Wikipedia

2021 Singapore Premier League

The 2021 Singapore Premier League (also known as the AIA Singapore Premier League due to sponsorship reasons) was the 4th season of the Singapore Premier League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association football clubs, since its rebranding in 2018.[1]

Singapore Premier League
Season2021
Dates13 March – 10 October 2021
ChampionsLion City Sailors (3rd title)
AFC Champions LeagueLion City Sailors
AFC CupHougang United
Tampines Rovers
Matches played84
Goals scored334 (3.98 per match)
Top goalscorerTomoyuki Doi
(19 goals)
Biggest home winTampines Rovers 7–0 Young Lions (7 April 2021)
Biggest away winGeylang International 0–8 Lion City Sailors (11 April 2021)
Highest scoringHougang United 7–3 Tampines Rovers (11 September 2021)
Longest winning run6 matches
Lion City Sailors
Longest unbeaten run18 matches
Lion City Sailors
Longest winless run12 matches
Young Lions
Longest losing run6 matches
Geylang International
← 2020
2022 →

The champions of the 2021 Singapore Premier League, Lion City Sailors, qualified for the AFC Champions League group stage automatically. The season began on 13 March and ended on 10 October. In the first part of the season, all matches were played behind closed doors in light of the COVID-19 situation.

Format

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The following key changes were made to the rules since the 2020 season:[2]

  1. Local SPL clubs are required to have a minimum of six U-23 players for a squad size of 19 to 25 players; this increases to seven (squad size 26), eight (27) and nine (28).

New rules for 2021:

  1. All SPL teams will play each other thrice.
  2. Each team is able to register up to 25 players in their squad, a reduction of 3 players as compared from 2020.
  3. From 2021, Albirex is allowed to sign a maximum of 2 overage Singaporean players.[3] As in 2019 and 2020, Albirex must have two Singaporeans in their starting lineup for each game.
  4. Young Lions and Lion City Sailors Football Club to play their home games at Jalan Besar Stadium while Balestier Khalsa will play at Toa Payoh Stadium. Bishan Stadium is under renovation till end of season. Other stadiums used are: (1) Our Tampines Hub (Tampines Rovers and Geylang International), Hougang Stadium (Hougang United) and (3) Jurong East Stadium (Albirex Niigata and Tanjong Pagar United).
  5. Clubs will be equipped with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) devices – among other performance and tracking gear. Value of this sponsorship is worth around $620,000.[4]
  6. SPL clubs are now allowed to register a maximum of four foreign players with no age restrictions, of whom at least one shall be of the nationality of an AFC Member Association (Asian). A maximum of four foreign players may be named or fielded in any one match.[5]
  7. Local SPL clubs, excluding Albirex Niigata (S) and Young Lions, are required to have a minimum of six local U-23 players (born on or after 1 January 1998) for a squad size of 18 (minimum) to 25 (maximum) players. At least eight local U-30 players (born on or after 1 January 1991) have to be registered as well.
  8. Players shall be allocated jersey numbers 1 to 40. Jersey numbers become available for allocation to new members after a player ceases to play for a club.[6]
  9. 2019 champions, DPMM FC, will continue to sit out of the competition due to the restriction imposed by the Brunei Government.
  10. 2021 Singapore Cup is slated to commence in September 2021. The mandatory fielding of Under-23 local players for participating clubs shall not apply for matches in the 2021 Singapore Cup as to allow the National Under-22 team to have adequate centralised preparations and subsequent participation for this year's AFC Under-23 Qualifiers and the SEA Games.
  11. 1st transfer window: 1 January 2021 to 20 March 2021, 2nd transfer window: 17 May 2021 to 13 June 2021

Teams

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A total of 8 teams competed in the league. Albirex Niigata (S) from Japan was the only foreign team invited.

Stadiums and locations

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class=notpageimage|
Locations of the 2018 Singapore Premier League teams from Singapore
Image Team Stadium Capacity
  Albirex Niigata (S)
Tanjong Pagar United 		Jurong East Stadium 2,700
  Balestier Khalsa Toa Payoh Stadium 3,800
Hougang United Hougang Stadium 3,800
  Lion City Sailors
Young Lions 		Jalan Besar Stadium 6,000
  Tampines Rovers
Geylang International 		Our Tampines Hub 5,000

Personnel and sponsors

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

Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Main Shirt sponsor Other shirt sponsors
Albirex Niigata (S)   Keiji Shigetomi   Kazuki Hashioka
  Takahiro Tezuka (VC)
  Ryoya Tanigushi (VC)
Fairoz Hasan (VC) 		Mizuno Canon Kirin
Kubota
Reeracoen
EnglishCentral
Lensmode
Gain City
Nippon Medical Care
Fitogether
Namics
Denka
SMBC
ACCEA Singapore
JTB
NSG
JPLUS+
Daiho Group
With You Global Creations
SD Aircon
Balestier Khalsa   Marko Kraljević   Fadli Kamis
  Kristijan Krajcek (VC) 		Adidas Jeep Weston Corporation
Project Vaults
StarBalm
PSB Academy
Geylang International   Mohd Noor Ali   Yuki Ichikawa
  Darren Teh (VC) 		FBT Epson[7] Aris Studio 23
Joydom Engineering
My Protein Singapore
Steel Industries
Springleaf Prata Place
Fightzone
TRUE Fitness
Hougang United   Clement Teo   Fabian Kwok
  Lionel Tan (VC)
  Nazrul Nazari (VC)
  Ridhuan Barudin (VC) 		Warrix SportCenter by Zup
Cafe Football (CF)
The Arena
Lion City Sailors   Kim Do-hoon[8]   Hassan Sunny
  Shahdan Sulaiman (VC) 		Puma SEA[9] Shopee
Garena
Tampines Rovers   Gavin Lee[10]   Yasir Hanapi
  Daniel Bennett (VC)
  Syazwan Buhari (VC) 		Mizuno ANA Courier Express [11] StarBalm
The Black Hole Group
My Protein Singapore
Canadian 2 for 1 Pizza
Tanjong Pagar United   Hasrin Jailani   Faritz Abdul Hameed
  Delwinder Singh (VC) 		Ad hoc Apparel Tokyo Century Samtrade Academy
StarBalm
Young Lions   Philippe Aw[12]   Danish Irfan
  Syahrul Sazali (VC) 		Nike Catapult

Coaching changes

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Team Outgoing Head Coach Manner of Departure Date of Vacancy Position in table Incoming Head Coach Date of appointment
Young Lions   Nazri Nasir Rested 15 January 2021 Pre-Season   Philippe Aw[12] 15 January 2021
Lion City Sailors   Aurelio Vidmar Resigned [13] 30 April 2021 2nd   Robin Chitrakar (interim) [14] 1 May 2021
Lion City Sailors   Robin Chitrakar (interim) [14] NA 18 May 2021 2nd   Kim Do-hoon[15] 18 May 2021

Foreign Players

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Singapore Premier League clubs can sign a maximum of four foreign players in the 2021 season, up from three as compared to 2019.[16] However, one of them has to be 21 years old or younger on 1 January 2021 (Or at the age of registration).

Albirex Niigata can sign up unlimited number of Singaporean players for the new season. Only 2 local player above 23 years old is allowed.[17]

Players name in bold indicates the player was registered during the mid-season transfer window.

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC Player SG U-23 Player 1
U-21 Player 		Former Players
Albirex Niigata (S)   Hyrulnizam Juma'at[18]   Fairoz Hassan[3]   Ong Yu En[19]   Fikri Junaidi[20]   Nicky Singh[21]   Nathanael Chin[22]
  Junki Yoshimura[23]   Sunny Tia[24]   Kenji Austin[25]   Ameer Maricar[25]   Irsyad Azarudin[26]
  Hilman Norhisam [27]   Muhamad Ali Manaf[25]
Balestier Khalsa   Kristijan Krajcek[28]   Šime Žužul[28]   Ensar Brunčević[29]   Shuhei Hoshino[30]   Yann Weishaupt[31]
Geylang International   Matheus Moresche[32]   Barry Maguire[33]   Yuki Ichikawa[34]   Danny Kim [35]   Sylvano Comvalius[36][37]
Hougang United   Gilberto Fortunato[38]   Maksat Dzhakybaliev[39]   Tomoyuki Doi[40]   Kaishu Yamazaki[41]
Lion City Sailors   Diego Lopes[42]   Jorge Fellipe[43]   Stipe Plazibat[44]   Song Ui-young[45]
Note 2
Tampines Rovers   Zehrudin Mehmedović[39]   Boris Kopitović[39]   Armin Bosnjak[46]   Kyoga Nakamura[39]
Tanjong Pagar United   Luiz Júnior[39]   Blake Ricciuto[47]   Reo Nishiguchi[48]   Shodai Nishikawa[49]

Note 1: From 2021, Albirex, a Japanese club, is allowed to sign a maximum of 2 Singaporean players above the age of 23.

Note 2: Song Ui-Young is granted Singapore citizenship on 21 August 2021. [50]

Results

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League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Lion City Sailors 21 14 6 1 59 21 +38 48 Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage
2 Albirex Niigata (S)[a] 21 13 7 1 50 19 +31 46
3 Hougang United 21 10 4 7 48 40 +8 34 Qualification for AFC Cup group stage
4 Tampines Rovers 21 7 6 8 48 51 −3 27
5 Tanjong Pagar United 21 5 7 9 36 49 −13 22
6 Geylang International 21 6 2 13 33 52 −19 20
7 Balestier Khalsa 21 5 4 12 34 52 −18 19
8 Young Lions[a] 21 4 4 13 26 50 −24 16
Updated to match(es) played on 3 April 2021. Source: Singapore Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of wins
Notes:
  1. ^ a b The foreign club – Albirex Niigata (S) – as well as the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) under-21 team, Young Lions, are ineligible for any AFC competition spots.


Fixtures and results

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Clubs will play each other three times for 21 matches each.

Statistics

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Top scorers

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As of 10 October 2021
Rank Player Club Goals
1   Tomoyuki Doi Hougang United 19
2   Boris Kopitović Tampines Rovers 16
3   Šime Žužul Balestier Khalsa 15
  Kiyoshiro Tsuboi Albirex Niigata (S)
4   Stipe Plazibat Lion City Sailors 14
5   Gabriel Quak Lion City Sailors 13
6   Amy Recha Geylang International 12
7   Matheus Moresche Geylang International 11
  Luiz Júnior Tanjong Pagar United
8   Ryoya Tanigushi Albirex Niigata (S) 9
  Reo Nishiguchi Tanjong Pagar United
9   Kuraba Kondo Albirex Niigata (S) 8
10   Ilhan Fandi Young Lions 7
  Song Ui-young Lion City Sailors

Clean sheets

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As at 3 October 2021
Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1   Takahiro Koga Albirex Niigata (S) 8
2   Hassan Sunny Lion City Sailors 5
3   Syazwan Buhari Tampines Rovers 3

Hat-tricks

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As of 10 October 2021
Player For Against Result Date Reference
  Tomoyuki Doi Hougang United Tampines Rovers 5–1 3 April 2021 [51]
  Boris Kopitović Tampines Rovers Young Lions 7–0 7 April 2021 [51]
  Diego Lopes Lion City Sailors Geylang International 8–0 11 April 2021 [51]
  Kiyoshiro Tsuboi Albirex Niigata (S) Tanjong Pagar United 6–0 17 April 2021 [51]
  Kiyoshiro Tsuboi Albirex Niigata (S) Balestier Khalsa 4–1 25 April 2021 [51]
  Šime Žužul Balestier Khalsa Tampines Rovers 5–2 19 August 2021 [51]
  Tomoyuki Doi Hougang United Tampines Rovers 7–3 11 September 2021 [51]
  Kiyoshiro Tsuboi 4 Albirex Niigata (S) Tanjong Pagar United 4–4 10 October 2021 [51]

4 Player scored 4 goals


Penalty missed

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Player For Against Date
  Stipe Plazibat Lion City Sailors Albirex Niigata (S) 7 April 2021

Awards

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Monthly awards

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Month Player of the Month Young Player of the Month Coach of the Month Goal of the Month Ref
Player Club Player Club Coach Club Player vs.
March   Tomoyuki Doi Hougang United   Khairin Nadim Young Lions   Clement Teo Hougang United   Song Ui-young
vs. Tanjong Pagar (17 March 2021) 		[52]
April   Stipe Plazibat Lion City Sailors FC   Kiyoshiro Tsuboi Albirex Niigata (S)   Keiji Shigetomi Albirex Niigata (S)   Gabriel Quak
vs. Balestier Khalsa (18 April 2021) 		[53]
May   Boris Kopitović Tampines Rovers   Idraki Adnan Hougang United   Clement Teo Hougang United   Kyoga Nakamura
vs. Young Lions (2/5/2021) 		[54]
August   Šime Žužul Balestier Khalsa   Ilhan Fandi Young Lions   Hasrin Jailani Tanjong Pagar United   Luiz Júnior
vs. Albirex Niigata (S) (6/8/2021) 		[55]
September   Jorge Fellipe Lion City Sailors FC   Nur Adam Abdullah Lion City Sailors FC   Kim Do-hoon Lion City Sailors FC   Fabian Kwok
vs. Tampines Rovers (11/9/2021) 		[56]

Singapore Premier League Awards night winners

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Awards Winners Club
Player of the Year   Tomoyuki Doi Hougang United
Young Player of the Year   Nur Adam Abdullah Lion City Sailors
Coach of the Year   Clement Teo Hougang United
Top Scorer Award   Tomoyuki Doi Hougang United
Golden Glove   Takahiro Koga   Albirex Niigata (S)
Goal of the Year   Gabriel Quak
vs. Balestier Khalsa (18 April 2021) 		Lion City Sailors
Fair Play Award   Albirex Niigata (S)
Referee of the Year   Jansen Foo —
AIA Team of the Year
Goalkeeper   Takahiro Koga
(Albirex Niigata (S))
Defence   Kazuki Hashioka
(  Albirex Niigata (S)) 		  Shuya Yamashita
(  Albirex Niigata (S)) 		  Jorge Fellipe
(Lion City Sailors) 		  Nur Adam Abdullah
(Lion City Sailors)
Midfield   Kaishu Yamazaki
(Hougang United) 		  Ryoya Tanigushi
(  Albirex Niigata (S)) 		  Shahdan Sulaiman
(Lion City Sailors)
Attack   Šime Žužul
(Balestier Khalsa) 		  Stipe Plazibat
(Lion City Sailors) 		  Tomoyuki Doi
(Hougang United)

References

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  1. ^ Football: Goodbye S-League, welcome Singapore Premier League Straits Times, 21 March 2018
  2. ^ "Young footballers to take centrestage in revamped 2018 S-League". TODAYonline.
  3. ^ a b "Signing with Fairoz Hasan for 2021 season!". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website.
  4. ^ "Football: Singapore Premier League clubs given wearable tech in bid to raise fitness, standards". The Straits Times. 4 February 2021.
  5. ^ "2021 Singapore Premier League season to kick off on 13 March – Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  6. ^ "2021 SPL Handbook" (PDF).
  7. ^ "'SPL had Covid protocols right'". The Straits Times. 6 February 2021.
  8. ^ "AFC Champions League winner Kim Do-hoon takes charge of Lion City Sailors - Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  9. ^ "Football: Singapore tech firm Sea takes ownership of Home United; club changes name to Lion City Sailors FC". CNA. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Head Coach Gavin Lee has pledged his immediate future to the club till 2024". Archived from the original on 26 December 2021.
  11. ^ Karnageran, Narendaren (19 February 2021). "Kopitovic & Bosnjak: From foes to strike partners at Tampines Rovers". The New Paper.
  12. ^ a b "Phillippe Aw to take charge of Young Lions for 2021 SPL season – Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  13. ^ Sailors, Lion City (27 April 2021). "Aurelio Vidmar leaves Lion City Sailors".
  14. ^ a b "Aurelio Vidmar to depart Lion City Sailors - Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  15. ^ Sailors, Lion City (18 May 2021). "Lion City Sailors appoint AFC Champions League winner Kim Do-hoon as new head coach".
  16. ^ "Football: Singapore Premier League increases foreign player quota for 2020 season". CNA. Archived from the original on 29 November 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Football: Albirex Niigata could sign up to four Singaporean players in a boost for 2019 SEA Games". The Straits Times. 12 December 2018.
  18. ^ "Signing with Hyrulnizam Juma'at for 2021 season!". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website.
  19. ^ "Signing with Ong Yu En for 2021 season!". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website.
  20. ^ "Fikri Junaidi (Young Lions) will join Albirex for 2021 season!". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website.
  21. ^ "Nicky Melvin Singh (Tampines Rovers FC U-21) will join Albirex for 2021 season!". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website.
  22. ^ "Nathanael (Police SA) will join Albirex for 2021 season!". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website.
  23. ^ "Junki from ANFC(S) U-17 joins the training with our SPL Team for 2021!". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website.
  24. ^ "Sunny Tia (Singapore Sports School) will join Albirex for 2021 season!". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website.
  25. ^ a b c "4 Players from ANFC(S) U-17 joins the training with our SPL Team for 2021!". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website.
  26. ^ "4 Players from ANFC(S) U-17 joins the training with our SPL Team for 2021!". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website.
  27. ^ "Hilman joins Albirex as a new squad!". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website.
  28. ^ a b Ganesan, Deepanraj (11 March 2021). "Football: Best of the rest in Singapore Premier League aim to upset the odds" – via The Straits Times.
  29. ^ "Boost for the 🐯Gentle giant Bruno signs an extension with us for 2️⃣ years!".[self-published]
  30. ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com.
  31. ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com.
  32. ^ "Former Vasco youngster Matheus Moresche joins Geylang International – Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  33. ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com.
  34. ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com.
  35. ^ "Geylang International sign former Australia U-17 midfielder Danny Kim - Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  36. ^ "Dutch hitman Sylvano Comvalius joins Geylang International - Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  37. ^ "The remarkable story of ex-Geylang International journeyman extraordinaire Sylvano Comvalius | Goal.com English Qatar". www.goal.com. 1 June 2021.
  38. ^ "Hougang United sign Brazilian forward Gilberto Fortunato – Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  39. ^ a b c d e "2020 Singapore Premier League: Retained and Released List – Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  40. ^ "Doi Tomoyuki has completed his transfer to Hougang United FC". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website.
  41. ^ "Kaishu Yamazaki to reinforce Hougang United defence – Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  42. ^ Rodrigues, Luís Rocha (18 January 2021). "Diego Lopes sai para Singapura e Rio Ave realiza encaixe financeiro". www.zerozero.pt.
  43. ^ "Fellipe joins LCS from Saudi Arabian side Al-Tai". Archived from the original on 26 December 2021.
  44. ^ "Lion City Sailors land Stipe Plazibat from Hougang – Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  45. ^ "Song Ui-Young will continue his voyage with the Sailors for the 2021 season". Archived from the original on 26 December 2021.
  46. ^ "Montenegrin attacker Armin Bošnjak joins Tampines Rovers – Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  47. ^ "Former DPMM FC star joins Tanjong Pagar United". Archived from the original on 4 January 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  48. ^ Karnageran, Narendaren (16 December 2020). "Tanjong Pagar United go on the attack with two new imports". The New Paper.
  49. ^ "Shodai back with the Jaguars". Archived from the original on 26 December 2021.
  50. ^ Correspondent, David LeeSports (21 August 2021). "Football: Sailors' Korean-born midfielder Song Ui-young is now a Singaporean" – via The Straits Times. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  51. ^ a b c d e f g h "Fixtures - Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  52. ^ "2021 SPL Awards – March: Tomoyuki Doi, Clement Teo make it double joy for Hougang United - Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  53. ^ "2021 SPL Awards – April: Lion City Sailors and Albirex Niigata (S) share the spoils - Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  54. ^ "2021 SPL Awards – May: Tampines Rovers win double - Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  55. ^ "2021 SPL Awards – August: Šime Žužul and Ilhan Fandi lead the way - Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
  56. ^ "2021 SPL Awards – September: Lion City Sailors win big! - Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
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