Singapore Football League

Last updated

Singapore Football League
Organising body Football Association of Singapore
Founded1975;50 years ago (1975) (as National Football League)
2020;5 years ago (2020) (as Singapore Football League)
Country Singapore
Number of clubs8 (Division 1), 10 (Division 2)
Level on pyramid2–3 (provisionally)
Relegation toSingapore 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: 2025 Singapore Football League

The Singapore Football League (SFL) is a league of semi-professional football clubs from Singapore that are affiliated with the Football Association of Singapore (FAS). Founded in 1975, it was the top-level football league in Singapore from its foundation until 1988, when it was replaced by the FAS Premier League. [1]

Contents

It now provisionally makes up the second and third tier of football in Singapore after the fully professional Singapore Premier League (SPL), which was established in 1996 as the S.League and had also replaced the FAS Premier League. [2] Teams in the SFL are eligible to compete in the Singapore FA Cup but are not able to be promoted to the SPL, as the latter does not practice a promotion and relegation system. [2]

Although it is an semi-professional competition organised by the FAS, several former national team 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) and Zulkiffli Hassim (Yishun Sentek Mariners).

History

The history of the National Football League (NFL) can be traced back to the earliest 20th century during British colonial rule, 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. 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. In 1975, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) 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] [7] The top tier of the football league system was replaced by the FAS Premier League between 1988 and 1995.

In 1996, FAS created the S.League, a professional league, which was again revamped to the Singapore Premier League (SPL) in 2018. Since then, the NFL made up provisional tiers 2 and 3, behind the professional SPL, with rules of promotion and relegation applied for teams in NFL Division One and NFL Division Two but not into the SPL. 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 the Singapore Football League (SFL). [8] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first season of the revamped SFL was delayed to 2022. [8]

Division one clubs as of 2025

Division 2 clubs as of 2025

Active Island Wide League clubs* as of 2025

Former clubs

Past champions

Champions

Titles by club

NFL Division 1
ClubWinnersWinning years
Geylang International 31975, 1976, 1977
Tampines Rovers 31979, 1980,1984
SAFSA 31978, 1981, 1986
Singapore Recreation Club 32011, 2012, 2015
Singapore Khalsa Association 3 2022, 2023, 2024
Tiong Bahru CSC 21983, 1987
Admiralty FC 22006, 2007
Tiong Bahru FC2 2018, 2019
Farrer Park United 11982
Police SA 11985
Tyrwhitt Soccerites 11988
Singapore Cricket Club 22009, 2025
Eunos Crescent 12016
Yishun Sentek Mariners 1 2017
NFL Division 2
ClubWinnersWinning years
Singapore Cricket Club 22008, 2015
Cairnhill 11982
Geylang International 11983
South Avenue11984
Tyrwhitt Soccerites 11987
Katong12002
Eunos Crescent 12006
West United12007
Prisons SRC12009
Admiralty FC 12012
Yishun Sentek Mariners 12014
Gymkhana 1 2017
Singapore Khalsa Association 1 2018
Project Vault Oxley1 2019
Jungfrau Punggol1 2022
Police FA1 2023
Tengah FC1 2024

Stadium

Vacant stadiums used

Current Singapore Premier League clubs stadium used

See also

References

  1. ↑ "National Football League". Football Association of Singapore. Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Singapore's very own National Football League". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  3. ↑ Dorai, Joe (7 February 1975). "'Super' league will bring soccer to doorstep". The Straits Times . p. 31. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  4. ↑ Dorai, Joe (3 January 1987). "Doorstep, rather than lip, service". The Straits Times . p. 33. Archived from the original on 10 December 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  5. ↑ Dorai, Joe (24 February 1987). "Bedok now made a top venue". The Straits Times . p. 27. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  6. ↑ Siow, Peter (26 March 1987). "Tiong Bahru rule in rugged final". The Straits Times . p. 31. Archived from the original on 10 December 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  7. ↑ "Singapore - List of Champions". RSSSF . Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  8. 1 2 Ilmi, Zahin (2 June 2022). "Singapore Football League to kick off on Jun 4, 1st edition under new name". youthopia.sg. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  9. ↑ "JungfrauPunggolFC (@jungfraupunggolfootballclub) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  10. ↑ "Katong FC (@katongfc) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  11. ↑ "Police Sports Association (@policesportsassociation) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  12. ↑ "ProjectVaultsOxleySportsClub (@pvosc) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  13. ↑ "SCC SFL (@sccsfl) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  14. ↑ "SingaporeKhalsaFootball (@skafootball) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  15. ↑ "Yishun Sentek Mariners FC (@yishunsentekmarinersfc) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  16. ↑ "Admiralty CSN (@admiralty_csn) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  17. ↑ "(@bishanbarxfc) | Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  18. ↑ "Societies Act 1966 and Societies Regulations - Change of name approved" (PDF). egazette.gov.sg. 27 March 2025. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  19. ↑ "GFA Singapore (since 2005) (@globalfootballacademysg) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  20. ↑ "South Avenue SC (@southavenuesc) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  21. ↑ "Starlight Soccerites Football Club (@starlight_socceritesfc) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  22. ↑ "Tiong Bahru FC (@tiongbahrufc) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  23. ↑ "Warwick Knights (@warwick_knights) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  24. ↑ "Societies Act 1966 - Registered" (PDF). egazette.gov.sg. 27 March 2025. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  25. 1 2 "FAS Annual Report (April 2023 – March 2024)" (PDF). FAS . p. 14. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  26. ↑ "Mattar Sailors FC (@mattarsailorsfc) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
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