Lion City Sailors FC

Lion City Sailors FC
Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as The Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional football club based in Bishan, Singapore. It competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. Founded in 1945 as Police Sports Association, the club renamed itself to Police FC in the inaugural 1996 S.League season then in 1997, it underwent a rebranding, being renamed as Home United, before adopting its current name in 2020 being the first club in Singapore to be privatised. Lion City Sailors is owned by Forrest Li, who also owns Sea Limited.
The club has won three league titles, a record 6 Singapore Cups and 2 Community Shield being one of the most successful football clubs in Singapore.
History
The Police Sports Association was founded in 1945 to organize football activities for the Singapore Police Force. It sent two teams to compete in the Singapore Amateur Football Association League in the 1950s and 1960s, but neither team won any trophies. Under coach Choo Seng Quee, the club won the inaugural President's Cup in 1968, then reached and lost the next two finals.
Home United (1997–2019)
When the S.League was formed in 1996, the club was known as the Police Football Club. The following year, its name was changed to Home United to reflect the fact that the team represented not only the Singapore Police Force, but also other HomeTeam departments of the Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs such as the Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority. Home United nickname was the "Protectors" and its mascot, a dragon.
In 1999, Robert Alberts guided the club to secured their first ever piece of silverware guiding them to win the 1999 S.League title. Alberts also won the Singapore Cup back-to-back winning the 2000 and 2001 edition.
In 2003, head coach, Steve Darby guided Home United in becoming the first club to achieve the S.League and Singapore Cup double in 2003 where he also steer the club to won the 2005 edition of the Singapore Cup. Under Korean manager tutelage, Lee Lim-saeng who is also the longest tenure as head coach in the club history, guided Home United to win both the 2011 Singapore Cup and the 2013 Singapore Cup.
The club had qualified to the AFC Cup for the tenth time with their best result in the 2004 AFC Cup where they reached the semi-final.
Lion City Sailors (2020–present)
On 14 February 2020, the club was privatised for the first time in its history, when Singaporean billionaire Forrest Li announcing that he had purchased a 100% stake in the club. The club was officially renamed as Lion City Sailors and its signature red colour was replaced with white and blue. The Sailors' main aim following its rebranding was to boost professionalism in Singaporean football, with becoming a Southeast Asian super club its long-term goal. The new name, Sailors, was a homage to the country's maritime heritage. As it sets its sight on success in 2020, Lion City Sailors will be led by Australian head coach, Aurelio Vidmar, the former Socceroos captain. He joins after a hugely successful stint in Australia where he led Adelaide United to the 2008 AFC Champions League final, becoming the first Australian team to earn this distinction. Vidmar make a couple of stud signings including Singaporean stars, Hassan Sunny, Gabriel Quak and Shahdan Sulaiman, Japanese defender Kaishu Yamazaki, and as well a prolific Australian forward, Andy Pengelly.
On 21 January 2021, the club created history by smashing the Singapore Premier League transfer-fee record with the signing of midfielder Diego Lopes from Portuguese top-flight side Rio Ave for €1.8 million euros (S$2.89 million) on a three-year deal.
Kim Do-Hoon era
With the motivation to rejuvenate the glory days of the past into the future, On 18 May 2021, Kim Do-Hoon, who led Korea Republic's Ulsan Hyundai to victory in 2020 AFC Champions League, joined the Sailors on a two-and-a-half year deal. During his first season, Kim led Lion City Sailors to win the 2021 Singapore Premier League title and the 2022 Singapore Community Shield. Lion City Sailors went on to qualify for their first ever AFC Champions League tournament in the club history.
On 18 April 2022, Lion City Sailors defeated K League 1 club Daegu FC 3–0 in the 2022 AFC Champions League, their first AFC Champions League win since their rebranding. Kim Do-Hoon side had bounced back from an opening 4–1 defeat by J1 League club Urawa Reds to beat Daegu 3-0 before picking up four points in a goalless draw and 3–2 win over Chinese Super League's Shandong Taishan. Sailors maiden AFC Champions League campaign ended with narrow 2–1 to Daegu in the final group stage fixture. Their tally of seven points is the best showing by a Singapore side at the AFC Champions League. In the 2022 Singapore Premier League match against Tampines Rovers on 24 July 2022, as the Sailors was contesting in a draw nearing to the end of the match, around the 87th minute of the match, with the score levelled at 1–1, things became heated as Tampines forward Boris Kopitović confronted Sailors defender, Nur Adam Abdullah near the sideline. The situation then took a turn for the worse as other players, as well as coaches and staff from both sides got themselves involved in the tussle. Kim Do-hoon appeared to get involved in an heated argument with Tampines Rovers assistant coach, Fahrudin Mustafić where footage from the game shows Fahrudin grab Kim by the arm first, as if to push him away, with the two then squaring up in the technical area on the side of the pitch. Kim appears to lower his forehead into Fahrudin's face in what appears to be a headbutt which Fahrudin was seen clutching his face and moving away from Kim. Pedro Henrique went on to scored a header on the 90+4' minute of injury time to secure the three points for the Sailors. After the match, Kim and Fahrudin were seen shaking hands however tension arose again after the match ended as players and staff from both sides began confronting and shoving one another where Fahrudin was seen grabbing Kim's neck at the Sailors bench. The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) handed a three-match ban with immediate effect, with Kim being fined $2,000 and Fahrudin $3,000, for their violent conduct. In addition, the Sailors and Tampines copped a $5,000 fine each for the conduct of their players. Less than 24 hours after Kim was handed a three-match suspension and fine for violent conduct, Lion City Sailors made the shock announcement that they have reached a "mutual agreement" to part ways with head coach Kim Do-hoon. On 12 August 2022, Luka Lalić was appointed as the interim head coach till the end of the 2022 season which on the following day, he guided Lion City Sailors to their biggest ever victory in a 1–10 away win against Young Lions.
On 26 July 2023, the club played their first match in their history at the Singapore National Stadium against Tottenham Hotspur in a friendly match in which Shawal Anuar scored first which give Lion City Sailors the lead against the English giants which they hold up for the first 45 minute but fell to a 5–1 thrashing defeat following poor defensive and communication errors.
The Sailors embarked on their second consecutive AFC Champions League appearances ahead of their 2023–24 campaign together with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Bangkok United and Kitchee which will see a returned of the home and away fixtures. The club will host most of the AFC Champions League group stage games at the Jalan Besar Stadium as its match the requirements standard of the tournament and also being rated as a FIFA 2 Star Recommended Turf. It will also see the first time the AFC Champions League group stage matches being hosted in Singapore since 2010. On 4 October 2023, Lion City Sailors recorded their first win of the 2023–24 AFC Champions League group stage campaign against Hong Kong side, Kitchee with goals scored by Richairo Živković and Maxime Lestienne to secured a 2–1 away victory at the Hong Kong Stadium.
Football academy
In February 2013, the club opened and operated a football academy named 'Home United Youth Football Academy' which comprises ten futsal courts, two full-size football pitches, an events plaza, staff offices, meeting rooms and a Sports Performance Centre.
In June 2020, the launch of the new Lion City Sailors Football Academy was announced, along with further plans on youth development and its investments. It was given a one-star rating by the Asian Football Confederation.
On 24 April 2021, Lion City Sailors announced the construction of a new training facility along Mattar Road that will be the home to the Sailors and as well as the club academy's scholars and trainees. The facility will, when completed, become Singapore's first fully-integrated football training centre.
On 29 July 2022, Lion City Sailors officially opened its new S$10 million training centre. Spanning 28,000 square meters, the training centre features five football pitches, one hybrid 11-a-side pitch, one artificial turf 11-a-side pitch, and three 7-a-side pitches. Besides the football pitches, the centre will also feature a fully equipped gym, physiotherapy rooms, a video analytics room, team locker rooms, a recreation room, as well as study rooms for academy trainees.
Players
U23
U23
U23
U23
U23
Under-21s and Academy
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
On loan
U21 (to Young Lions)
U23 (National Service until 2023)
U21 (National Service until 2024)
U21 (National Service until 2024)
U21 (National Service until 2024)
U21 (National Service until 2024)
U21 (National Service until 2024)
U21 (National Service until 2025)
U21 (National Service until 2025, to Young Lions)
(to Geylang International)
(to Geylang International)
Club officials
Management
Stadium
Bishan Stadium served as the home ground of Lion City Sailors. It was the home base for the football club (initially known as Home United) from its inception all the way to 2020. Following the conclusion of the 2020 Singapore Premier League season, the Bishan Stadium pitch was closed for play as it underwent returfing, causing the club to seek a temporary move to Jalan Besar Stadium for the time being. After two long years and two Singapore Premier League seasons, Lion City Sailors headed back to Bishan Stadium for the 2023 Singapore Premier League, fitted with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology.
Sponsors
Affiliated clubs
Borussia Dortmund (2021–present)
Lion City Sailors and eight-time Bundesliga champions, Borussia Dortmund sign partnership focused on youth development and knowledge sharing. The commitment will see a series of youth development programmes, coaching, educational and professional exchanges as well as football training camps in Germany. This partnership between BVB and LCS will harness the growing commitment to build a strong infrastructure for Singapore's youth football development and overall support the growth in areas of sports science, sports medicine, analytics and talent scouting. The partnership will see an annual training camp in Dortmund for the LCS Football Academy's elite team, with an additional training stint pencilled in for selected footballers from the academy's scholarship programme.
Feyenoord (2022–present)
The Lion City Sailors and 16-time Eredivisie champions, Feyenoord Rotterdam have forged a 3-year partnership focused on youth development and education. The commitment will see a series of youth development programmes, coaching, educational and professional exchanges as well as football training camps in the Netherlands, with Sailors supporting Feyenoord's brand exposure in Singapore.
Performance records
Performance by coach
The following table provides a summary of the coach appointed by the club.
Statistics correct as of 16 Sept 2023
Performance by competition
Domestic competitions
The following table provides a summary of the result by season.
Statistics correct as of 18 Sept 2023
AFC competitions
The following table provides a summary of the result by season.
Statistics correct as of 21 Oct 2022
Notable players
List of notable players since the privatised era of the club (2020–present)
Aqhari Abdullah
Gabriel Quak
Faris Ramli
Shahdan Sulaiman
Shahril Ishak
Song Ui-young
Hassan Sunny
Jorge Fellipe
Stipe Plazibat
Kaishu Yamazaki
Kim Shin-wook
Honours
League
Singapore Premier League
Champions (3): 1999, 2003, 2021
Runners up (8): 2002, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2018, 2022, 2023
National Football League Division One
Winners (1): 1985
Cup
Singapore Cup: (record)
Champions (6): 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2013
Runners up (3): 2004, 2014, 2015
Singapore Community Shield
Champions (2): 2019, 2022
Runners up (3): 2008, 2012, 2014
President's Cup
Champions (1): 1980
FAS Challenge Cup
Champions (1): 1968
Reserves
Prime League: (record)
Champions (8): 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2016, 2017
Singapore FA Cup
Champions (3): 2013, 2015, 2016
Records and statistics
As of 5 October 2023.
Top 10 all-time appearances
Top 10 all-time scorers
Biggest wins: 1-10 vs Young Lions (13 August 2022)
Heaviest Defeats: 9-1 vs 4.25 SC (28 August 2018)
Youngest Goal scorers: Irfan Fandi ~ 19 years 2 months 2 days old (On 15 October 2016 vs Balestier Khalsa)
Oldest Goal scorers: Shahril Ishak ~ 36 years 10 months 12 days (On 5 December 2020 vs Balestier Khalsa)
Youngest ever debutant: Nathan Mao ~ 15 years and 5 days old (On 31 March 2023 vs Tampines Rovers)
References
External links
Official website
Singapore Premier League website page on Lion City Sailors FC
Football clubs in Singapore
Association football clubs established in 2020
Lion City Sailors FC
2020 establishments in Singapore
Singapore Premier League clubs
Police association football clubs in Singapore