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History of the 1998 season
Into the third season and this was a season to be remembered for many reasons ranging from the Warriors and Jaguars rivalry at the domestic scene to the success of the National Team at the international scene for .
There were still as many changes in pre-season, as in the previous years, with S-League once again expanding with
There were now eleven teams in the S-League.
At the same time, another team decided to change their name to better reflect their connection with their fans. Tiong Bahru United became Tanjong Pagar United from 1998 onwards. For Jurong, it was a change of their mascot with Scorpion becoming Cobras to reflect their link with their main sponsor.
It was also the year of moving with two clubs moving from their ex-Home stadium to better brand-new designated home stadium with Jurong leaving their temporary Bukit Gombak stadium to move into the Jurong East Stadium. Bukit Gombak United could then occupy the now vacant Bukit Gombak stadium. Home United left their unpopular Jalan Besar Stadium to move to the better located Bishan Stadium.
One wondered if the Jaguars and Protectors had consulted fengshui masters before making those changes for both were to endure their best season to date.
On the other hand, things were becoming worse at Woodlands
First, their ex-striker Sundramoorthy joined Jurong and along with that, they also lost their top scorer Stuart Young who departed for Home United. Both departures were felt when Sundramoorthy help Jurong to fourth position in the league and Stuart Young become the top scorer for the S-League.
Adding to all that, Woodlands
The most shocking development in pre-season was reserved for Treble champion SAFFC as they decided to release their top scorer of the past two seasons - Jure Eres - and tearing apart the deadly trio of Velimir Crljen, Ivica Raguz and Jure Eres combination that brought them so much success.
It was a terrible mistake, which the Treble Champion corrected later in the season, as he make a return to the Warriors with the club unable to find a reliable goal source to successfully replace him.
In 1998, the S-League also have the first-ever curtain-raiser for the season opener. Chinese club BaYi aka Chinese Army was invited to spar against the S-league Champions SAFFC who as we know represent Singapore Army and it can be considered the 'Military Cup'.
The ‘Military Cup’ match was played at the National Stadium on April 4 with the match drawn 1-1 at full time thus acquiring extra-time to find a winner. It was to be Chinese club BaYi who triumphed as the Chinese side scored the golden goal winner to snatch it 2-1.
The 1998 season begun and it was a shock to everybody when it was the Protectors who set the early pace for everybody to follow. Home United with a Stuart Young and Emgar Gonclaves combination upfront was scoring at will and was speeding away from the rest of the chasing pack.
However, as the season progress, the goals from both Stuart Young and Emgar Gonclaves stopped flowing and the Protectors started fading away into a disappointing seventh position but it was still their best season to date.
One can only wonder what would be the outcome if the Protectors had kept up only part of their early form.
With the Protectors out of the picture, the real battle was still the Warriors and Jaguars rivalry, as in the previous season and the 1996 Pioneer series, as both team competed for not only the 1998 S-league crown but all three domestic trophies on offer.
Tanjong Pagar United proved to be the jinx side for SAFFC in the 1998 league season - as both times in the league - after playing against Tanjong Pagar United, SAFFC nearly lost the title race with them losing valuable points.
In their first meeting that year, the Jaguars claimed a massive 2-0 victory over the Warriors at Jurong Stadium.
It was not just the defeat that hurt but the fact the Warriors was totally outplayed by the Jaguars with their morale and team spirit taking a massive beating. Having already lost a previous match 1-2 to the Tigers, the Warriors lost their way and an emergency players meeting had to be held to restore confidence.
As expected, the Warriors recovered and by the time of the second meeting, it was a turning out to be title-decider between both of them.
The second meeting saw Jaguars taking the lead twice and once again completely outplayed the Warriors over the entire match but somehow, the Warriors came away with a 2-2 draw.
After the match, the Jaguars jinx work once again with the Warriors drawing their next match 1-1 against Geylang United to hand a two-point lead to Tanjong Pagar United with five matches left.
For the next three matches, the two teams just could not tear themselves apart in the title hunt as they won all their matches.
It was at this point the tide turned against the Jaguars as a drama that unfolded at Toa Payoh Stadium on July 25 have a lasting effect on the title race.
Tanjong Pagar United was held 2-2 by Balestier Central under controversial circumstances.
The Jaguars were leading 2-1 with time ticking away when one of their players went down; apparently injured. Therefore they opted to kick the ball out into the touchline after winning the possession back so that the player could receive treatment.
Totally expecting the Tigers to would throw it back to them once the player left the field for treatment, the Jaguars were instead caught unprepared when Tigers Marko Kralievic, instructed by his coach P N Sivaji, threw the ball into the penalty area and in the mad scramble that followed, the Tigers scored their equalizer.
Faced with dropping the two-point lead they held in the championship race, the Jaguars threw everything they had into attack but it proved fruitless in the end as the Tigers held on.
It was therefore no surprise when an angry Tanjong Pagar United coach Robert Alberts slashed out at the Tigers and their coach P
For Robert Alberts, he could not believed how the Tigers had opted to forget the spirit of fair play while to P N Sivaji, it was more a case of Jaguars forgetting the spirit of fair play as once they had the 2-1 lead, the tactics they used were no different from being cheater themselves.
Regardless of who was in the right, it was a timely boast the Warriors needed as they thrashed Woodlands Wellington 3-0 to share top position with the Jaguars. However, with a vast superior goal difference, the S-League title will remain at Jurong Stadium as long as SAFFC win their remaining match against Gombak United regardless of how the Jaguars fared against the Rams.
On August 1, SAFFC took on Gombak United at Jurong Stadium with a capacity crowd of 5000 fans there to witness SAFFC lift the S-League trophy as they sneaked a 1-0 victory over Gombak United.
It was hardly a classic with the high stakes meaning the Warriors never got their usually attacking approach going in the match. Adding to the pressure, the Warriors were not making those rare chances count.
At half-time, the score at Jurong was 0-0 and at that moment in time Jaguars were ahead in the match against the Rams meaning the title could still go the way of Queenstown.
Sensing that, the Warriors threw all they had in the second half into attack leaving shocking gaps at the back. It paid off though as a V Selvaraj, striker turned defender; header from a Velimir Crljen cross gave the Warriors the lead.
Even with the lead though, the Warriors were never comfortable and in the closing moment they almost lost their lead when from a corner, the Bulls had a header heading towards goal with Warriors keeper Rezal Hassan beaten but Nazri Nasir was on hand to clear the ball from the line. It was a close call that nearly cost the Warriors dear.
With the victory secured, Tanjong Pagar United 5-2 thrashing of Woodlands
Their coach Robert Alberts could only come away stating that Tanjong Pagar United was the 'moral' champion of 1998.
If the controversial end to the league season was not enough, later twists ensued when the Cup competitions started as the 97 Asian Crisis finally hit the island republic and S-League was forced to announce measures to prevent the clubs hitting financial meltdown.
The crisis hit Tanjong Pagar United particular hard as they had to release their coach Robert Alberts, who then departed for Home United.
The Home United management had been disappointed, when their team could not maintain their early season pace setting, and felt a top notch coach was needed in their next campaign to set them in the right direction.
With the lost of their coach, the Jaguars looked to their former player Tohari Paijan to take over the helm for the Cup competitions.
In the cup competitions, first, the Tiger Beer League Cup was renamed the Tiger Beer Singapore Cup and then a surprise package that emerge from nowhere as the Stallions, a team who had never finished in the top half of the table or got past the first round of the Cup competition, shocked everybody by reaching the semi-final of the Tiger Beer Singapore Cup and Final of the Singapore Pools FA Cup.
For that, they owned a big debt to their defender and captain Milomir Seslija, nicknamed "The Rock" for his performances at the back as well as his ability to score scorching goals from afar. It was proving invaluable in their cups run.
In the semi-final of Tiger Beer Singapore Cup, Sembawang Rangers fought out a classic second leg encounter with the defending champion SAFFC.
The first leg had ended 1-1 at Yishun Stadium and everybody expected the Warriors to cruise in the second leg with home ground advantage but nobody told the Stallions the script as they score to lead the champion 1-0. The Warriors came back strongly to lead 2-1 but the Stallions never gave up and their captain Milomir Seslija, lead by example, with a powerful shot from range level the match at 2-2.
There were no more goals and extra-time was required as away goals did not count in the Singapore Cup.
It was thus a blow to the Stallions for, in extra-time, the Warriors proved stronger and V Selvaraj, the hero of the winner against the Bulls that clinched the league title, done it again scoring the decisive goal that finally brought down the curtain on the Stallions fighting spirit.
The other finalist in the Tiger Beer Singapore Cup was the Jaguars but before meeting their old rival, the Warriors, they came face to face against their ex-coach Robert Alberts; who led Home United to the semi-final.
It was dubbed the teacher-pupil match for current Jaguars coach Tohari Paijan had learn his trade under Robert Alberts.
The first leg at Bishan ended with no clear winner with the score 2-2 but Tohari Paijan’s Jaguars emerge winner in the second leg 1-0 at Queenstown. The pupil had defeated his teacher in the match-up.
With that, the Tiger Beer Singapore Cup Final saw an old affair with a Warriors and Jaguars meeting yet again.
Both teams came into the Final with much to prove. The Warriors wanted to avenge a 1-5 humiliation at the hand of the Jaguars at Queenstown Stadium in the semi-final of the
With so much at stake, it was a surprise when it turned out to be a no contest at the Final which saw Jaguars whipping the Warriors throughout the entire match and running out comfortable 2-0 winner with Vlado Bozinoski and Nicodeme Boucher getting the goals.
The scoreline would have been easily 3 times that with the Warriors hardly a threat. Both of the Jaguars goals were beauty with Vlado Bozinoski and Nicodeme Boucher firing long range shots that were unstoppable.
After capturing their first trophy, the Jaguars now stand on the brink of a historic Cup double with them meeting the Stallions in the
With the results they have gathered along the way, they must be confident of achieving the Cup double.
In the third round, the Jaguars had triumphed 2-0 against their ex-coach
The Stallions though would not wish to go down without a fight as shown by their brilliant results in both cup competitions.
In the
In the end, the Jaguars proved too strong as in the space of one week, the Jaguars came out of another Cup Final at the National Stadium the winner with a 1-0 victory over Stallions with Australian Vlado Bozinoski getting the winner. Like his goal against the Warriors in the Tiger Beer Singapore Cup Final, it was yet again another of Vlado Bozinoski superb long range goal that proved the difference.
While the Jaguars may be bitter about losing of the chance to complete a Treble like the Warriors last season, it was still a great year for them as nothing can take away the efforts they went to in capturing the Cup double after the controversial way they missed out on the S-league crown.
The title loss will still be felt but now they have won two trophies for the first time in the new professional era.
The Warriors may have retained their S-league crown but increasing the Jaguars looked like a threat to them and surely, it is a matter of time before the Jaguars ride over the Warriors in becoming a Kingpin of the S-league alongside the Warriors as seem by the way the league is revolving.
While the domestic scene looked bright with a Warriors and Jaguars rivalry emerging and proving a draw for fans, there was also much success on the International scene for the National Team.
Singapore won the ASEAN region most important International competition, the Tiger Cup 1998, held in
Despite all that in the Tiger Cup Final, Singapore beat the host country Vietnam (1-0) to claim the nation first ever International trophy.
Singapore deserves the title, as they were the only unbeaten team in the competition and had faced much unfairness in the competition for having won the group,
All that is forgotten now for history will only remembered
1998 S-league Table
| Teams | W | D | L | GF | GA | Points |
| SAFFC | 14 | 4 | 2 | 46 | 18 | 46 |
| Tanjong Pagar United | 14 | 4 | 2 | 39 | 15 | 46 |
| Geylang United | 11 | 5 | 4 | 35 | 29 | 33 |
| Balestier Central | 9 | 4 | 7 | 47 | 43 | 3 |
| Jurong FC | 9 | 4 | 7 | 32 | 33 | 31 |
| Tampines Rovers | 8 | 5 | 7 | 41 | 40 | 29 |
| Home United | 8 | 4 | 8 | 42 | 28 | 28 |
| Sembawang Rangers | 6 | 1 | 13 | 18 | 37 | 19 |
| Woodlands | 4 | 6 | 10 | 27 | 41 | 18 |
| Gombak United | 3 | 4 | 13 | 25 | 53 | 13 |
| | 2 | 3 | 15 | 20 | 44 | 9 |
TPUFC route to FA Cup Final
| Stage | Home Team | | | Away Team |
| Third Round | TPUFC | 2 | 0 | Home United |
| Quarter-final | Tampines Rovers | 1 | 3 | TPUFC |
| Semi-final | TPUFC | 5 | 1 | SAFFC |
Sembawang Rangers route to FA Cup Final
| Stage | Home Team | | | Away Team |
| Third Round | | | | |
| Quarter-final | | | | |
| Semi-final | Sembawang Rangers | 1 (4) | 1 (2) | Geylang United |
1998 FA Cup Final
| FA Cup Final | ||
| TPUFC | 1-0 | Sembawang Rangers |
| - Vlado Bozinoski | ||
TPUFC route to Singapore Cup Final
| Stage | Home Team | | | Away Team |
| Group | TPUFC | 3 | 0 | |
| Group | Woodlands | 2 | 1 | TPUFC |
| Group | TPUFC | 4 | 1 | Balestier Central |
| Group | TPUFC | 4 | 0 | Woodlands |
| Group | | 1 | 3 | TPUFC |
| Group | Balestier Central | 2 | 2 | TPUFC |
| Semi-final, first leg | Home United | 2 | 2 | TPUFC |
| Semi-final, second leg | TPUFC | 2 | 0 | Home United |
SAFFC route to Singapore Cup Final
| Stage | Home Team | | | Away Team |
| Group | Jurong | 0 | 1 | SAFFC |
| Group | SAFFC | 2 | 0 | Home United |
| Group | Home United | 1 | 1 | SAFFC |
| Group | SAFFC | 2 | 1 | Jurong |
| Semi-final, first leg | Sembawang Rangers | 1 | 1 | SAFFC |
| Semi-final, second leg | SAFFC | 3 | 2 | Sembawang Rangers |
1998 Singapore Cup Final
| TPUFC | 2-0 | SAFFC |
| - Vlado Bozinoski | ||
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