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Organising body | Football Association of Singapore |
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Founded | 1975 2020 (as Singapore Football League) | (as National Football League)
Country | Singapore |
Number of teams | 8 (Division 1), 10 (Division 2) |
Level on pyramid | 2–3 (provisionally) |
Relegation to | Singapore Island Wide League |
Domestic cup(s) | Singapore FA Cup SFL Challenge Cup (invitational) |
Current champions | Singapore Khalsa Association (SFL 1) Tengah FC (SFL 2) |
Most championships | Singapore Cricket Club (9 titles in Division 1) Singapore Chinese (4 titles in Division 2), (3 titles in Division 3) |
Website | Division 1 Division 2 |
Current: 2024 Singapore Football League |
The Singapore Football League (SFL) is an amateur 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 an amateur competition organized by the FAS, several former Singapore internationals and ex-S.League players have played in the league such as Jonathan Xu, Indra Sahdan Daud, Precious Emuejeraye and Ahmad Latiff (Eunos Crescent), Yazid Yasin (Gymkhana FC) and Zulkiffli Hassim (Yishun Sentek Mariners).
The history of the National Football League (NFL) can be traced back to the earliest 20th century during the British colonization of Singapore, whereby the Singapore Amateur Football Association (SAFA) was formed in year of 1892. SAFA was responsible for organising the top tier football leagues in Singapore with NFL as the 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.
In 2020, the NFL was renamed as Singapore Football League (SFL). [3] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore, the first season of SFL started in 2022. [3]
In 1975, the Football Association of Singapore revamped the existing league structure involving 118 teams into a two-tier league system. [20] 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. [21] League stage winners Tiong Bahru defeated 4th-placed Tampines Rovers 2–1 in the final to clinch the championship. [22] [23] [24] 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.
The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) is the governing body responsible for the administration of football in Singapore. Established in 1892 as the Singapore Football Association (SFA), it is the oldest football association in all of Asia. The FAS is also one of the founding members of both the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF). It has been affiliated with FIFA since 1952.
The Football Association of Singapore Premier League was a semi-professional football league competition held in Singapore between 1988 and 1995. The Premier League succeeded the National Football League Division One as the top tier of the Singapore football league structure. It was replaced by the S.League in 1996.
Admiralty Football Club, also commonly known as Admiralty FC, is a football club which plays in the Division 2 of the Singapore Football League, the third tier of football in Singapore.
Farouq Farkhan is a Singaporean footballer who is currently playing for Yishun Sentek Mariners FC in the Singapore Football League.
The 2017 season is Albirex Niigata Singapore FC's 14th consecutive season in the top flight of Singapore football and in the S.League, having joined the Sleague in 2004. Along with the S.League, the club will also compete in Singapore Cup and the Singapore League Cup. They are the defending champions in 2017.
The 2017 season will see Eunos Crescent complete in the National Football League. Found in 1975, the club has been around for 42 years.
The Yishun Sentek Mariners is a semi-professional football club based in Yishun, Singapore, that plays in the Singapore Football League (SFL) Division 1. Founded in 1975, the club have won the Singapore FA Cup, Singapore National Football League 1 and 2 titles once each.
The 2018 National Football League is the 44th season of the National Football League (NFL).
The 2019 National Football League is the 45th season of the National Football League, it might be the first year that this league will have promotion to the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association football clubs, the Singapore Premier League.
The 2020 season was Lion City Sailors' 25th consecutive season in the Singapore Premier League and the 1st season since privatising from Home United. Along with the Singapore Premier League, the club will also compete in the Singapore Cup.
Commonwealth Cosmos Football Club, nickname "the Hyenas", is a Singaporean semi-professional football club founded in 2014, and based in Commonwealth.
Singapore Khalsa Association Football Club, commonly referred to as SKA, is a semi-professional football club based in Tessensohn, Singapore, which plays in the Singapore National Football League. The club was founded in 1931 with its objectives to provide the physical, moral, intellectual, cultural and social improvements of its members and the establishment for the advancement of the moral, intellectual and physical education and well-being of its scholars.
The 2022 season is Lion City Sailors' 27th consecutive season in the Singapore Premier League and the 3rd season since privatising from Home United. They played in the 2022 AFC Champions League, which marked their 3rd appearance at the competition, and their 1st ACL Group Stage appearance.
The 2023 Singapore Football League is the 47th season of the Singapore Football League. The league will feature promotion and relegation between football clubs in League 1, 2 and the Island Wide League.
The 2023 Singapore FA Cup is the latest season of the FAS FA Cup, which is open to all teams from Singapore Football League (SFL) and Island Wide League (IWL) in Singapore.
The 2017 National Football League was the 43rd season of the Singapore National Football League (NFL). It commenced on 22 April 2017, featuring two matches between Eunos Crescent FC and GFA Sporting Westlake FC for Division 1, and Warwick Knights FC and Kembangan United FC for Division 2 at Jalan Besar Stadium.
The 2019 Singapore FA Cup is the latest season of the FAS Football Association Cup, which is only open to teams from Singapore National Football League (NFL) and Island Wide League (IWL) in Singapore.
The 2023 Island Wide League is the 2023 season of the FAS Island Wide League (IWL), the fourth-tier Men's amateur football league in Singapore.
The 2024 Singapore Football League is the 48th season of the Singapore Football League. The league will feature promotion and relegation between football clubs in League 1, 2 and the Island Wide League.