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Warriors FC

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Warriors FC
Full nameWarriors Football Club
Nickname(s)The Warriors
Founded1975
(as Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association)

1996
(as Singapore Armed Forces FC)

2013
(as Warriors FC)
GroundJurong East Stadium
Capacity2,700
ChairmanPhilip Lam Tin Sing
20197th of 9
Websitehttp://www.warriorsfc.org.sg
Current season

Warriors Football Club is a Singaporean professional football club that last played in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. Before they officially changed their name on 20 January 2013,[1] they were previously known as the Singapore Armed Forces Football Club (SAFFC) since their establishment on 16 February 1996. Despite their name back then, membership of the Armed Forces was not a prerequisite for players representing the team, and several international players have played for them.

Using a rhino as club mascot was their second suggestion after the S.League rejected their initial proposal of having a warrior as being out of line with the policy of clubs having animal mascots.[2]

Warriors F.C. is currently the most successful club in the history of the S.League, having won the title a record nine times: in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014[3] and finishing second in 4 seasons: 1996, 1999, 2001, 2005 in the 22 years since the inception of the S.League.

The Warriors was based in Jurong Stadium till 2000 before moving to their home ground Choa Chu Kang Stadium in 2001. In light of the preparation of the 2015 SEA Games, the Warriors had to vacate Choa Chu Kang Stadium and will instead play their home matches at the Woodlands Stadium for the 2015 season instead. Warriors will move to their Jurong East Stadium in 2019 season and shared with Albirex Niigata Singapore FC.

History

1975–2006

The Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association (SAFSA) football team was formed in 1975 to provide talented footballers serving National Service with opportunities to play competitive football. That year, they won the President's Cup, a feat they repeated in 1978, when they also captured the National Football League title to complete The Double. Their Under-19 team won the national Under-19 title in 1979, 1980 and 1983, while the 1981 season of the National Football League saw the SAFSA football team emerge as champions without losing a game. The President's Cup was captured again in 1984 and 1986, the latter time as part of a second Double, as they also won the National Football League on goal difference. In 1990, the Pools Cup went to the SAFSA football team and their convincing displays led to their selection as one of eight clubs to compete in the newly formed S.League.[4]

Singapore Armed Forces FC's entry into the S.League in 1996 also resulted in the withdrawal of SAFSA from the NFL. SAFSA would not participate in the local football leagues again till 1999, when they rejoined the National Football League.

SAFFC finished second in 1996, 1999 and won the league in 1997 and 1998.

Former Singapore international Fandi Ahmad took over from Mladen Pralija in 1999.

Three coaches were at the reins during this period, each lasting only one season. SAFFC finished second in 2005 but otherwise outside the top two.

2006–present

Richard Bok took over as club head coach in 2006 & led the Warriors to 4 consecutive championship 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009.

In 2008, Armed Forces became the first Singapore club to achieve the "double" back-to-back, after winning both the S.League and the Singapore Cup in 2007 and 2008.

In Asian Football Confederation Club competition, he led Armed Forces to 2 Quarter Finals in 2007 & 2008. In 2009, Armed Forces qualified into the AFC Champions League group stage by defeating Thai Champion PEA FC and PSMS Medan of Indonesia in the East playoff thus Armed Forces making Singapore football history by being the first club from Singapore to qualified for the highest club competition in Asia.

Squad 2010

Armed Forces were drawn in a group with J.League champions Kashima Antlers, K.League champions Suwon Samsung Bluewings and Chinese Super League runners-up Shanghai Shenhua, and despite being confirmed as the group losers after a 5–0 loss to Kashima Antlers in Japan, they won their first ever point in the competition with a 1–1 draw against Shanghai Shenhua at home.

In 2010, Armed Forces qualified for their second consecutive AFC Champions League group stage by defeating Sriwijaya of Indonesia 3–0 at Jalan Besar stadium in Singapore and won on penalty in the East playoff Final with Muangthong United F.C. of Thailand in Singapore. Armed Forces were group with former Champion Gamba Osaka of Japan, Henan Jianye of China and again Suwon Samsung Bluewings of Korea. Armed Forces got their first ever away points with a draw against Chinese Super League side Henan Jianye in Henan, China. Thus equalling their 1 point in 2009. In the return leg on 13 April 2010 at Jalan Besar stadium in Singapore, Armed Forces record their first ever historical AFC Champions League win with a 2–1 victory over Henan Jianye. Eventually finishing 3rd in the group ahead of Chinese Super League team Henan Jianye putting Armed Forces and Singapore football on the map in Asia Football.

On 20 January 2013, Armed Forces announced that they had changed their name to Warriors Football Club ahead of the 2013 S.League season.[1]

Alex Weaver, in his first full season as coach of Warriors FC, clinched the 2014 S.League title on the last day of the competition for the Warriors. With Brunei DPMM leading the table until the last day, the Warriors scored a 1–0 win over Albirex Niigata Singapore FC and they received a favour from Tampines Rovers FC, who beat Brunei DPMM FC 2–1 to hand Warriors FC their first title in 5 years and their 9th title in the league's 19 years history.

Seasons

Season Name Changed League Pos. P W D L GS GA Pts Singapore Cup League Cup
1996-1 Singapore Armed Forces FC S.League 4th 14 5 3 6 27 25 18
1996-2 1st 14 9 5 0 32 14 32
1997 1st 16 12 1 3 42 11 37
1998 1st 20 14 4 2 46 17 46 Runners-up
1999 2nd 22 14 7 1 63 24 49 Winners
2000 1st 22 16 4 2 53 15 52 Runners-up
2001 2nd 33 24 2 7 101 46 74 Third place
2002 1st 33 26 6 1 104 37 84 Quarter-finals
2003 3rd 33 20 2–5 6 68 37 69 Group stage
2004 4th 27 14 3 10 45 48 45 Quarter-finals
2005 2nd 27 15 7 5 54 41 52 Semi-finals
2006 1st 30 20 8 2 71 36 68 Quarter-finals
2007 1st 33 25 4 4 95 38 79 Winners Withdrew
2008 1st 33 24 5 4 85 34 77 Winners Quarter-finals
2009 1st 30 22 1 7 73 31 67 Round of 16 Runners-up
2010 4th 33 16 5 12 56 41 53 Round of 16 Quarter-finals
2011 3rd 33 21 3 9 74 39 66 Quarter-finals Quarter-finals
2012 7th 24 9 5 10 43 41 32 Winners Semi-finals
2013 Warriors FC 7th 27 9 8 10 38 38 35 Preliminary Group stage
2014 1st 27 16 5 6 53 35 53 Preliminary Group stage
2015 5th 27 11 4 12 40 51 37 Quarter-finals Group stage
2016 7th 24 7 7 10 39 39 28 Preliminary Group stage
2017 5th 24 9 7 8 33 36 34 Preliminary Runners-up
2018 Singapore Premier League 5th 24 7 7 10 32 35 28 Quarter-finals
2019 7th 24 6 5 13 40 56 22 Runners-up
  • 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.
Cups Champions Championship years Runners-up Runners-up years
Singapore Cup 4 1999, 2007, 2008, 2012 3 1998, 2000, 2019
Singapore League Cup 0 2 2009, 2017
Singapore FA Cup 4 1997, 2006, 2008, 2017 1 1996
President's Cup 3 1975, 1984, 1986 0
Singapore Charity Shield 3 2008, 2010, 2015 1 2013

Performance in AFC competitions

2009: Group stage
2010: Group stage
2015: Second Qualifying Rounds
1999: First round
2000: Second round
2002: First round
2007: Quarter-finals
2008: Quarter-finals
2013: Group stage
2015: Group stage
1998: Second round
2001: First round

AFC clubs ranking

As of 25 February 2018.[5]
Current Rank Country Team
126 Singapore Warriors FC
127 Kyrgyzstan Dordoi Bishkek
128 North Korea 25 April
129 Vietnam Than Quảng Ninh
130 Lebanon Salam Zgharta

Player of the Year Award

Season Name!
1996 Croatia Ivica Raguž
2000 Croatia Mirko Grabovac
2002 Thailand Therdsak Chaiman
2007 Aleksandar Đurić
2008 Aleksandar Đurić
2011 Bosnia and Herzegovina Mislav Karoglan
2014 Hassan Sunny

Top scorers

Season Name Goals
1996 Croatia Jure Ereš 28
1999 Croatia Mirko Grabovac 23
2000 Croatia Mirko Grabovac 19
2001 Croatia Mirko Grabovac 39
2002 Mirko Grabovac 34
2007 Aleksandar Đurić 37
2008 Aleksandar Đurić 28
2009 Aleksandar Đurić 28
2011 Bosnia and Herzegovina Mislav Karoglan 33

* Mirko Grabovac was a naturalised Singapore player from 2002 until he renounced his Singapore citizenship in 2008.

* Aleksandar Đurić was a naturalised Singapore player from 2007

Sponsors

  • 2018 Official Kit Supplier: Umbro

References

  1. ^ a b "SAFFC renamed as Warriors FC". ESPN Star. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013.
  2. ^ http://www.safwarriors.com.sg/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=11
  3. ^ http://www.sleague.com/Web/main.aspx?ID=693b0933-5803-4580-a1bf-c0504756b2ee,,&TargetPageID=
  4. ^ Malathi Das and Palakrishnan (1996), "S.League: the kick-off", Singapore Professional Football League Pte Ltd, p. 38
  5. ^ "AFC Club Ranking (25th February 2018)". globalfootballranks.com. Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
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