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Teams in the S-League 1998
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Format
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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
to the international scene for the success of the National Team.
There were still as many changes in
pre-season, as in the previous years, with the S-League again expanding with
There are 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 Crobas 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 previous season 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. For 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 destroying 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.
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 as they
could have finished in a much more respectable position.
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 the table.
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
also the fact the Warriors was totally outplayed by the Jaguars with their
morale and team spirit taking a massive beating. Having 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 completely outplaying 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
having 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 recovering 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 Woodllands 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 is that
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, a
recession hit the island republic and the 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 depart
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 Tiger
Beer League Cup & the
In the cup competitions, there was 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 League 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 League
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 to level the
match 2-2.
There were no more goals and extra-time
was required as away goals did not count for double.
It was then 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
League 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 League 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 Tiger Beer League Cup 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 in the
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 that
as group winner
All that is forgotten now for history will
only remembered
1998 S-league Table
|
Teams |
P |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
Points |
GD |
|
SAFFC |
20 |
14 |
4 |
2 |
46 |
18 |
46 |
28+ |
|
Tanjong Pagar United |
20 |
14 |
4 |
2 |
39 |
15 |
46 |
24+ |
|
Geylang United |
20 |
11 |
5 |
4 |
35 |
29 |
33 |
6+ |
|
Balestier Central |
20 |
9 |
4 |
7 |
47 |
43 |
31 |
4+ |
|
Jurong |
20 |
9 |
4 |
7 |
32 |
33 |
31 |
1- |
|
Tampines Rovers |
20 |
8 |
5 |
7 |
41 |
40 |
29 |
1+ |
|
Home United |
20 |
8 |
4 |
8 |
42 |
28 |
28 |
18+ |
|
Sembawang Rangers |
20 |
6 |
1 |
13 |
18 |
37 |
19 |
19- |
|
Woodlands |
20 |
4 |
6 |
10 |
27 |
41 |
18 |
14- |
|
Gombak United |
20 |
3 |
4 |
13 |
25 |
53 |
13 |
28- |
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|
20 |
2 |
3 |
15 |
20 |
44 |
9 |
24- |