2022 Singapore Premier League
Some of this article's listed sources may not be reliable. (December 2021) |
Season | 2022 |
---|---|
Matches played | 2 |
Goals scored | 6 (3 per match) |
Top goalscorer | Reo Nishiguchi (2 goals) |
← 2021 → |
The 2022 Singapore Premier League (also known as the AIA Singapore Premier League due to sponsorship reasons) is the 5th season of the Singapore Premier League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association football clubs, since its rebranding in 2018.[1][2] The champions of the 2022 Singapore Premier League may qualify for the AFC Champions League. The season will begin on March and is scheduled to end in October.
Lion City Sailors are the defending champions, having won their third Singapore Premier League title during the previous season.
Format[]
The following key changes were made to the rules since the 2022 season:[3]
- Each team is able to register up to 25 players in their squad, a reduction of 3 players as compared from 2020.
- Albirex is allowed to have a minimum squad of eighteen (18) Players under non-amateur (Professional) contract, as at the pre-season minimum registration deadline and a maximum of twenty-five (25) Players.
- From 2021, Albirex is allowed to sign a maximum of 2 overage Singaporean players.[4] As in 2019 and 2020, Albirex must have two Singaporeans in their starting lineup for each game.
- Young Lions is allowed to register a minimum of twenty (20) Players as at the pre-season minimum registration deadline and a maximum of thirty-five (35) Players as at the close of the first registration window.
- 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).
- Clubs will be equipped with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) devices - among other performance and tracking gear. Value of the sponsorship is worth around $620,000.[5]
- 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.[6]
- Players shall be allocated jersey numbers 1 to 50. Jersey number become available for allocation to new members after a player ceased to play for a club.[7]
New rules for 2022.[8]
- Clubs will be required to field only one U-23 player – instead of three – for the first half of a match from next season.
- There will be no limit on the number of U-23 players registered in each squad.
- All SPL teams will play each other four time.
- Clubs will be able to register 20 players per match. There will be nine substitutes allowed on a team’s bench – up from seven – and clubs will be permitted to make up to five substitutions per match.
- Each team will need to field a minimum of one Under-23 player of Singaporean nationality for the entire duration of the first half. This is a reduction from three in 2020.
- Youth elite leagues are slated to resume.
- New scheme to incentivise SPL clubs to place higher priority on their youth development programmes.
- Clubs will receive monetary rewards for each of their U-23 players who gets called up to the national teams.
- 1st transfer window: 1 Jan 2021 to 20 March 2021, 2nd transfer window: 17 May 2021 to 13 June 2021
Teams[]
A total of 8 teams competed in the league. Albirex Niigata (S) from Japan is the only foreign team invited.
Stadiums and locations[]
Tanjong Pagar
Tampines Rovers
Team | Stadium | Capacity |
---|---|---|
Albirex Niigata (S) | Jurong East Stadium | 2,700 |
Balestier Khalsa | Toa Payoh Stadium | 3,800 |
Geylang International | Our Tampines Hub | 5,000 |
Hougang United | Hougang Stadium | 3,800 |
Lion City Sailors | Jalan Besar Stadium | 6,000 |
Tampines Rovers | Our Tampines Hub | 5,000 |
Tanjong Pagar United | Jurong East Stadium | 2,700 |
Young Lions | Jalan Besar Stadium | 6,000 |
Personnel and sponsors[]
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) | Kazuaki Yoshinaga | Takahiro Koga (C) Fairoz Hasan (VC) |
Mizuno | Denka[9] | Lensmode Kubota Reeracoen Kirin EnglishCentral Gain City Dpro Logistics Namics JPLUS+ Daiho Group JTB NSG Sanpoutei Ramen Ace.dot SMBC ACCEA Singapore PR Times Nippon Medical Care Fitogether HIT Singapore With You Global Creations SD Aircon At Twenty Dr. Stretch Soken Medical Salonpas Crown Line SETA Technologies One Asia Lawyers |
Balestier Khalsa | Akbar Nawas | Shuhei Hoshino (C) Darren Teh (C) Ho Wai Loon (C) |
Adidas | Jeep | Weston Corporation Project Vaults StarBalm PSB Academy TopGrid Pest Dr. Stretch |
Geylang International | Mohd Noor Ali | Zaiful Nizam | FBT | Epson[10] | Aris Studio 23 Joydom Engineering My Protein Singapore Steel Industries Springleaf Prata Place Fightzone Dr. Stretch TRUE Fitness |
Hougang United | Clement Teo | Fabian Kwok Lionel Tan (VC) Nazrul Nazari (VC) Ridhuan Barudin (VC) |
Warrix | The Physio Circle[11] | SportCenter by Zup Cafe Football (CF) The Arena SpeedFitness StarBalm Polar Water |
Lion City Sailors | Kim Do-hoon[12] | Hariss Harun Amirul Adli (VC) Nur Adam Abdullah (VC) |
Puma | SEA[13] | Shopee Garena Citrus by the pool WLJK Good bites |
Tampines Rovers | Gavin Lee[14] | Yasir Hanapi Syazwan Buhari (VC) Irwan Shah (VC) Kyoga Nakamura (VC) |
Mizuno | ANA Courier Express [15] | StarBalm Rookbook My Protein Singapore Bauerfeind Sports The Co-op JSSL FC Canadian 2 for 1 pizza |
Tanjong Pagar United | Faritz Abdul Hameed |
FBT | Tokyo Century | Samtrade Academy StarBalm Hyundai The Rehab Lab | |
Young Lions | Nazri Nasir | Jacob Mahler Syahrul Sazali (VC) |
Nike | Catapult |
Coaching changes[]
Team | Outgoing Head Coach | Manner of Departure | Date of Vacancy | Position in table | Incoming Head Coach | Date of appointment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Balestier Khalsa | Marko Kraljević | Contract Ended | 10 October 2021[16][17] | Pre-Season | Akbar Nawas | 22 October 2021[18] |
Albirex Niigata (S) | Keiji Shigetomi | Redesignated as Asst. Coach | 26 October 2021[19] | Pre-Season | Kazuaki Yoshinaga | 26 October 2021[20] |
Young Lions | Philippe Aw[21] | End of caretaker role | 31 December 2021 | Pre-Season | Nazri Nasir | 1 January 2022 |
Note 1: Marko Kraljević was subsequently appointed as the Head, Youth for Hougang United.
Transfers[]
Foreign players[]
Singapore Premier League clubs can sign a maximum of four foreign players in the 2021 season, up from three as compared to 2019.[22] 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.[23]
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 U-21 Player |
Former Players |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Albirex Niigata (S) | Hyrulnizam Juma'at[24] | Fairoz Hassan[25] | Fikri Junaidi[26] | |||
Nicky Singh[27] | Junki Yoshimura[28] | [29] | ||||
Hilman Norhisam[30] | [29] | [31] | [29] | |||
Balestier Khalsa | Ensar Brunčević[32] | Shuhei Hoshino[33] | Ryoya Tanigushi[34] | Kuraba Kondo[35] | |
|
Geylang International | Šime Žužul[36] | Vincent Bezecourt[37] | Takahiro Tezuka[38] | Rio Sakuma[39] | ||
Hougang United | André Moritz[40] | Pedro Bortoluzo[41] | Kristijan Krajček[42] | Kaishu Yamazaki[43] | ||
Lion City Sailors | Diego Lopes[44] | Pedro Henrique[45] | Maxime Lestienne[46][47] | Kim Shin-wook[48][49] | ||
Tampines Rovers | Zehrudin Mehmedović[50] | Boris Kopitović[50] | Kyoga Nakamura[51] | Shuya Yamashita[52] | ||
Tanjong Pagar United | [53] | Blake Ricciuto | Reo Nishiguchi[54] | Shodai Nishikawa[55] |
Note 1: From 2021, Albirex is allowed to sign a maximum of 2 Singaporean players above the age of 23.
Results[]
League table[]
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tanjong Pagar United | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 7 | Qualification for AFC Champions League play-off round |
2 | Albirex Niigata (S)[a] | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 6 | |
3 | Lion City Sailors | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 | Standby team for AFC Cup group stage |
4 | Hougang United | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 4 | |
5 | Geylang International | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
6 | Tampines Rovers | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 1 | |
7 | Balestier Khalsa | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 1 | |
8 | Young Lions[a] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of wins
Notes:
- ^ 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[]
Clubs will play each other three times for 21 matches each.
Matches 1–14[] |
Matches 15–28[]
|
Statistics[]
Top scorers[]
- As of 13 March 2022
Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Kodai Tanaka | Albirex Niigata (S) | 6 |
2 | Reo Nishiguchi | Tanjong Pagar United | 3 |
3 | Shuhei Hoshino | Balestier Khalsa | 2 |
André Moritz | Hougang United | ||
Kim Shin-wook | Lion City Sailors | ||
Tanjong Pagar United |
Hat-tricks[]
Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kodai Tanaka 4 | Albirex Niigata (S) | Balestier Khalsa | 6–0 | 5 March 2022 | [56] |
Note 4 Player scored 4 goals
Top assists[]
- As of 12 March 2022
Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Kan Kobayashi | Albirex Niigata (S) | 2 |
Masahiro Sugita | Albirex Niigata (S) | ||
Tadanari Lee | Albirex Niigata (S) | ||
Darren Teh | Balestier Khalsa | ||
Sahil Suhaimi | Hougang United | ||
Tanjong Pagar United | |||
Reo Nishiguchi | Tanjong Pagar United |
Clean sheets[]
- As of 13 March 2022
Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Takahiro Koga | Albirex Niigata (S) | 2 |
2 | Zaiful Nizam | Geylang International | 1 |
Hassan Sunny | Lion City Sailors | ||
Zharfan Rohaizad | Tanjong Pagar United |
Penalty missed[]
Player | For | Against | Date |
---|---|---|---|
Jacob Mahler | Young Lions FC | Albirex Niigata (S) | 12 March 2022 |
Awards[]
Monthly awards[]
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 |
References[]
- ^ "FAS concludes 39th Annual Congress with key regulation updates for 2022 season".
- ^ Football: Goodbye S-League, welcome Singapore Premier League Straits Times, 21 March 2018
- ^ "Young footballers to take centrestage in revamped 2018 S-League". TODAYonline.
- ^ "Signing with Fairoz Hasan for 2021 season!". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website.
- ^ "Football: Singapore Premier League clubs given wearable tech in bid to raise fitness, standards". The Straits Times. February 4, 2021.
- ^ "2021 Singapore Premier League season to kick off on 13 March - Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
- ^ "2021 SPL Handbook" (PDF).
- ^ "SPL Under-23 quota reduced from 3 to 1; clubs to be rewarded for youth development".
- ^ "New Main Partner is Denka Chemicals Holdings Asia Pacific Pte Ltd!".
- ^ "'SPL had Covid protocols right'". The Straits Times. February 6, 2021.
- ^ "Cheetah three-year sponsorship deal with The Physio Circle".
- ^ "AFC Champions League winner Kim Do-hoon takes charge of Lion City Sailors".
- ^ "Football: Singapore tech firm Sea takes ownership of Home United; club changes name to Lion City Sailors FC". CNA.
- ^ "Head Coach Gavin Lee has pledged his immediate future to the club till 2024". Archived from the original on 2021-12-24.
- ^ "We Forge Ahead With ANA Courier Express - Introducing Our Main Sponsor For The Next Three Years!".
- ^ "Marko Kraljevic, who is set to be replaced by Akbar Nawas after this season".
- ^ "Marko Kraljević leaves Balestier Khalsa".
- ^ "Akbar Nawas takes charge at Balestier Khalsa".
- ^ "Thank you, Head Coach Shigetomi!".
- ^ "NEW Head Coach of 2022 is YOSHINAGA Kazuaki!".
- ^ "Phillippe Aw to take charge of Young Lions for 2021 SPL season – Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg.
- ^ "Football: Singapore Premier League increases foreign player quota for 2020 season". CNA.
- ^ "Football: Albirex Niigata could sign up to four Singaporean players in a boost for 2019 SEA Games". The Straits Times. December 12, 2018.
- ^ "Signing with Hyrulnizam Juma'at for 2022 season!".
- ^ "Signing with Fairoz Hasan for 2022 season!".
- ^ "Fikri Junaidi signs for 2022 season!".
- ^ "Nicky Melvin Singh signs for 2022 season!".
- ^ "Junki from ANFC(S) U-17 joins the training with our SPL Team for 2021!". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website.
- ^ a b c "4 Players from ANFC(S) U-17 joins the training with our SPL Team for 2021!". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website.
- ^ "Hilman Norhisam signs for 2022 season!".
- ^ "Irsyad Azarudin from ANFC(S) U-17 joins the training with our SPL Team for 2021!".
- ^ "Boost for the