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History of 1996 season
It had all begun back in 1995 after FAS opted out of the Malaysian League.
That year, FAS and FAM had reached a crossroad on the yearly FAM cut on
With profit amounting to only a measly $100000 compared to the huge losses of $1 million, it was a heavy burden on FAS and further complicating the situation was the fact
At this junction, there was no other way out and it was agreed by both FAS and FAM that Singapore pulled out of the M-league ending a relationship that have gone back to 1921 when Singapore first played in the Malaya Cup.
It was the best path for both nations football future especially
With the pullout, FAS finally had to acknowledge a well-known fact which was
The semi-pro
FAS then decided to launch the S-league and asked for applications for the participation of this new professional league. Nine applications were submitted and out of the nine applications, eight were chosen with the sloe application rejected from
It was a big blow to
Now with the pullout, they had hoped to participate in the development of this new league but FAS clearly believed their application was not up to par compare with the other eight.
After a year of planning, the S-league was finally off the ground in 1996.
An annual pre-season carnival was held to announce the arrival of the S-league season and the first ever pre-season carnival begun at the eight S-league teams designed home stadium.
It is meant to draw the crowds to the S-league teams ground thus allowing the fans to familiarize themselves with the S-league team that had been assigned the stadium as until then, most only know of the National stadium and some may not even know they had a stadium within walking steps of their home.
Finally, on April 20 1996, the first ever S-League season begun with four matches played on that day.
Esad Sedjic of Balestier Central has the honour of scoring the first ever S-League goal against Police FC but it was not enough for the Tigers as they went down 1-2 at Toa Poyah Stadium.
Surprising, within three days, on April 23 1996, Esad Sedjic of Balestier Central wrote himself into the history book again with the S-league first ever hat-trick and this time, it proved more important for his club with the Tigers thrashing the Stallions 4-0 at Toa Poyah Stadium.
The records written thus far have been at Toa Poyah but the next S-league history would be at a different stadium, the National Stadium.
It was the first ever Match of the week played at the National Stadium with Tiong Bahru United meeting Woodlands
With a reasonable start, the 1996 Tiger Beer Series had proceeded on as predicted by everybody with Geylang United, the old kingpin of the semi-pro Singapore Premier League where they had won six league titles in seven years, carrying on from where they have left off in leading the way in the S-league.
Only this time, there was a formidable challenger competing with the established kingpin. It was the new kid on the block, Woodlands
The Rams had just been a small NFL club in Division 1 with nothing to shout about before the formation of the S-league.
However, it all changed in 1995 with the aid and combination of Vega and Sundrammoorthy and the raise of the Rams as a football force was written. The Rams was simply unstoppable as within one year, the club had not only won the NFL Division 1 title in style but at the same time gather a huge fanbase as well.
The Rams were proving to be formidable foes for the Eagles despite the vast gap in history between the two clubs.
In the first ever meeting between the two clubs, it attracted 28000 to make the trip to the National Stadium.
The Rams wanting to prove to everybody they were not willing to settle for anything other than the championship with 1-0 victory over the Eagles with the goal, later awarded as the Goal of the season, scored by Rams striker Ervin Boban.
The striker got the ball with his back to goal but turned brilliant to lose his marker and without warning unleashed a powerful and unstoppable shot from an acute angle from the edge of the penalty box on the Rams right. It just flew past
Despite that setback, it was the Eagles who still continued to lead the table but the Rams pushed them all the way into the final match of the Tiger Beer Series.
It was the perfect end to the series for the league had scheduled the second Woodlands
With huge interest gathering on the match, it was decided it was best to move the venue from Woodlands to the National Stadium and a record of 30000 fans make the trip to the National Stadium despite it being shown 'Live' on television.
The fate of the Rams championship hope rest within their own hand with only a Rams victory over the Eagles ensuring the Tiger Beer Series title fall into their hand.
Therefore, right from the first whistle, the Rams went on the offensive and they were rewarded with a goal but it was not to be their night. A Fandi Ahmad equalizer late in the match was enough for Geylang United to claim the 1996 Tiger Beer Series.
The first series had ended in a grand fashion but the same cannot be said of the second series as it never took off.
Right up to the end of the Tiger Series, a sponsor had not been found for the second series and only at the last moment did Pioneer agreed to sponsor the second series leaving little time to promote it
However, one should say the best football played in 1996 was in the Pioneer Series with SAFFC emerging to be a force in the S-league.
Their Croatian foreigners, who had impressed everybody in the Tiger Beer Series with their skills but not the finishing, had in the Pioneer Series finally found the killer touch as they matched their silkily skill with ruthless finishing.
SAFFC did not lose a single match in the Pioneer Series to capture the Pioneer Series title easily.
The deadly trio of Velimir Crljen and Ivica Raguz in midfield with Jure Eres upfront in attack were unstoppable and a joy to watch for any fans. With the trio, it was always one touch movement and brilliant dribble and backing them up were their fellow Croatian Davor Mioc and Goran Grubesic, while not as skillful, as they formed an important and vital part of the Warriors attacking strength.
In the Pioneer series, there was also the emerging of another club, Tiong Bahru United, as another pretender for the S-league title after Woodlands
The stage was therefore set for the S-League Grand Final with Geylang United (Tiger Beer Series champion) vs SAFFC (Pioneer Series Champion).
On November 9, the S-League Grand Final was held at the National Stadium and yet another big crowd of 30000 fans turned out for the event.
It was a clash of two teams who only knew attacking football in winning their respective series and both teams did not disappoint on the night.
Eagles Iranian Hamid Reza got the first goal but SAFFC came back strongly to get an equaliser from S-League top scorer Jure Eres. However, a beauty from another of the Eagles Iranian import, Mohamed Khakpour put the Eagles back in front at 2-1.
The Eagles had won a freekick at the halfway point inside the Warriors half but it was quite a distance and at that moment, few could sense any danger from it. Mohamed Khakpour took a few steps back before unleashing a powerful show which went through the wall and screaming towards the right-hand corner of the Warriors goal. The freekick was so brilliant that it gave the Warriors goalkeeper no chance.
The Mohamed Khakpour show did not stop as the Iranian defender also showcase his defensive side of the game as he turn savior in the Eagles goal. With five minutes left, the Iranian cleared a goal-bound header on the goal line from Jure Eres with Eagles goalkeeper David Lee beaten.
It had been a brilliant individual performance from the Iranian and rightly so as Mohamed Khakpour picked up the MVP for the Grand Final but the most important thing on the night was Geylang United had won the first ever S-League title.
For the Cup competition, it had been no different with both Geylang United and SAFFC continuing their dominance of the local scene in winning all the way at the
Therefore, a week after the S-league Grand Final, on November 16 in the
Like the previous encounter at the National Stadium, it was not the Warriors night again with the Eagles coming out on top yet again. The S-league champions had taken the lead before the Warriors got their equalizer. With no breakthrough after that even with extra time, a P.K shootout was required to separate the 2 teams and the Eagles emerge the winner 4-2.
In the first ever S-league season, Geylang United, the established kingpin of
They had shown everybody why they were such a force back in the old semi-pro
For the Warriors, they have shown they are the best bet to be the Eagles competitor with their Croatian connection but at the same time everybody must not forget both Rams and Jaguars are also in the mix as well.
The start of
Geylang United | 2-1 | SAFFC |
| - Hamid Reza Estili | - Eres Jure | |
| Teams | W | D | L | GF | GA | Points |
| Geylang United | 9 | 1 | 4 | 27 | 14 | 28 |
| Woodlands | 8 | 2 | 4 | 25 | 20 | 26 |
| Balestier Central | 7 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 18 | 24 |
| SAFFC | 5 | 3 | 6 | 27 | 25 | 18 |
| Tiong Bahru United | 4 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 19 | 17 |
| Police FC | 4 | 5 | 5 | 22 | 23 | 17 |
| Sembawang Rangers | 3 | 4 | 7 | 16 | 32 | 13 |
| Tampines Rovers | 3 | 3 | 8 | 18 | 27 | 12 |
Pioneer Series 1996
| Teams | W | D | L | GF | GA | Points |
| SAFFC | 9 | 5 | 0 | 32 | 14 | 32 |
| Tiong Bahru United | 8 | 3 | 3 | 35 | 18 | 27 |
| Balestier Central | 7 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 19 | 24 |
| Woodlands | 6 | 3 | 5 | 29 | 25 | 21 |
| Geylang United | 6 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 16 | 21 |
| Sembawang Rangers | 4 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 23 | 15 |
| Tampines Rovers | 2 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 28 | 8 |
| Police FC | 2 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 40 | 8 |
SAFFC route to Final
| Stage | Home Team | | | Away Team |
| Third Round | SAFFC | 5 | 0 | Tessensohn Khalsa Rovers(NFL) |
| Quarter-final | SAFFC | 7 | 2 | Sembawang Rangers |
| Semi-final | SAFFC | 3 | 0 | Jurong |
Geylang United | (4)1-1 (2) | SAFFC |
| - | - | |
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