Singapore football league system

The Singapore football league system organizes association football leagues in Singapore. It has arrived during the British colonial era. The first ever nation's cup tournament was held in 1892. ^{[1] [2]}

History

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. The Prime League was introduced in 1997 for reserve teams of the Premier Division. After the professional league, the Singapore Football League (SFL) was played for clubs associated with the FAS. It made up the next tier and included 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. In 2018, the Prime League was dissolved, making the then-called NFL the next tier.

Outside the FAS leagues, the most competitive are the high level amateur tournaments known as the Cosmopolitan Football League, or the Cosmoleague, and the Equatorial Football League, locally known as the EFL. These leagues consist of mainly expat players and its members are known to have beaten the SFL and IWL clubs in pre-season friendlies. However, clubs from these leagues do not gain entry to SFL or IWL as the leagues are not organised by the FAS. ^[3]

Current system

Level	League(s)/division(s)
Professional Leagues
1	Singapore Premier League SPL [4] [5] no relegation Singapore Premier League 2 (Reserve League) SPL2 [6] no relegation
Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Leagues
2	Singapore Football League Division 1 SFL Division 1 [7] 8 clubs no promotion ↓ relegate 2
3	Singapore Football League Division 2 SFL Division 2 [8] 10 clubs ↑ promote 2 ↓ relegate 2
4	Singapore Island Wide League IWL [9] 21 clubs ↑ promote 2 no relegation
FAS Affiliate Leagues
≈5	X.League Division 1 [10]												Singapore Government Services Football League Division 1 [11]
≈6	X.League Division 2 [12]												Singapore Government Services Football League Division 2 [13]
≈7	X.League Division 3 [14]												Singapore Government Services Football League Division 3 [15]
Public Sector Developmental Leagues
≈8	SportCares Hearts Football League Division 1 [16]
≈9	SportCares Hearts Football League Division 2
Non-FAS Affiliate Leagues
≈2-3	Cosmopolitan Football League Cosmoleague [17] 10 clubs no promotion no relegation
≈3-4	Equatorial Football League Premiership EFL Premiership Division [18] 12 clubs no promotion ↓ relegate 2
≈4-5	Equatorial Football League Championship EFL Championship Division [19] EFL Division 1 formerly EFL Sunday League formerly 12 clubs ↑ promote 2 ↓ relegate 2
≈5-6	Equatorial Football League One EFL eague One [20] 12 clubs ↑ promote 2 no relegation
≈4-5	United Asian Football League UAFL [21] no promotion no relegation
≈5-6	Amateur Football Association Community League AFA Community League [22] no promotion no relegation

Tier	Women football leagues
1	Women’s Premier League
2	Women's National League

Tier	Youth 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

Past structure

Tier	Men's Football leagues
1	S.League
2	FAS National Football League Division 1
3	FAS National Football League Division 2
4	FAS National Football League Division 3
5	FAS Island Wide League

Tier	Youth's Football Leagues
1	Prime League
2	Centre of Excellence Developmental Leagues

See also

• Singapore Cup
• Singapore FA Cup
• Singapore Community Shield
• Football in Singapore

References

1. "Singapore - List of Champions". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
2. "Football Association of Singapore". Fas.org.sg. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
3. "History Of Football - The Football Association of Singapore". 26 August 2011. Archived from the original on 26 August 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
4. "Football: Goodbye S-League, welcome Singapore Premier League". The Straits Times . 21 March 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
5. "Singapore League (S. League) - Infopedia". Eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
6. "FAS introduces 'enhancements' to SPL, with increase in prize money and foreign player quota". The Straits Times. 2 July 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
7. "National Football League Division 1 - Football Association of Singapore". Fas.org.sg. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
8. "National Football League Division 2 - Football Association of Singapore". Fas.org.sg. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
9. "Island Wide League - Football Association of Singapore". Fas.org.sg. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
10. "X.League Division 1". xleague.com.sg/. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
11. "Singapore Government Services Football League (SGSFL) Division One Football Final Between Telerec Association and Singapore Armed Forces Association (SAFSA) at Jalan Besar Stadium". nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/. 26 September 1983.
12. "X.League Division 2". xleague.com.sg/. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
13. "Singapore Government Services Football League (SGSFL) Division Two Final Match Between Department of Civil Aviations and Telerec Association at Jalan Besar Stadium". nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/. 28 September 1989.
14. "X.League Division 3". xleague.com.sg/. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
15. "Singapore Government Services Football Division Three Championship Finals, Prisons vs Public Health. Fullback Mohammed Tahid of Public Health (Left) Beats His Goalkeeper Sahar Hashim and Halts Ahmad Basri to Clear This High Ball During the Finals Against Prisons". nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/. 29 March 1971.
16. "SportCares Hearts Football League Returns for its Third Edition with a New and Improved Format". sportsingapore.gov.sg/. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
17. "Home". cosmoleague.com.
18. "Home". equatorialfootballleague.com.
19. "L'Olympique Gaulois Singapore, le football français à Singapour". lepetitjournal.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-10-25.
20. "League One Table".
21. "UAFL League Republic".
22. "AFA Registry of Society".