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History of the 2004 season
The 2004 season was a good year to remember as both S-league and
Both S-league clubs – Home United (Double Champions) and Geylang United – playing in Asia reached the semi-final stage of the inaugural AFC Cup while the
But it certainly did not seem this way at the start as S-league took yet another battering with three local clubs – Sembawang Rangers, Sengkang Marines and Tanjong Pagar United – looking set to depart with FAS taking Strategic Business Unit (SBU) recommendations on reducing local clubs numbers a further step forward.
It caused much unhappiness among fans and the local clubs as they believed FAS was pushing out local clubs in favour of foreign clubs as yet another foreign team – Albirex Niigata (S) – joined the S-league.
For much of the pre-season, there was no hope anything will change as FAS was determined to push through it and the fate of the three clubs looked to be seal but that was a twist to the story when in the end, it was Jurong who was pushed out instead of Tanjong Pagar United.
The Queenstown club had managed to secure a last-minute reduced sponsorship with JVC while Jurong collapsed under their S$1.3million debts as they remained without a sponsor.
With the focus on the reduction of the league size from twelve teams to ten teams, it is nearly forgotten
Home United, who had finished 2003 season as the Double champions, will be involved on three fronts – S-league, AFC Cup and Singapore Cup – thus needed the addition strength of their squad but there was not much movement as coach Steve Darby kept the core of his 2003 team while just promoting three players Suriadie Sahron, Imran Sahib and Zuhaily Suib from their Prime League squad.
The Englishman believed not much additions was needed as the teamwork and spirit build up last season would come in useful this season when they have to campaign in both Asia and Singapore but in the end, it cost the club as tiredness set in for many of the Protectors players were also called up for the National Team campaign in the World Cup qualifiers .
SAFFC, the biggest of the Big Three, was on a different path as their management had decided last season failure was a result of the players losing their hunger to succeed.
Only six players Nenad Bacina, V Selvaraji , Daniel Bennet, Anaz Hadee, Ballamodou Conde and Ashrin Shariff were retained with coach Fandi Ahmad also losing his job as they feel he did not have the experience to guide the team in the new direction and in his place, they appointed ex-Wales Under-21 manager Jimmy Shoulder as the new coach.
As for Geylang United, the final member of the Big Three, it was not one of choice as FAS change track on the Young Lions this season and the Eagles will be the one to pay the biggest price with seven players moving to the Cubs team, and practically their defence.
While attacks are the ones which gained the most coverage, the foundation of a successful football team are build on defence and Geylang United team of 2003 was one such example but now, it was torn apart with Hassan Sunny and Baihakki Khaizan departing to the Cubs while their captain Lim Tong Hai and foreign defender Paul Roberts retired.
Eagles new defensive makeup saw Razaleigh Khalik, Dainel Hill and Jerry Bartholomeusz joined but the new backline will prove a disappointment with Daniel Hill leaving along with two other Eagles foreign recruitment - Chang Hui and
What was the different track FAS took this on the Young Lions this season that caused so much distress to the Eagles?
FAS abandon a number of rules; one of which was limiting the number of players from each club Young Lions can recruit and they did not have to be from the Prime League, explaining the loss of seven players from the Eagles squad.
Others abandoned included the end of the age limit and the ban of foreign recruitment which anger many especially the Jaguars and the Rams as the Cubs took Jaguars top scorer Fadzuhasny Juraimi, who was overage at 24 already, while Rams lost their 28 goals strike pairing of Agu Casmir and Itmi Dickson to the Cubs.
It was the loss of Eagles and Jaguars as they slumped to a league low (Even if the Eagles done impressively well in
Nothing though compared to what the Stags will experienced, as once again, the Stags rebuild their squad with four Warriors recruitments joining and two, who practically impressed this season, was Mirko Grabovac and Rezal Hassan.
Mirko Grabovac will score 28 goals in the league and Cup while Rezal Hassan led a backline which conceded the fewest and the keeper won the unofficial King of goalkeepers with 9 clean sheets from 33 appearances over the course of the season.
The ninth edition of the S-league started and this season early pace-settler was newcomer Albirex Niigata (S) as the Japanese side won their opening three matches but after that, matters cool down as they failed to win in their next four.
Instead, S-league regular powerhouses Home United and SAFFC as well as new challengers Tampines Rovers, Young Lions and Woodlands
It was one of the closest races ever as there was just no separating the five team right up to final series of nine matches with only six points separating top spot from fifth.
The pace-settler was Home United as they show why they won the Double last season with some scintillating football while at the same time showing a tendency to collapse when an opportunity to break away from the pack as in the case against Balestier Khalsa; where a win could have opened a breathing space of five-point gap between them and their challengers but, unexpectedly, the Protectors fell 3-2 away at Toa Poyah to allow everybody back in.
But, it was too much to ask that all five clubs continue the challenge for the crown with the Rams; the first to fall apart, as already on a six-match winless streak, the Rams continued their awful form into the final stretch in failing to win any of their next seven matches as well.
The next to fade away was the Warriors for they were last in the chasing pack and needed every point to count to keep pace with everybody and they did start well in the final stretch with two opening victories but then went on to lose three of their next four to end that slim chance.
The two coaches – Simon Clark and Jimmy Shoulders – will pay for their team failure with their job.
In the Singapore Cup, Home United were also a pace-settler with them reaching the Final with ease as they brushed aside uniform rival SAFFC 3-2 overall in the quarter-final and Sinchi 10-6 overall in the semi-final.
The team facing the Protectors in the Final was Tampines Rovers and the Eastern team did not have an easy time in reaching the Final.
In the Quarter-final, the Stags were down 4-2 in the first leg at Tao Poyah and were facing elimination against the Tigers but a brilliant fightback in the home leg at Tampines Stadium saw the Stags clinched the tie overall, on away goals, as they defeated the Tigers 2-0.
In the last four now, the Stags struggled yet again as they were defeated 2-1 at Bedok by their Eastern rivals, Eagles, and once again it was down to the Stags home form to bring them through as the Stags destroyed the Eagles 3-0 to win the tie 4-2 overall.
Back to the league title chase, Home United, Tampines Rovers and Young Lions were the three contenders left in the final stretch and all matches between the three will prove crucial.
First up was the Tampines Rovers vs Young Lions meeting and the Stags dealt a potential knock-out blow to their fellow title challengers, Young Lions, hopes by overcoming a 1-2 deficit at halftime to emerge 6-2 winners at the end of a cracking game to see the Cubs fall six points off the pace behind Home United.
The partnership of Noh Alam Shah and Mirko Grabovac proved to be the Young Lions bane as the Stags made the most of their numerical advantage after Seric Vladan was sent off for two reckless tackles near the end of the first half.
Shahril Ishak and Agu Casmir scored for the Young Lions in the first half with Stags midfielder Steven Tan scoring in between in an exciting first period.
However, everything fell apart for the Young Lions after Seric was shown his second yellow card six minutes before the break for chopping down Santi Chaiyaphuak on the left flank. It was cruel blow to the Young Lions because, prior to the defender’s dismissal, they had the upper hand.
In the second half, the Young Lions, a man down, soon found themselves back on level term after Sead Muratovic scored the equalizer from a spotkick.
There was the moment for Mirko Grabovac to come on as a substitute for Ismail to run the show with Noh Alam Shah.
First, Santi pumped in a cross for Alam Shah to head home and then Alam Shah used his physical advantage to win a battle on the Young Lions left and cutback to Grabovac who doubled the Stags lead with a powerful shot which Hassan had no chance to save.
Alam Shah ended any hopes of a Young Lions comeback as he pounced onto a loose ball to fire past Hassan after Precious Emuejeraye deflected his initial pass to Grabovac back.
The scoring was completed when Aliff broke the offside trap and squared the ball to Grabovac who rounded Noor Ikhsan before poking into an empty net.
The next game was either win or be doom for the Cubs as they were up against leaders Home United and that was what they achieved with a 4-1 mauling over Home United at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
The hero of the night was Agu Casmir with a stunning haul of all four goals. It was two goals in each half against the Protectors for the Cubs forward.
As for Home United, they ended the match with only nine men after A Siva Kumar and J Surachai saw red in the second half while Peres scored the Protectors consolation goal from the spot.
It was a costly defeat for the Protectors as the Stags took advantage with a 1-0 win against bottom-placed Tanjong Pagar United to go top.
From this point onwards though, it saw the amazing collapse of the Young Lions, for after such a resounding win, they surprising went down in the next two matches, against Jaguars 1-2 and Eagles 1-3, to fade out of the title race.
So the match-up between Tampines Rovers and Home United at Tampines on August 25 looked set to be the title decider on the whereabout of the S-league crown.
In front of a capacity crowd backing the Stags at the Tampines Stadium, the Stags defeated the Protectors to open up a commanding four-point lead at the top of the table with three games left to play.
The turning point of the match came when Protectors midfielder Adil Sharin saw red but one must question the referee if it was right especially considering the importance of this match.
Rafi Ali had received the ball in midfield and as he tried to control it, Adil Sharin came from behind and hacked Rafi down. S Kennedy applied the rules of the books and sent Adil Sharin off, amidst strong protests from the Protectors.
Despite being a man down, the Protectors showed took the lead as a freeekick near the corner flag send in by Sutee was headed into the net by skipper Aide Iskandar.
After the break, Tampines Rovers finally made their numerical advantage count when Ismail Fitrey equalized. Fitrey, who was only playing because of Noh Alam Shah’s suspension, received the ball just outside the box and unleashed an unstoppable shot towards the goal which Sean Roberts got a hand to the shot, but could only divert it against the crossbar and the ball bounced into the net.
Then, with minutes remaining, Ismail Fitrey substitute Fauzie Amin turned the tide of the S-league title race after Protectors keeper make a crucial error when he threw out a long ball out of defence.
It was stolen by Nazri Nasir thus allowing the Stags to stage a counter-attack on the Protectors defence which was not prepared for it.
Nazri Nasir orchestrated the move as he found Aliff Shafaein with a clever ball into the Protectors’ box and Aliff took the ball towards the byline before drilling in an enticing cross across the face of the goal. Fauzie Amin then came charging in and bundled the ball across the line to give the Stags the lead.
The Protectors lost steam after this defeat; losing two of out the next three remaining matches to give the title to the Stags, who did deserved it, as Tampines Rovers had embarked on a twelve winning streak since August.
Still, it was a disappointing end as the championship could have been taken up to the last moment but it was clear the Protectors were now feeling the effect of battling on three fronts along with the National Team involvement in the World Cup qualifiers and their players were tired.
Coach Steve Darby judgment, in pre-season, not to recruit proved costly now at the end of the season.
It was then no surprise when Protectors went down in the
It was a night where everything that could go wrong for Home United did.
They lost S-League Player of the Year, J.Surachai, through injury after just 19 minutes and were down to ten men after Siva Kumar was sent off in the second half.
If that was not bad enough for the Protectors, both captain S. Subramani and top striker Indra had to be substituted at the end of the second half because of injury.
The Stags had scored first through midfielder Tan Kim Leng before Singapore top striker Indra Sahdan equalize before the end of the first period and there was no breakthrough after that so the match went into extra-time but it was the Stags holding all the ace and they scored through Noh Alam Shah, Mirko Grabovac and Kim Chan Joong.
After nine years, the Stags have announced their arrival as a force in the S-league and with their first ever Double, they will be seeking to rebuild their glory years back in the NFL days and challenge the Big Three who have dominated the domestic football scene over the last few years.
In the international arena,
In the group stage,
The semi-final stage was a home and away format and
A fierce encounter was fought out with
There were four dismissals of the
Amidst all that,
In the two-leg Final, Singapore proved they were worthy winner as they destroyed Indonesia 1-3 in the first leg front of their home crowds and in the second leg in Singapore, with support of fans, Singapore won 2-1 to win the Final 5-2 overall and lift the Tiger Cup.
Singapore is now only one title behind Thailand, who have won the Tiger Cup three times, and Singapore and Thailand will remain the only winners of the Tiger Cup before it be renamed ASEAN Football Championship
2004 S-league Table
| Teams | W | D | L | GF | GA | Points |
| Tampines Rovers | 20 | 3 | 4 | 76 | 29 | 63 |
| Home United | 17 | 2 | 8 | 76 | 43 | 53 |
| Young Lions | 14 | 5 | 8 | 74 | 52 | 47 |
| SAFFC | 14 | 4 | 9 | 45 | 48 | 45 |
| Albirex Niigata (S) | 12 | 8 | 7 | 50 | 42 | 44 |
| Woodlands | 12 | 4 | 11 | 48 | 49 | 40 |
| Geylang United | 10 | 7 | 10 | 43 | 43 | 37 |
| Balestier Khalsa | 6 | 2 | 19 | 36 | 73 | 20 |
| Sinchi | 4 | 5 | 18 | 36 | 62 | 17 |
| Tanjong Pagar United | 4 | 5 | 18 | 29 | 72 | 17 |
Top Scorers (S-League & Singapore Cup)
| Goals | Player | Club |
| 35 | Egmar Gonclaves | Home United |
| 28 | Mirko Grabovac | Tampines Rovers |
| 24 | Agu Casmir | Woodlands |
| 23 | Indra Sahdan | Home United |
| 21 | Noh Alam Shah | Tampines Rovers |
| Stage | Home Team | | | Away Team |
| First Round | Tampines Rovers | 6 | 0 | Cosmoleague |
| Quarter-final, first leg | Balestier Khalsa | 4 | 2 | Tampines Rovers |
| Quarter-final, second leg | Tampines Rovers | 2 | 0 | Balester Khalsa |
| Semi-final, first leg | Geylang United | 2 | 1 | Tampines Rovers |
| Semi-final, second leg | Tampines Rovers | 3 | 0 | Geylang United |
Home United route to Final
| Stage | Home Team | | | Away Team |
| Quarter-final, first leg | Home United | 0 | 1 | SAFFC |
| Quarter-final, second leg | SAFFC | 1 | 3 | Home United |
| Semi-final, first leg | Sinchi | 1 | 5 | Home United |
| Semi-final, second leg | Home United | 5 | 4 | Sinchi |
2004
| Tampines Rovers | 4-1 | Home United |
| - Tan Kim Leng (36') | | - Indra Sahadan (44') |
| Tampines Rovers GK - Rezal Hassan | ||
| Home United GK - Sean Roberts | ||
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