# 2018 Singapore Premier League

The 2018 Singapore Premier League (also known as the Great Eastern Hyundai Singapore Premier League due to sponsorship reasons) was the inaugural season of the Singapore Premier League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association football clubs. The season began on 31 March 2018, and concluded on 3 October 2018. Albirex Niigata (S) won the league and successfully defended their title.
Each team will receive $888,200 if they meet key performance indicators that will be made known to them before the 31 March kick-off. This represents a "19 per cent reduction from the 2017 season", but funding for the league has been secured for the next five years.
It is the league's first season after rebranding from the S.League to the Singapore Premier League. A major overhaul from the new FAS management is being made from this season onwards to improve the standard of Singapore football.
An emphasis on youth development from the ground up is underway.

## Rules

The following key changes are being made to the rules for the 2018 season:
* It is compulsory for each of the SPL's six local clubs to recruit at least six Under-23 footballers for their squad, with a minimum of three Under-23 players to feature in the starting 11 for each match. The first U-23 player must be replaced by another, if the substitution occurs in the 1st half. Beyond this, any U-23 players can be replaced by any other players.
* Depending on the squad size, each team is to sign at least eight local players aged 24 to 30. A 25-man squad will need to have nine local U-23 players and 10 local players aged 24 to 30.
* Introduction of age quotas, with teams allowed to sign only two to six players above the age of 30, depending on squad size. For example, for squad between 19 and 22 players, there must be minimum of six under-23 players and 8 under-30 players. This will apply to all club except Young Lions and Albirex Niigata (S).
* Young Lions can sign a maximum of 33 players for the season.
* The foreign player quota for clubs will be reduced from three to two with no age restriction placed on them.
* Albirex Niigata (S) has age restrictions imposed by the FAS for the new season. The squad will be made up of 50% of U23 players, 50% of U21 players and one player of any age. This is excluding 2 Singapore U-23 players which they can choose to sign.
* The Singapore Premier League lineup for 2018 will remain the same as Young Lions are set to compete in 2018.
* The Prime League will be scrapped with the National Football League (NFL) set to be installed as the second-tier competition.
* Yo-yo test will replace the current mandatory 2.4 km test, and players will be tested three times a year in the pre-season, midseason and off-season.
* All matches will be played during weekends at 5:30 p.m.

## Teams

A total of 9 teams compete in the league. Albirex Niigata (S) and DPMM FC are invited foreign clubs from Japan and Brunei respectively. Despite large criticism and discussion against the Young Lions project, the Young Lions will continue to compete till 2019 for the purposes of training and preparing for the 2019 SEA Games. The criticism mainly focused on the poor performances every season by the largely youth team made up of Singapore Football's brightest prospects. Season-long consecutive losses against the rest of the more mature teams inflicts serious long-term consequences on the morale of the players, considering that most of these players are in the developmental ages of their footballing career. The new age restrictions imposed on the rest of the Singapore Premier League clubs could be seen as giving the Young Lions a better advantage in terms of seniority, but most critics and fans of Singapore football are still wanting the FAS to abolish the FAS-managed Young Lions and have them developed under the guidance of genuine local clubs.

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
| Albirex Niigata (S) | Jurong East Stadium | 2,700 |
| Balestier Khalsa | Toa Payoh Stadium | 3,800 |
| DPMM FC | Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium | 28,000 |
| Geylang International | Bedok Stadium | 3,800 |
| Home United | Bishan Stadium | 3,500 |
| Hougang United | Hougang Stadium | 3,400 |
| Tampines Rovers | Our Tampines Hub | 5,000 |
| Warriors FC | Choa Chu Kang Stadium | 4,000 |
| Young Lions | Jalan Besar Stadium | 6,000 |

### 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 |
| Albirex Niigata (S) | Kazuaki Yoshinaga | Wataru Murofushi | Hummel | Canon |
| Balestier Khalsa | Marko Kraljević | Zaiful Nizam | Mawin | Jeep |
| DPMM FC | Renê Weber | Shahrazen Said | Lotto | – |
| Geylang International | Hirotaka Usui | Yuki Ichikawa | FBT | Epson |
| Home United | Aidil Sharin | Izzdin Shafiq | Puma | Lionco Investments |
| Hougang United | Philippe Aw | Nurhilmi Jasni | Vonda | Assisi Hospice |
| Tampines Rovers | Jürgen Raab | Fahrudin Mustafić | Hummel | – / ANA Courier Express |
| Warriors FC | Mirko Grabovac | Kento Fukuda | Umbro | Rhino Sports / Armaggeddon |
| Young Lions | Fandi Ahmad | Taufiq Muqminin | Nike | - |
Note: 1) ANA Courier Express is Tampines Rovers's Singapore Cup jersey sponsor only 2) Hougang United had a partnership with Assisi Hospice via its donation drive. Assisi Hospice will be published on the jersey

### Coaching changes

| Team | Outgoing Head Coach | Manner of Departure | Date of Vacancy | Position in table | Incoming Head Coach | Date of appointment |
| DPMM FC | Steve Kean | Sacked | 30 November 2017 | Pre-Season | Renê Weber | 1 January 2018 |
| Young Lions | Vincent Subramaniam | Redeployed | 14 December 2017 | Pre-Season | Fandi Ahmad | 14 December 2017 |
| Warriors FC | Razif Onn | Redeployed | 1 January 2018 | Pre-Season | Mirko Grabovac | 15 January 2018 |
| Geylang International | Mohd Noor Ali | Redeployed | 1 February 2018 | Pre-Season | Hirotaka Usui | 1 February 2018 |
| Hougang United | Philippe Aw | Sacked | 10 June 2018 | 9th | Clement Teo (Caretaker) | 10 June 2018 |

### Foreigners

The foreign player quota for clubs was reduced from three to two.
In addition, Albirex was reported to have declared their intention to have Singapore players in their squad for 2018 and is understood that a proposal is being put together for Albirex to take in local players and they will be allowed to sign two Singaporean U-23 players. Only DPMM are allowed to sign up to three foreigners.
Players name in bold indicates the player was registered during the mid-season transfer window.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Youth Players 1 | Youth Players 2 | Former Players |
| Albirex Niigata (S) | Shahul Rayyan | Adam Swandi | | | | |
| Balestier Khalsa | Vedran Mesec | Keegan Linderboom | | Dusan Marinkovic | Sanjin Vrebac | |
| DPMM FC | Mojtaba Esmaeilzadeh | Brian McLean | Volodymyr Pryyomov | | | |
| Geylang International | Yuki Ichikawa | Fumiya Kogure | | | | |
| Home United | Isaka Cernak | Song Ui-young | | | | Sirina Camara |
| Hougang United | Antoine Viterale | Jang Jo-yoon | | | | Adam Mitter |
| Tampines Rovers | Jordan Webb | Ryutaro Megumi | | | | |
| Warriors FC | Jonathan Béhé | Kento Fukuda | | | | |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Albirex Niigata (S) (C) | 24 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 69 | 17 | +52 | 66 | |
| 2 | Home United | 24 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 48 | 36 | +12 | 43 | Qualification to AFC Champions League Preliminary Round 1 |
| 3 | DPMM FC | 24 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 46 | 38 | +8 | 41 | |
| 4 | Tampines Rovers | 24 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 43 | 27 | +16 | 40 | Qualification to AFC Cup Group Stage |
| 5 | Warriors FC | 24 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 32 | 35 | −3 | 28 | |
| 6 | Balestier Khalsa | 24 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 25 | 36 | −11 | 27 | |
| 7 | Young Lions | 24 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 25 | 46 | −21 | 21 | |
| 8 | Geylang International | 24 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 26 | 57 | −31 | 20 | |
| 9 | Hougang United | 24 | 2 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 44 | −22 | 12 | |
* 1 2 3 The two foreign clubs – Albirex Niigata (S) and DPMM FC – as well as the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) under-21 team, Young Lions, are ineligible for any AFC competition spots.

## Statistics
### Top scorers

    As of 3 October 2018.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Shuhei Hoshino | Albirex Niigata (S) | 19 |
| 2 | Jonathan Behe | Warriors FC | 17 |
| 3 | Volodymyr Pryyomov | DPMM FC | 17 |
| 4 | Khairul Amri | Tampines Rovers | 15 |
| 5 | Shahril Ishak | Home United | 13 |

### Clean Sheets

    As of 3 October 2018.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Yōsuke Nozawa | Albirex Niigata (S) | 10 |
| 2 | Syazwan Buhari | Tampines Rovers | 9 |
| 3 | Rudy Khairullah | Home United | 5 |
| 3 | Mukundan Maran | Warriors FC | 5 |
| 5 | Zaiful Nizam | Balestier Khalsa | 4 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Taku Morinaga | Albirex Niigata (S) | Balestier Khalsa | 5–0 | 27 May 2018 |
| Jonathan Béhé | Warriors FC | Tampines Rovers | 3–2 | 17 June 2018 |
| Khairul Amri | Tampines Rovers | Balestier Khalsa | 5–2 | 30 June 2018 |
| Khairul Amri | Tampines Rovers | Geylang International | 4–1 | 21 July 2018 |
| Abdul Azizi Ali Rahman | Brunei DPMM | Hougang United | 3–1 | 18 August 2018 |
| Song Ui-young | Home United | Warriors FC | 4–3 | 23 September 2018 |

## Singapore Premier League Awards night winners

| Awards | Winners | Club |
| Player of the Year | Wataru Murofushi | Albirex Niigata (S) |
| Young Player of the Year | Adam Swandi | Albirex Niigata (S) |
| Coach of the Year | Kazuaki Yoshinaga | Albirex Niigata (S) |
| Top Scorer Award | Shuhei Hoshino | Albirex Niigata (S) |
| Goal of the Year | Zulfadhmi Suzliman | Tampines Rovers |
| Fair Play Award | Albirex Niigata (S) | Albirex Niigata (S) |
| Referee of the Year | Nathan Chan | — |
FansXI Team of the Year :
| Goalkeeper | Yosuke Nozawa (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Yosuke Nozawa (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Yosuke Nozawa (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Yosuke Nozawa (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Yosuke Nozawa (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Yosuke Nozawa (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Yosuke Nozawa (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Yosuke Nozawa (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Yosuke Nozawa (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Yosuke Nozawa (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Yosuke Nozawa (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Yosuke Nozawa (Albirex Niigata (S)) |
| Defence | Riku Moriyasu (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Riku Moriyasu (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Riku Moriyasu (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Shuhei Sasahara (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Shuhei Sasahara (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Shuhei Sasahara (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Kento Fukuda (Warriors FC) | Kento Fukuda (Warriors FC) | Kento Fukuda (Warriors FC) | Kenya Takahashi (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Kenya Takahashi (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Kenya Takahashi (Albirex Niigata (S)) |
| Midfield | Hafiz Nor (Home United) | Hafiz Nor (Home United) | Hafiz Nor (Home United) | Wataru Murofushi (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Wataru Murofushi (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Wataru Murofushi (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Song Ui-young (Home United) | Song Ui-young (Home United) | Song Ui-young (Home United) | Adam Swandi (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Adam Swandi (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Adam Swandi (Albirex Niigata (S)) |
| Attack | Shahril Ishak (Home United) | Shahril Ishak (Home United) | Shahril Ishak (Home United) | Shahril Ishak (Home United) | Shahril Ishak (Home United) | Shahril Ishak (Home United) | Shuhei Hoshino (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Shuhei Hoshino (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Shuhei Hoshino (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Shuhei Hoshino (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Shuhei Hoshino (Albirex Niigata (S)) | Shuhei Hoshino (Albirex Niigata (S)) |