019)
• Noh Rahman (August 2019 – Present)
• Aurelio Vidmar (December 2019 - Present)

Honours

League

• S.League: 2

• 1999, 2003

• National Football League Division One: 1

• 1985

Cup

• Singapore Cup: 6 (record)

• 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2013

• Singapore Community Shield: 1

• 2019

• President's Cup: 1

• 1980

• FAS Challenge Cup: 1

• 1968

Reserves

• Prime League: 8 (record)

• 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2016, 2017

• Singapore FA Cup: 3

• 2013, 2015, 2016

Performance in AFC competitions

• Asian Club Championship: 1 appearances

2001: Second round

• AFC Cup: 8 appearances

2004: Semi-finals

2005: Quarter-Finals

2006: Group stage

2008: Quarter-finals

2009: Round of 16

2012: Round of 16

2014: Group stage

2017: Zonal Finalist

2018: Inter-zonal Semi-finals

2019: Group stage

AFC clubs ranking

As of 13 MARCH 2019.

Current Rank	Country	Team
46		Istiklol
47		Al-Wehdat
48		Home United
49		Al-Zawra’a
50		Altyn Asyr

Performance by coach

Statistics correct as of 23 July 2019

Manager	career	Pld	W	D	L	Win %	Achievements
Lee Lim-saeng	December 2009 - December 2014	180	104	37	39	057.8	2013 Singapore Cup
Philippe Aw	December 2014 - August 2016	54	20	14	20	037.0
Aidil Sharin	August 2016 - December 2018	90	49	17	24	054.4	2018 AFC Cup Zonal finals
Saswadimata Dasuki	December 2018 - April 2019	10	4	2	4	040.0	Singapore Community Shield
Noh Rahman	April 2019 - July 2019	8	3	1	4	037.5
Radojko Avramović	July 2019 - August 2019	8	4	1	3	050.0
Noh Rahman	August 2019 - Present	0	0	0	0	!—

Sponsors

• Main Sponsor: Sea Limited
• Kit Supplier: Puma

External links

• Lion City Sailors Academy Launch
• Official club website
• S.League website page on Home United FC
• Lion City Sailors FC on Facebook