Young Lions Football Club, commonly known as Young Lions, is a Singaporean developmental football club that in Kallang, Singapore, which competes in the Singapore Premier League. The team is under the direct control of the Football Association of Singapore.
 | |||
| Full name | Young Lions Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Merlion Cubs | ||
| Short name | YGL | ||
| Founded | 2002 | ||
| Ground | Jalan Besar Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 10,000 | ||
| Owner | Football Association of Singapore | ||
| Chairman | Farehan Hussein | ||
| Head coach | Nazri Nasir | ||
| League | Singapore Premier League | ||
| 2023 | Singapore Premier League, 9th of 9 | ||
|
| |||
Young Lions are one of the few football clubs in the world that is made up of young Singaporean footballers serving their compulsory two-year national service which place an age restriction on team members while playing in a top-flight professional league. Players are on loan in from several local Singapore Premier League club every season and would spend two years with the side before returning to their previous professional club.
Young Lions plays their home matches at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Their best league finish was third, which they achieved in 2004 and 2006.
History
editGoal
editBy entering the Young Lions into the S.League, the FAS hopes to expose young players to top-level competition, thus helping to prepare them for international tournaments such as the Southeast Asian Games. While the bulk of the Young Lions squad is made up of members of Singapore's national under-23 team, the club also takes in promising young foreign players (e.g. Luka Savić). However, foreign players are normally only recruited into the Young Lions squad if they could potentially change their nationality to Singaporean and be eligible to play international football for Singapore at some point in the future.
In 2023, Young Lions signed both Japanese duo Jun Kobayashi and Kan Kobayashi from Albirex Niigata (S) who became the foreign players playing for the club for the first time since signing France national, Benjamin Bertrand from Ligue 2 club, Tours in 2016. In preparation for the upcoming 2024–25 Singapore Premier League season, Young Lions signed an additional two more Japanese players, Kaisei Ogawa and Itsuki Enomoto and also signing Australian national Rashid Hayek from Western United making it the first time the club has five foreigners registered in the squad.
Malaysian domestic competition
editIn 2011, the Football Association of Singapore and the Football Association of Malaysia reached an agreement that would see greater cooperation between the two nations. One of the intended avenues will see Young Lions play in the Malaysian Super League and Malaysia Cup from 2012 onwards, the first time a Singaporean team has participated in Malaysian domestic football since Singapore won the 1994 M-League and Malaysia Cup double. Although the new Singapore team will have the existing Young Lions set up at its core, the squad will be permitted up to five local players over the age of 14–16 players, as well as a number of overseas players in accordance with the quota set out by the rules of the Malaysian competitions the team will play in.[1]
Ultimately though, a new team was created for the Malaysia league: the LionsXII, while Young Lions remained in the S.League.
National Football Academy
editMost of the Young Lions players come from the NFA (National Football Academy) and new players (from the NFA) will be promoted to the Young Lions squad every season.
The National Football Academy enters both the Singapore NFA U-17 and Singapore NFA U-18 teams into the Prime League to allow their players to gain more exposure and match experience by playing against older and more established players.[2]
Stadium
edit
Young Lions had played at the Jalan Besar Stadium since their inception of participating in the S.League. The stadium can holds up a seating capacity of 8,000. In 2012, As part of the LionsXII's sponsorship by Kingsmen, a local fan club, the King George's Stand was built using a removable stand, increasing the stadium's capacity to 10,000.
On 30 October 2012, an LED scoreboard was implemented at the Gallery stand to provide better quality video to the spectators, allowing replay video highlights of the action on the field during matchdays. Two new screens were also placed at the two ends of the Grandstand, North and South, to enable better match experience for the Gallery fans.
Sponsorship and naming history
edit| Year | Sponsors | Club name | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–2015 |  Courts
|
Courts Young Lions | [3] |
| 2016–2017 | Garena
|
Garena Young Lions | [4] |
Players
edit- As of 30 May 2024[5]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Players on loan
editNote: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
Technical staff
edit| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Team Manager | Sakthi Vel Ganesan
|
| Head coach | Nazri Nasir
|
| Assistant coach | Fadzuhasny Juraimi  Kosei Nakamura Afiq Yahya
|
| Goalkeeper coach | Ahmadulhaq Che Omar
|
| Fitness coach | Donald Wan
|
| Physiotherapist | Alex Poon
|
| Sports Trainer | Ryan Wang Jasmori Rasip
|
| Equipment Officer | Omar Mohamed
|
Source:[6]
Performance in domestic competitions
edit| Season | League | Pos. | Pld | W | D | L | GS | GA | Pts | Singapore Cup | League Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | S.League | 12th | 33 | 6 | 1–5 | 21 | 33 | 77 | 25 | Quarter-finals | |
| 2004 | 3rd | 27 | 14 | 5 | 8 | 74 | 52 | 47 | Quarter-finals | ||
| 2005 | 6th | 27 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 44 | 37 | 42 | Quarter-finals | ||
| 2006 | 3rd | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 67 | 43 | 52 | Quarter-finals | ||
| 2007 | 5th | 33 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 45 | 54 | 47 | Preliminary | Withdrew | |
| 2008 | 9th | 33 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 30 | 46 | 31 | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | |
| 2009 | 8th | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 33 | 48 | 34 | Preliminary | Group stage | |
| 2010 | 9th | 33 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 37 | 45 | 34 | Semi-finals | Preliminary | |
| 2011 | 9th | 33 | 7 | 6 | 20 | 33 | 54 | 27 | Withdrew | Withdrew | |
| 2012 | 10th | 24 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 25 | 37 | 23 | Withdrew | Group stage | |
| 2013 | 12th | 27 | 5 | 3 | 19 | 20 | 52 | 18 | Preliminary | Group stage | |
| 2014 | 10th | 27 | 7 | 5 | 15 | 38 | 54 | 26 | Did not participate | Did not participate | |
| 2015 | 9th | 27 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 30 | 43 | 27 | Did not participate | Did not participate | |
| 2016 | 9th | 24 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 23 | 70 | 9 | Preliminary | Did not participate | |
| 2017 | 9th | 24 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 10 | 62 | 6 | Did not participate | Did not participate | |
| 2018 | Singapore Premier League | 7th | 24 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 25 | 46 | 21 | Did not participate | |
| 2019 | 8th | 24 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 21 | 38 | 22 | Did not participate | ||
| 2020 | 7th | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 12 | 38 | 9 | Not Held | ||
| 2021 | 7th | 21 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 26 | 50 | 16 | Not Held | ||
| 2022 | 8th | 28 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 34 | 103 | 8 | Group Stage | ||
| 2023 | 9th | 24 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 24 | 76 | 5 | Group Stage |
- 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.
Notable foreign players
editAsia
edit
Craig Foster (1991)
Li Jisheng (2006)- Che Hao (2006)
- Guan Hongyu (2006)
- Yan Minghao (2006)
- Yang Mu (2009)
Kim Seong-kyu (2010)- Seo Su-jong (2010)
Jun Kobayashi (2023–)- Kan Kobayashi (2023–)
Europe
edit
Sirina Camara (2012)- Jonathan Toto (2012–2013)
- Benjamin Bertrand (2016)
Vladan Seric (2004)- Luka Savić (2010)
Daniel Hammond (2008)
Benjamin Lee (2013)
Armin Maier (2017)
Africa
edit
Moudourou Moise (2006–2008)
Kazeem Babatunde (2003–2004)- Greg Nwokolo (2005)
- Obadin Aikhena (2008–2009)
North America
edit
Jordan Webb (2014–2016)- Sherif El-Masri (2012–2015)
Managerial history
edit| No. | Manager | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | P. N. Sivaji
|
1 January 2003–31 December 2003 |
| 2 |  Kim Poulsen
|
1 January 2004–31 December 2004 |
| 3 | Fandi Ahmad
|
1 January 2005–31 December 2006 |
| 4 | V. Sundramoorthy
|
1 January 2007–31 December 2008 |
| 5 | Terry Pathmanathan
|
1 January 2009–13 January 2010 |
| 6 | V. Sundramoorthy (2)
|
14 January 2010–31 December 2010 |
| 7 | Robin Chitrakar
|
1 January 2011–13 January 2013 |
| 8 | Aide Iskandar
|
14 January 2013–11 June 2015 |
| 9 |  Jürgen Raab
|
1 July 2015–13 January 2016 |
| 10 |  Richard Tardy
|
1 January 2016–15 February 2016 |
| 11 | Patrick Hesse
|
15 February 2016–9 November 2016 |
| 12 | V. Selvaraj
|
9 November 2016–17 May 2017 |
| 13 | Richard Tardy (2)
|
17 May 2017–27 July 2017 |
| 14 | Vincent Subramaniam
|
5 August 2017–14 December 2017 |
| 15 | Fandi Ahmad (2)
|
14 December 2017–31 December 2019 |
| 16 | Nazri Nasir
|
1 January 2020–10 March 2021 |
| 17 | Philippe Aw
|
11 March 2021–31 December 2021 |
| 18 | Nazri Nasir (2)
|
1 January 2022–31 December 2022 |
| 19 | Philippe Aw (2)
|
1 January 2023–18 May 2023 |
| 20 | Fadzuhasny Juraimi (interim)
|
18 May 2023–12 July 2023 |
| 21 | Nazri Nasir (3)
|
13 July 2023–present |
Records and statistics
editAs of 8 July 2024.
Top 10 all-time appearances
edit| Rank | Player | Years | Club appearances |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Afiq Yunos
|
2008–2013 | 114 |
| 2 | Syahrul Sazali
|
2016–2019
2021–2022 |
101 |
| Shahril Ishak
|
2003–2006 | ||
| 3 | Syazwan Buhari
|
2010–2015 | 87 |
| Amirul Adli
|
2011–2017 | ||
| Hariss Harun
|
2007–2011 | ||
 Sherif El-Masri
|
2012–2015 | ||
| 7 | Faritz Abdul Hameed
|
2009–2012 | 83 |
| 8 | Hami Syahin
|
2015–2018
2020–2021 |
82 |
| 9 | Khairul Amri
|
2004–2008,
2016 |
79 |
Top 10 all-time scorers
edit| Rank | Player | Club appearances | Total goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khairul Amri
|
79 | 49 |
| 2 | Agu Casmir
|
34 | 31 |
| 3 | Shahril Ishak
|
101 | 20 |
| 4 | Sherif El-Masri
|
87 | 18 |
| Qiu Li
|
27 | ||
| 6 | Khairul Nizam
|
57 | 15 |
| 7 | Jordan Webb
|
39 | 14 |
| Shi Jiayi
|
66 | ||
| 9 | Ilhan Fandi
|
33 | 13 |
| 10 | Sahil Suhaimi
|
38 | 12 |
- Biggest Wins: 7–1 vs Sinchi FC (23 September 2004)
- Heaviest Defeats: 1–10 vs Lion City Sailors (13 August 2022)
- Youngest Goal scorers: Khairin Nadim ~ 16 years 6 months 9 days old (On 17 November 2020 vs Tampines Rovers)
- Oldest Goal scorers: Khairul Amri ~ 31 years 06 months 11 days old (On 1 April 2023 vs Geylang International)
- Youngest ever debutant: Raoul Suhaimi ~ 15 years 7 months 27 days old (On 15 May 2021 vs Albirex Niigata Singapore)
| Club | Score | Year | Match type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albirex Niigata (S) | 3–2 | 16 June 2024 | 2024–25 Singapore Premier League |
| Balestier Khalsa | 4–2 | 14 August 2021 | 2021 Singapore Premier League |
| DPMM | 3–1 | 27 July 2024 | 2024–25 Singapore Premier League |
| Geylang International | 4–2 | 26 November 2023 | 2023 Singapore Cup |
| Hougang United | 2–1 | 18 March 2023 | 2023 Singapore Premier League |
| Lion City Sailors (As Home United) | 0–3 | 18 September 2019 | 2019 Singapore Premier League |
| Tanjong Pagar United | 3–1 | 24 August 2024 | 2024–25 Singapore Premier League |
| Tampines Rovers | 2–1 | 1 August 2018 | 2018 Singapore Premier League |
| Warriors | 0–1 | 8 April 2018 | 2018 Singapore Premier League |
Match brawl
editOn 7 September 2010, The S.League fixture between both Young Lions and Beijing Guoan Talent was abandoned in the 89th minute when a massive brawl erupted into violence. The referee and his assistants lost control. Its all started in the final 10 minutes of the game when the first fight broke out in the 84th minute. The match then continued with Afiq Yunos equalising for the Young Lions in the 88th minute. However, a tackle by Beijing's Yu Tianzhu on Young Lions, Nazrul Nazari in the middle of the field saw the match degenerate into a brawl involving both teams, including bench players. As seen in the YouTube video, several Beijing players went in with flying kicks on Gabriel Quak which he suffered an arm injury while Faritz Hameed was seen receiving a blow to the head as he was on the ground. Both Young Lions players were evacuated to the hospital. Beijing's goalkeeper, Su Boyang was also seen attempting to punch Khairul Nizam. Young Lions head coach, Eugene Loo stepped in to help cool down the tension but was in turn kicked in the back as well and fell over. To make matter worst, several fans were also spotted jumping into the field to fight. Even a medical personnel lost his cool and had to be held back. He was seen escorted away from the pitch while challenging the Beijing players to a fight.
Both clubs have been docked five points and fined $5,000 each. The FAS Disciplinary Committee has also concluded that the match will not be replayed and the result will stand.10 players from Beijing and 6 players from Young Lions have been charged for gross misconduct which brought the game into disrepute. Both teams have sinced apologised for the fight.
References
edit- ^ Singapore Lions to participate in 2012 Malaysia Cup – Asia One, 12/07/11
- ^ "Prime League Table". S.League Official Website. 11 July 2012. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Soccer-Singapore's Young Lions get name change, S$1 million". Reuters. 2011-01-27. Archived from the original on 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
- ^ "Young Lions snare S$4m sponsorship deal - biggest in S.League history". TODAY. Archived from the original on 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
- ^ "SPL 2023 Transfer Centre Club Guide: Young Lions". Singapore Premier League. 28 January 2023. Archived from the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
- ^ "Club Profile – Garena Young Lions". S-League. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)