# 2021 Singapore Premier League

The 2021 Singapore Premier League (also known as the AIA Singapore Premier League due to sponsorship reasons) was the 4th season of the Singapore Premier League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association football clubs, since its rebranding in 2018.
The champions of the 2021 Singapore Premier League, Lion City Sailors, qualified for the AFC Champions League group stage automatically. The season began on 13 March and ended on 10 October. In the first part of the season, all matches were played behind closed doors in light of the COVID-19 situation.

## Format

The following key changes were made to the rules since the 2020 season:
* Local SPL clubs are required to have a minimum of six U-23 players for a squad size of 19 to 25 players; this increases to seven (squad size 26), eight (27) and nine (28).
New rules for 2021:
* All SPL teams will play each other thrice.
* Each team is able to register up to 25 players in their squad, a reduction of 3 players as compared from 2020.
* From 2021, Albirex is allowed to sign a maximum of 2 overage Singaporean players. As in 2019 and 2020, Albirex must have two Singaporeans in their starting lineup for each game.
* Young Lions and Lion City Sailors Football Club to play their home games at Jalan Besar Stadium while Balestier Khalsa will play at Toa Payoh Stadium. Bishan Stadium is under renovation till end of season. Other stadiums used are: (1) Our Tampines Hub (Tampines Rovers and Geylang International), Hougang Stadium (Hougang United) and (3) Jurong East Stadium (Albirex Niigata and Tanjong Pagar United).
* Clubs will be equipped with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) devices – among other performance and tracking gear. Value of this sponsorship is worth around $620,000.
* SPL clubs are now allowed to register a maximum of four foreign players with no age restrictions, of whom at least one shall be of the nationality of an AFC Member Association (Asian). A maximum of four foreign players may be named or fielded in any one match.
* Local SPL clubs, excluding Albirex Niigata (S) and Young Lions, are required to have a minimum of six local U-23 players (born on or after 1 January 1998) for a squad size of 18 (minimum) to 25 (maximum) players. At least eight local U-30 players (born on or after 1 January 1991) have to be registered as well.
* Players shall be allocated jersey numbers 1 to 40. Jersey numbers become available for allocation to new members after a player ceases to play for a club.
* 2019 champions, DPMM FC, will continue to sit out of the competition due to the restriction imposed by the Brunei Government.
* 2021 Singapore Cup is slated to commence in September 2021. The mandatory fielding of Under-23 local players for participating clubs shall not apply for matches in the 2021 Singapore Cup as to allow the National Under-22 team to have adequate centralised preparations and subsequent participation for this year's AFC Under-23 Qualifiers and the SEA Games.
* 1st transfer window: 1 January 2021 to 20 March 2021, 2nd transfer window: 17 May 2021 to 13 June 2021

## Teams

A total of 8 teams competed in the league. Albirex Niigata (S) from Japan was the only foreign team invited.

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
| Albirex Niigata (S) Tanjong Pagar United | Jurong East Stadium | 2,700 |
| Balestier Khalsa | Toa Payoh Stadium | 3,800 |
| Hougang United | Hougang Stadium | 3,800 |
| Lion City Sailors Young Lions | Jalan Besar Stadium | 6,000 |
| Tampines Rovers Geylang International | Our Tampines Hub | 5,000 |

### Personnel and sponsors

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Main Shirt sponsor | Other shirt sponsors |
| Albirex Niigata (S) | Keiji Shigetomi | Kazuki Hashioka Takahiro Tezuka (VC) Ryoya Tanigushi (VC) Fairoz Hasan (VC) | Mizuno | Canon | Kirin Kubota Reeracoen EnglishCentral Lensmode Gain City Nippon Medical Care Fitogether Namics Denka SMBC ACCEA Singapore JTB NSG JPLUS+ Daiho Group With You Global Creations SD Aircon |
| Balestier Khalsa | Marko Kraljević | Fadli Kamis Kristijan Krajcek (VC) | Adidas | Jeep | Weston Corporation Project Vaults StarBalm PSB Academy |
| Geylang International | Mohd Noor Ali | Yuki Ichikawa Darren Teh (VC) | FBT | Epson | Aris Studio 23 Joydom Engineering My Protein Singapore Steel Industries Springleaf Prata Place Fightzone TRUE Fitness |
| Hougang United | Clement Teo | Fabian Kwok Lionel Tan (VC) Nazrul Nazari (VC) Ridhuan Barudin (VC) | Warrix | | SportCenter by Zup Cafe Football (CF) The Arena |
| Lion City Sailors | Kim Do-hoon | Hassan Sunny Shahdan Sulaiman (VC) | Puma | SEA | Shopee Garena |
| Tampines Rovers | Gavin Lee | Yasir Hanapi Daniel Bennett (VC) Syazwan Buhari (VC) | Mizuno | ANA Courier Express | StarBalm The Black Hole Group My Protein Singapore Canadian 2 for 1 Pizza |
| Tanjong Pagar United | Hasrin Jailani | Faritz Abdul Hameed Delwinder Singh (VC) | Ad hoc Apparel | Tokyo Century | Samtrade Academy StarBalm |
| Young Lions | Philippe Aw | Danish Irfan Syahrul Sazali (VC) | Nike | | Catapult |

### Coaching changes

| Team | Outgoing Head Coach | Manner of Departure | Date of Vacancy | Position in table | Incoming Head Coach | Date of appointment |
| Young Lions | Nazri Nasir | Rested | 15 January 2021 | Pre-Season | Philippe Aw | 15 January 2021 |
| Lion City Sailors | Aurelio Vidmar | Resigned | 30 April 2021 | 2nd | Robin Chitrakar (interim) | 1 May 2021 |
| Lion City Sailors | Robin Chitrakar (interim) | NA | 18 May 2021 | 2nd | Kim Do-hoon | 18 May 2021 |

## Foreign Players

Singapore Premier League clubs can sign a maximum of four foreign players in the 2021 season, up from three as compared to 2019. However, one of them has to be 21 years old or younger on 1 January 2021 (Or at the age of registration).
Albirex Niigata can sign up unlimited number of Singaporean players for the new season. Only 2 local player above 23 years old is allowed.
Players name in bold indicates the player was registered during the mid-season transfer window.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | AFC Player | SG U-23 Player 1 U-21 Player | Former Players |
| Albirex Niigata (S) | Hyrulnizam Juma'at | Fairoz Hassan | Ong Yu En | Fikri Junaidi | Nicky Singh | Nathanael Chin |
| Albirex Niigata (S) | Junki Yoshimura | Sunny Tia | Kenji Austin | Ameer Maricar | Irsyad Azarudin | |
| Albirex Niigata (S) | Hilman Norhisam | Muhamad Ali Manaf | | | | |
| Balestier Khalsa | Kristijan Krajcek | Šime Žužul | Ensar Brunčević | Shuhei Hoshino | Yann Weishaupt | |
| Geylang International | Matheus Moresche | Barry Maguire | Yuki Ichikawa | Danny Kim | | Sylvano Comvalius |
| Hougang United | Gilberto Fortunato | Maksat Dzhakybaliev | Tomoyuki Doi | Kaishu Yamazaki | | |
| Lion City Sailors | Diego Lopes | Jorge Fellipe | Stipe Plazibat | | | Song Ui-young Note 2 |
| Tampines Rovers | Zehrudin Mehmedović | Boris Kopitović | Armin Bosnjak | Kyoga Nakamura | | |
| Tanjong Pagar United | Luiz Júnior | Blake Ricciuto | Reo Nishiguchi | Shodai Nishikawa | | |
Note 1: From 2021, Albirex, a Japanese club, is allowed to sign a maximum of 2 Singaporean players above the age of 23.
Note 2: Song Ui-Young is granted Singapore citizenship on 21 August 2021.

## Results
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Lion City Sailors | 21 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 59 | 21 | +38 | 48 | Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Albirex Niigata (S) | 21 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 50 | 19 | +31 | 46 | |
| 3 | Hougang United | 21 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 48 | 40 | +8 | 34 | Qualification for AFC Cup group stage |
| 4 | Tampines Rovers | 21 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 48 | 51 | −3 | 27 | Qualification for AFC Cup group stage |
| 5 | Tanjong Pagar United | 21 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 36 | 49 | −13 | 22 | |
| 6 | Geylang International | 21 | 6 | 2 | 13 | 33 | 52 | −19 | 20 | |
| 7 | Balestier Khalsa | 21 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 34 | 52 | −18 | 19 | |
| 8 | Young Lions | 21 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 26 | 50 | −24 | 16 | |
* 1 2 The foreign club – Albirex Niigata (S) – as well as the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) under-21 team, Young Lions, are ineligible for any AFC competition spots.

### Fixtures and results

Clubs will play each other three times for 21 matches each.

## Statistics
### Top scorers

    As of 10 October 2021
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Tomoyuki Doi | Hougang United | 19 |
| 2 | Boris Kopitović | Tampines Rovers | 16 |
| 3 | Šime Žužul | Balestier Khalsa | 15 |
| 3 | Kiyoshiro Tsuboi | Albirex Niigata (S) | 15 |
| 4 | Stipe Plazibat | Lion City Sailors | 14 |
| 5 | Gabriel Quak | Lion City Sailors | 13 |
| 6 | Amy Recha | Geylang International | 12 |
| 7 | Matheus Moresche | Geylang International | 11 |
| 7 | Luiz Júnior | Tanjong Pagar United | 11 |
| 8 | Ryoya Tanigushi | Albirex Niigata (S) | 9 |
| 8 | Reo Nishiguchi | Tanjong Pagar United | 9 |
| 9 | Kuraba Kondo | Albirex Niigata (S) | 8 |
| 10 | Ilhan Fandi | Young Lions | 7 |
| 10 | Song Ui-young | Lion City Sailors | 7 |

### Clean sheets

    As at 3 October 2021
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Takahiro Koga | Albirex Niigata (S) | 8 |
| 2 | Hassan Sunny | Lion City Sailors | 5 |
| 3 | Syazwan Buhari | Tampines Rovers | 3 |

### Hat-tricks

    As of 10 October 2021
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Tomoyuki Doi | Hougang United | Tampines Rovers | 5–1 | 3 April 2021 |
| Boris Kopitović | Tampines Rovers | Young Lions | 7–0 | 7 April 2021 |
| Diego Lopes | Lion City Sailors | Geylang International | 8–0 | 11 April 2021 |
| Kiyoshiro Tsuboi | Albirex Niigata (S) | Tanjong Pagar United | 6–0 | 17 April 2021 |
| Kiyoshiro Tsuboi | Albirex Niigata (S) | Balestier Khalsa | 4–1 | 25 April 2021 |
| Šime Žužul | Balestier Khalsa | Tampines Rovers | 5–2 | 19 August 2021 |
| Tomoyuki Doi | Hougang United | Tampines Rovers | 7–3 | 11 September 2021 |
| Kiyoshiro Tsuboi $^4$ | Albirex Niigata (S) | Tanjong Pagar United | 4–4 | 10 October 2021 |
$^4$ Player scored 4 goals

### Penalty missed

| Player | For | Against | Date |
| Stipe Plazibat | Lion City Sailors | Albirex Niigata (S) | 7 April 2021 |

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | Young Player of the Month | Young Player of the Month | Coach of the Month | Coach of the Month | Goal of the Month | Ref |
| Month | Player | Club | Player | Club | Coach | Club | Player vs. | Ref |
| March | Tomoyuki Doi | Hougang United | Khairin Nadim | Young Lions | Clement Teo | Hougang United | Song Ui-young vs. Tanjong Pagar (17 March 2021) | |
| April | Stipe Plazibat | Lion City Sailors FC | Kiyoshiro Tsuboi | Albirex Niigata (S) | Keiji Shigetomi | Albirex Niigata (S) | Gabriel Quak vs. Balestier Khalsa (18 April 2021) | |
| May | Boris Kopitović | Tampines Rovers | Idraki Adnan | Hougang United | Clement Teo | Hougang United | Kyoga Nakamura vs. Young Lions (2/5/2021) | |
| August | Šime Žužul | Balestier Khalsa | Ilhan Fandi | Young Lions | Hasrin Jailani | Tanjong Pagar United | Luiz Júnior vs. Albirex Niigata (S) (6/8/2021) | |
| September | Jorge Fellipe | Lion City Sailors FC | Nur Adam Abdullah | Lion City Sailors FC | Kim Do-hoon | Lion City Sailors FC | Fabian Kwok vs. Tampines Rovers (11/9/2021) | |

## Singapore Premier League Awards night winners

| Awards | Winners | Club |
| Player of the Year | Tomoyuki Doi | Hougang United |
| Young Player of the Year | Nur Adam Abdullah | Lion City Sailors |
| Coach of the Year | Clement Teo | Hougang United |
| Top Scorer Award | Tomoyuki Doi | Hougang United |
| Golden Glove | Takahiro Koga | Albirex Niigata (S) |
| Goal of the Year | Gabriel Quak vs. Balestier Khalsa (18 April 2021) | Lion City Sailors |
| Fair Play Award | Albirex Niigata (S) | Albirex Niigata (S) |
| Referee of the Year | Jansen Foo | — |
AIA Team of the Year :
| Goalkeeper | Takahiro Koga (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Takahiro Koga (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Takahiro Koga (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Takahiro Koga (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Takahiro Koga (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Takahiro Koga (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Takahiro Koga (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Takahiro Koga (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Takahiro Koga (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Takahiro Koga (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Takahiro Koga (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Takahiro Koga (Albirex Niigata (S)) |
| Defence | Kazuki Hashioka ( Albirex Niigata (S)) | Kazuki Hashioka ( Albirex Niigata (S)) | Kazuki Hashioka ( Albirex Niigata (S)) | Shuya Yamashita ( Albirex Niigata (S)) | Shuya Yamashita ( Albirex Niigata (S)) | Shuya Yamashita ( Albirex Niigata (S)) | Jorge Fellipe (Lion City Sailors) | Jorge Fellipe (Lion City Sailors) | Jorge Fellipe (Lion City Sailors) | Nur Adam Abdullah (Lion City Sailors) | Nur Adam Abdullah (Lion City Sailors) | Nur Adam Abdullah (Lion City Sailors) |
| Midfield | Kaishu Yamazaki (Hougang United) | Kaishu Yamazaki (Hougang United) | Kaishu Yamazaki (Hougang United) | Kaishu Yamazaki (Hougang United) | Ryoya Tanigushi ( Albirex Niigata (S)) | Ryoya Tanigushi ( Albirex Niigata (S)) | Ryoya Tanigushi ( Albirex Niigata (S)) | Ryoya Tanigushi ( Albirex Niigata (S)) | Shahdan Sulaiman (Lion City Sailors) | Shahdan Sulaiman (Lion City Sailors) | Shahdan Sulaiman (Lion City Sailors) | Shahdan Sulaiman (Lion City Sailors) |
| Attack | Šime Žužul (Balestier Khalsa) | Šime Žužul (Balestier Khalsa) | Šime Žužul (Balestier Khalsa) | Šime Žužul (Balestier Khalsa) | Stipe Plazibat (Lion City Sailors) | Stipe Plazibat (Lion City Sailors) | Stipe Plazibat (Lion City Sailors) | Stipe Plazibat (Lion City Sailors) | Tomoyuki Doi (Hougang United) | Tomoyuki Doi (Hougang United) | Tomoyuki Doi (Hougang United) | Tomoyuki Doi (Hougang United) |