Singapore National Football League

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Singapore Football League
Organising bodyFootball Association of Singapore
Founded1975; 46 years ago (1975)
CountrySingapore
Level on pyramid2–3 (provisionally)
Relegation toSingapore Island Wide League
Domestic cup(s)FA Cup
SFL Challenge Cup
(invitational)
Current championsTiong Bahru
(Division 1)
Singaproe Khalsa Association
(Division 2)
Project Vault Oxley
(Island Wide League)
Most championshipsSingapore Cricket Club
(9 titles in Division 1)
Singapore Chinese
(4 titles in Division 2), (3 titles in Division 3)
Websitewebsite
Current:

The FAS National Football League (NFL) is a semi-professional football tournament for clubs that are affiliated to the Football Association of Singapore.[1] It makes up the second and third tier of football in Singapore after the professional Singapore Premier League, which was established in 1996 and before the FAS Island Wide League.[2] The teams are also eligible to compete in the Singapore FA Cup.[2]

Although it is semi-professional competition organized by the FAS, several former Singapore internationals and ex-S.League players have played in the NFL such as Jonathan Xu, Indra Sahdan (Eunos Crescent), Yazid Yasin (Gymkhana FC) and Zulkiffli Hassim (Yishun Sentek Mariners).

History[]

The history of NFL can be traced back to the earliest 20th century during the British colonization of Singapore, whereby the Singapore Amateur Football Association (SAFA), now known as Football Association of Singapore was formed in year of 1892. The then SAFA was responsible for organising the top tier football leagues in Singapore. The NFL was a top tier football league from early 20th century, until the formation of FAS Premier League in 1988. It was previously made up of Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3, with the bottom team of Division 3 being relegated to the FAS Island Wide League.

As of 2018, it makes up provisional tiers 2 and 3, behind the professional Singapore Premier League, with rules of promotion and relegation applied for teams in NFL Division One and NFL Division Two. Teams play two-round league home-away format. League features promotions and relegations for all the teams in both divisions, where the top two teams of a division will be promoted to the upper division, and the last two relegated to the lower division.

Division 1 clubs[]

Division 2 clubs[]

Past champions[]

In 1975, the Football Association of Singapore revamped the existing league structure involving 118 teams into a two-tier league system.[3] For the 1987 season, the teams play each other once in a league format. The top eight placed teams in the league progressed to a knock-out stage to determine the champions.[4] League stage winners Tiong Bahru defeated 4th-placed Tampines Rovers 2–1 in the final to clinch the championship.[5][6] Reference:[7] The top tier of the football league system was replaced by the FAS Premier League from 1988, the S.League from 1996 and the Singapore Premier League from 2018.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "National Football League". Football Association of Singapore. Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Singapore's very own National Football League".
  3. ^ Dorai, Joe (7 February 1975). "'Super' league will bring soccer to doorstep". The Straits Times. p. 31.
  4. ^ Dorai, Joe (3 January 1987). "Doorstep, rather than lip, service". The Straits Times. p. 33.
  5. ^ Dorai, Joe (24 February 1987). "Bedok now made a top venue". The Straits Times. p. 27.
  6. ^ Siow, Peter (26 March 1987). "Tiong Bahru rule in rugged final". The Straits Times. p. 31.
  7. ^ "Singapore - List of Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
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