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The Singapore Premier League, formerly known as the S.League, was introduced in 1996 to replace the Semi-Professional FAS Premier League. It is the first Professional football tournament in Singapore where players work under a full-time contract. The Prime League was introduced in 1997 as the reserve team of the Premier Division. It is more or less a professional youth league and youth players who excel there can be promoted to the first team. After the professional league, the Singapore Football League (SFL) is played for clubs associated with the FAS. It makes up the next tier after the professional league and includes two divisions. The SFL Qualification tournament, Singapore Island Wide League or the IWL is the next tier for newly registered Football Association of Singapore clubs compete against each other to gain promotion to the SFL. In 2018, the Prime League was dissolved, making the then called NFL the next tier followed by the IWL.
Outside the FAS leagues, the most competitive football tournaments are the high level elite amateur tournaments known as the Cosmopolitan Football League, or the Cosmoleague and the Equatorial Football Leagues, locally known as EFL. These leagues consists of mainly expat players in Singapore and teams from the Cosmoleague and EFL are known to have beaten the SFL and IWL clubs in pre-season friendlies. However teams from these leagues do not gain entry to SFL or IWL as the leagues are not organised by FAS.[3] Nevertheless the level of play of Cosmoleague and EFL are similar to the playing level of SFL and IWL, thus making these leagues to fall from Tier 2 to Tier 4 of the overall football league system in Singapore.
Level | Leagues | ||||||||||||||||
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1 | Singapore Premier League SPL [1] [2] S.League formerly no relegation | ||||||||||||||||
2 | FAS League | Non-FAS/Expatriate League | |||||||||||||||
Singapore Football League Division 1 SFL Division 1 [3] 9 clubs no promotion ↓ relegate 2 | Cosmopolitan Football League Cosmoleague [4] 10 clubs no promotion no relegation | ||||||||||||||||
3 | FAS League | Non-FAS/Expatriate League | |||||||||||||||
Singapore Football League Division 2 SFL Division 2 [5] 10 clubs ↑ promote 2 ↓ relegate 2 | Equatorial Football League EFL Premiership Division [6] 12 clubs no promotion ↓ relegate 2 | ||||||||||||||||
4 | FAS League | Non-FAS/Expatriate League | |||||||||||||||
Singapore Island Wide League IWL [7] 20 clubs ↑ promote 2 no relegation | Equatorial Football League EFL Championship Division [8] 12 clubs ↑ promote 2 no relegation |
Tier | Women's National Leagues | |
---|---|---|
1 | FAS Women’s Premier League 6 clubs | |
2 | FAS Women's National Football League 10 clubs |
Tier | Youth's Football Leagues | |
---|---|---|
1 | Centre of Excellence U19 Developmental League | |
2 | Centre of Excellence U16 Developmental League Tier 1 | |
3 | Centre of Excellence U16 Developmental League Tier 2 |
Founded | 1996 2018 (as SPL) | (as S. League)
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Country | ![]() |
Confederation | AFC |
Level on pyramid | 1 |
Domestic cup(s) | Singapore Cup Community Shield |
International cup(s) | AFC Champions League AFC Cup |
Website | spl |
The Singapore Premier League, formerly known as the S.League is a professional football league organised by Football Association of Singapore. The league was formed in 1996, replacing the semi-professional FAS Premier League and became the nation top-tier league. The League is played by 9 professional football clubs based in Singapore whereby there are 3 rounds for each club to play against each other. Hence every club in the league will play a total of 24 games upon the completion of each season. Hence this will be a total of 108 matches and the season last from March to October. However it was postpone after starting a few matches in 2020 due to Coronavirus cases in Singapore. The origin of the SPL can be traced back to 1921 whereby a representative club of Singapore, known as the Singapore Lions took part in the Malaysia Cup and winning the title for 24 times. Eventually the FAS and the FAM went into a dispute which eventually lead the lions from withdrawing from an FAM sanctioned tournament. This then slowly lead to the formation of FAS premier league and eventually the S.League, now known as the Singapore Premier League. When the S.League was formed, there were 8 clubs which took part in the inaugural season. Geylang United won the first ever S.League title upon defeating the SAFFC in a stadium filled up 30,000 crowd which remains a record breaking number of attendance to this day.
Founded | 1975 |
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Country | ![]() |
Confederation | AFC |
Level on pyramid | 2–3 |
Relegation to | Singapore Island Wide League |
Domestic cup(s) | FA Cup SFL Challenge Cup } |
The Singapore Football League (SFL), Formerly known as the National Football League is a top amateur football tournament founded in 1975. The league is contested by football clubs that are affiliated with the Football Association of Singapore. The SFL consists of 2 divisions, Division 1 and Division 2 with relegation and promotion apply between these divisions. The SFL, then known as the NFL used to consists of 3 divisions until 2014 when the NFL Division 3 was folded. The SFL Division 1 was a top-tier football league in Singapore since its inception in 1975, succeeding the Singapore Amateur Football Association 1st Division football league. The SFL Division 1 continues to be top domestic league of the nation until the introduction of the semi-professional tournament, FAS Premier League in 1988 which eventually folded in 1996 upon the introduction of the professional S.League, now known as the SPL. The domestic cup competition for the SFL clubs is the Singapore FA Cup whereby the clubs compete with the IWL clubs in a knock-out format competition. The SFL also served as a path for amateur and semi professional football to get into a professional path and at the same time for professional player from S.League to continue playing football at a highly competitive level upon their professional contract expiration from the SPL.
Division 1
| Division 2
| Division 3
|
The Singapore Island Wide League, IWL is a qualification tournament for clubs that are associated with the FAS to get into Singapore Football League, SFL the following year.
Country | ![]() |
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Confederation | AFC |
Level on pyramid | 4 |
Promotion to | Singapore Football League |
Domestic cup(s) | FA Cup |
Website | Website |
Season | Winners! |
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1991 | Wellington FC |
1999 | Singapore Recreation Club |
2010 | Sporting Westlake |
2011 | Siglap CSC |
2012 | Vipers FAA |
2013 | Yishun Sentek Mariners |
2014 | Kembangan United |
2015 | South Avenue |
2016 | SAFSA |
2018 | Project Vault Oxley |
Amateur Futsal Leagues
NFFxSGFSA Champions League
As the 5-a-side scene in Singapore grew, so did the ambition of teams, players, and organizers alike. What began as casual futsal sessions on neighborhood courts steadily evolved into a thriving ecosystem of leagues and tournaments, with passionate squads battling for local glory. From this momentum, the **SGFSA Champions League** was born — a premier competition uniting the best 5-a-side teams across the island.
A central figure in this movement was Aiman Rifqi, whose dedication and vision played a crucial role in building the SGFSA from the ground up. Through tireless effort and consistent outreach, Aiman not only laid the foundation for a national 5-a-side framework but also brought key stakeholders together — none more impactful than the revival of the **North Football Federation (NFF)**.
The NFF, formerly known as the North Football Association, had long been inactive. But thanks to renewed interest and strong leadership, it returned stronger than ever, restoring legacy clubs like Wenriox FC, Honor FC, *Phantom Strikers, and Fernvalions FC. Two individuals instrumental in this revival were Ashton and Jared, co-owners of the NFF and key drivers of its resurgence. Despite Ashton being the owner of powerhouse club Wenriox FC and Jared helming rising side Warriorfates, both have consistently put the development of the northern scene above personal club interests. Alongside Aiman, they worked with founding teams, restructured the league system, and laid the foundations for the NFF's integration into the SGFSA ecosystem.
Today, the **SGFSA Champions League** stands as a symbol of that collective vision — a top-tier competition that unites Singapore’s best 5-a-side teams across different regions and age groups. The tournament features a carefully structured qualification system, with entries awarded to:
- Winner of the SGFSA Premier League
- Winner of the SGFSA National Cup
- Winners of the SGFSA Dynamo League (U-15)
- Top 3 teams from the NFF Premier League
- Winner of the NFF Cup
The inaugural edition of the SGFSA Champions League featured eight pioneering teams, each representing the spirit and competitive drive of their respective leagues:
- Wenriox FC
- Sengkang District 19 FC
- Fernvalions FC
- Honor FC
- Teck Whye Hounds FC
- Serangoon United FC
- Warriorfates
- Phantom Strikers
These eight teams etched their names into history, setting the tone for what would become Singapore's most prestigious 5-a-side tournament. From legacy clubs to fresh contenders, the SGFSA Champions League has become the ultimate battleground where skill, pride, and community spirit converge.
Notes:
1) Wenriox is also a 11v11 and 9v9 club, Playing as much 11-a-side then 5-a-side but have been successful in both, winning trophies for 5-a-side NFF Premier League Twice and finished second Once and having a 16 Game 11-a-side Win Streak.
2) Honor FC full name is Hwi Yoh Honor FC nicknaming the club to its location.
3) Fernvalions is a mix of Fernvale a area in Sengkang and Lion.
4) Sengkang District 19 has a deeper meaning, The 19 is the District Number of Sengkang GRC.
5) Serangoon United aren’t really located in Serangoon, Instead they are located in Hougang. There named Serangoon as when the club was founded players are mostly from Serangoon Secondary School another part of this name is due to the road that leads up to Serangoon Secondary School being named Upper Serangoon Road.
As the COVID-19 pandemic hit Singapore, the nation went through lockdown and several reopening phases. During the phase 3 of the reopening process, a group of 8 people is allowed in each respective social gathering. Hence a 4v4 tournaments were permitted by the government for non-professional footballers. Several amateur football organization have started to organize the leagues and cups tournaments in a 4v4 format. The well-known and most competitive 4v4 tournaments whereby most of the Singapore National Football League and top amateur players' involvement are D2D Arena 4v4 Futsal League and Total Pro Football Arena 4v4 League. The Total Pro Football organisation is also organising a 4v4 Premier League Division 1 and 2 that is set to commence in June with Price money and respective trophies and medals to be given for the winners and runners-up. The FAS is also planning to organise a tournament for the affiliated clubs' players and coaches to participate in a 4v4 Singapore Football League whereby there will be no price money given to the winners of the respective tournament whereby there used to be price money winners in the past prior to the pandemic.
Organization | 4v4 Leagues | |
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Football Association of Singapore | Singapore Football League | |
Total Pro Football | Arena 4v4 Premier League Division 1 | |
Total Pro Football | Arena 4v4 Premier League Division 2 | |
Total Pro Football | Arena 4v4 Amateur Leagues | |
Total Pro Football | Arena 4v4 Veteran Leagues | |
D2D | Arena Futsal League | |
D2D | International 4v4 Futsal League | |
As of March 2020, there are no beach soccer league ongoing however there have been an annual Beach Soccer competition known as Singapore Beach Soccer National Championship organised by Pro-am Beach Soccer. The latest edition was held on 2018 at Sentosa Island.
There are currently no professional 7-a-side football league in Singapore. However ESPZEN, a football organisation associated with Football Association of Singapore have organised a well structured 7-a-side midweek league that currently consists of 2 divisions and will be expanded to 3 divisions the next season after the COVID-19 cases.[ clarification needed ] Many top 7-a-side players have taken part in the tournament and one of the well known player was Nagarajan suppiah of Senkang Rangers who played for Singapore national minifootball team in 2019 WMF World Cup. The top teams of the league since it began in 2018 are FC Singapore Pacific, Honey Badgers FC, Senkang Rangers and FC Dynamo Raptors. FC Dynamo Raptors currently also became the first team to win two consecutive seasons in Season 2 and Season 3 while Senkang Warriors became the first team to be a runner-up in two consecutive seasons in Season 1 and Season 2. Nagarajan suppiah of Senkang Rangers hold the most record of goals Scored in season 1 with 49 goals and also a total number of goal scored from Season 1 to Season 2 with 92 goals. The league is expanding and ESPZEN is in discussion to have an affiliation with a 7-a-side global football organisation IFA7 that is affiliated with FIFA or another organisation FIF7. The Stranger Soccer is another football organisation that is independent and not affiliated with the Football Association of Singapore that is currently running a 7-a-side football league started in September 2019. The league now has 1 division and they are looking to expand the league in the near future.
Country | ![]() |
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Level on pyramid | 1-3 |
Website |
Level | 7-A-Side Leagues | |
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1 | ESPZEN Midweek 7-A-Side League Division 1 | |
2 | ESPZEN Midweek 7-A-Side League Division 2 | |
3 | ESPZEN Midweek 7-A-Side League Division 3 Stranger Soccer 7-a-side League |
https://equatorialfootballleague.leaguerepublic.com/index.html
https://www.jssl-leagues.com/index.html
http://www.xleague.com.sg/competition/SengkangWest
https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/image-detail?cmsuuid=bd364635-b11a-449f-b905-305a88b53b34