1996 S.League

January 2020 S League.svg S.League 1996 Geylang United1st S.League title Asian Club Championship Geylang United 113 364 CRO Jure Ereš (28) Singapore Armed Forces 5-0 Tampines Rovers (27 July 1996) Tiong Bahru United 5-0 Sembawang Rangers (19 October 1996) Police FC 0-5 Tiong Bahru United (5 October 1996) Singapore Armed Forces 6-2 Sembawang Rangers(11 May 1996) Police FC 3-5 Woodlands Wellington (19 October 1996) 1997 The 1996 S.League was the 1st season of the S.League, the top professional football league in Singapore. The S.League came into existence as a result of a fragmenting of relations between Singapore and Malaysian football associations. A dispute over the division of gate receipts for the Singapore representative in the Malaysian Premier League saw Singapore withdraw from the competition in 1995, ending a footballing connection between the two nations that stretched back to 1921, with the first participation of a Singapore team in the Malaya Cup. The semi-professional FAS Premier League was founded in 1988, but had failed to find support amongst the local communities and media. The S.League was therefore created to fill the need to have a fully professional football league within Singapore. The Football Association of Singapore invited applications for clubs to compete in the newly formed league. Eight successful applications were made, these eight teams took part in a two-stage league season, with the winner of each stage qualifying for the end of season championship decider. The first half of the season was known as the Tiger Beer Series and the second half was known as the Pioneer Series. Geylang United defeated Singapore Armed Forces FC in the end of season championship Playoff to be crowned the 1st S.League champions. Clubs Eight sides took part in the first S.League campaign; two of whom had been competitors in the former Singapore Premier League. These former Premier League clubs were Balestier United FC who changed their name upon joining the S.League to Balestier Central and the former Singapore Premier League powerhouse Geylang International, winners of six back-to-back Premier League titles, who renamed themselves Geylang United for the first S.League season. The rest were clubs drawn from the amateur National Football League: Police, Singapore Armed Forces, Tampines Rovers, Tiong Bahru United and Wellington Football Club, who renamed themselves Woodlands Wellington. Sembawang Rangers were formed from a merger between two NFL sides, Gibraltar Crescent and Sembawang Sports Club. Singapore 800 none Location of teams in 1996 S.League Singapore 1.330401 103.852891 Balestier Central left Singapore 1.326406 103.939264 Geylang United right Singapore 1.310016 103.860347 Police right Singapore 1.412389 103.832334 Sembawang Rangers right Singapore 1.33327 103.719429 Singapore Armed Forces left Singapore 1.352904 103.940524 Tampines Rovers top Singapore 1.29589 103.802417 Tiong Bahru United bottom Singapore 1.434591 103.780788 Woodlands Wellington left Team Stadium Capacity LocationBalestier Central Toa Payoh Stadium 3,900 Toa PayohGeylang United Bedok Stadium 3,900 BedokPolice Jalan Besar Stadium 8,000 KallangSingapore Armed Forces Jurong Stadium 6,000 JurongSembawang Rangers Yishun Stadium 3,400 YishunTampines Rovers Tampines Stadium 3,600 TampinesTiong Bahru United Queenstown Stadium 3,800 QueenstownWoodlands Wellington Woodlands Stadium 4,300 Woodlands Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Balestier Central FRY Ljutvo Bugucanin CRO Goran Paulić CRO Marko Kraljević FRY Esad Sejdic Liberia Nathaniel Klay Naplahhttp://www.balestierkhalsafc.com/match/72 balestierkhalsafc.com www.balestierkhalsafc.com 2016-12-30 2016-12-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20161230160419/http://www.balestierkhalsafc.com/match/72 dead Geylang United IRN Mohammad Khakpour IRN Hamid Reza Estili NZ Chris Riley CRO Zlatko Vidan IRN Mohsen Garousi Police BRA Egmar Goncalves BRA Fabio da Silva BRA Joao Batista Neto BRA Sergio Cleveland BRA Singapore Armed Forces CRO Ivica Raguž CRO Jure Ereš CRO Velimir Crljen CRO Davor Mioč CRO Goran Grubesic Sembawang Rangers BRA Anderson Da Silva HUN Laszlo Kardos NZ Mark Atkinson SEN Ousmane N'Diaye Tampines Rovers HUN Nagy Gabor BRA Marco Antonio AUS Scott O'Donell GHA Seidu Suleiman Anas CRO Nikolic Miroslav Tiong Bahru United AUS Vlado Bozinoski SVK Tibor Szaban AUS David Miller AUS Pedro Ricoy AUS Ivan Kelic Woodlands Wellington CRO Ervin Boban CRO Sandro Radun CZE Jan Janostak AUS Joe Caleta ENG Steven Rocknean League tables Series 1 (Tiger Beer Series) main football complete Series 1 RSSSF GLU WLW BLC SAF TBU POL SEM TAM CSP 7 3 4 22 18 9 1 4 27 14 4 5 5 22 23 3 4 7 17 32 5 3 6 27 25 3 3 8 18 27 4 5 5 20 19 8 2 4 25 20 Balestier Central Geylang United Police FC Sembawang Rangers Singapore Armed Forces Tampines Rovers Tiong Bahru United Woodlands Wellington 5 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored Q green1 Qualification toS.League Championshipplay-off match Series 2 (Pioneer Series) main football Series 2 complete RSSSF SAF TBU BLC WLW GLU SEM TAM POL CSP 7 3 4 25 19 6 3 5 20 16 2 2 10 18 40 4 3 7 14 23 9 5 0 32 14 2 2 10 10 28 8 3 3 35 18 6 3 5 29 25 Balestier Central Geylang United Police FC Sembawang Rangers Singapore Armed Forces Tampines Rovers Tiong Bahru United Woodlands Wellington 5 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored Q green1 Qualification toS.League Championshipplay-off match S.League Championship Playoff 1996 11 9 y Singapore Armed Forces 1–2 Geylang United Jure Ereš 52 Mohammad Khakpour 46 Hamid Reza Estili 61 Singapore National Stadium, Kallang 30,000 The Geylang United victory in the Championship Playoff saw them qualify for the 1997–98 Asian Club Championship. This was the first Singaporean representation in the Asian Club Championship since 1991–92, when Geylang International participated in 1st Round qualifying. Geylang were comfortably defeated by 1996 J.League champions Kashima Antlers in the first round of the East Asian half of the competition, Kashima finishing with an 8–2 aggregate win. Top scorers Rank NameClub Goals1Croatia Jure ErešSingapore Armed Forces282Croatia Goran PaulićBalestier Central223Brazil Egmar GoncalvesPolice19 References Ong Henry Singapore 1996 RSSSF https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/sing96.html 8 May 2014 Category:Singapore Premier League seasons 1 Sing Sing