| Full name | Tanjong Pagar United Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Jaguars |
| Founded | 1975 |
| Ground | Queenstown Stadium Queenstown, Singapore (Capacity: 4,000) |
| Chairman | Edward Liu |
| Head Coach | Terry Pathmanathan |
| League | S.League |
| 2011 | 11th |
Tanjong Pagar United Football Club is a professional football club in Singapore. The club took part in Singapore's S.League from 1996 to 2004. The club withdrew from the S.League after the 2004 season because of financial problems but returned to the S.League in 2011.
Prior to the formation of the S.League, the team was known as Tiong Bahru Constituency Sports Club, and won Singapore's National Football League in 1983 and 1987. The club changed its name to Tiong Bahru United Football Club in 1996, and then to Tanjong Pagar United in 1998.
The team's mascot is a jaguar. During its first run in the S.League, the club's home ground was the Queenstown Stadium. However, as the Queenstown Stadium was occupied since 2010 by French club Etoile FC, Tanjong Pagar United was based in Clementi Stadium for the duration of the 2011 season.
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The club were formed as Tiong Bahru Constituency Sports Club in 1975 and debuted in Division III of the National Football League. With not a single footballer of star quality, hardly any sponsors and no stadium in the constituency, the club was resigned to playing 'kampong' football. Things took a different turn when Richard Woon, then Chairman of the Club, persuaded Syed Mubarak Allabux, better known as 'Ali Boy', to coach the team in 1977.
Within a year, Ali Boy turned the tide around by helping the Club to the Division Three title, scoring an amazing feat of 76 goals, the highest scoring team among all the clubs in the three divisions.
Suddenly everyone was talking about Tiong Bahru. But that was only the beginning. The following year, Tiong Bahru finished Champions of Division Two, to finally realise its long ambition of playing in the top division. In only its first season in Division One, the Club finished a creditable third place in the league. Then in 1982, the Club won its first major honours by capturing the much-coveted President's Cup.
Subsequently, in 1983, Tiong Bahru created Division One league history by becoming the first club to win the League Championship without a single Singapore National Team player in the team. Its efforts were rewarded when the Club secured the rights to represent Singapore in the first ASEAN Club Championship in Jakarta the following year. The tournament was the Club's first major overseas assignment and it managed to pick up a well-earned third place.
1987 will go down as the Club's best season ever. It was the year the Tiong Bahru stamped its class and authority in Singapore football. It took a clean sweep of all major titles at stake. First, the Club picked up the League title with ease. Then, it swept all rivals to win the League Cup. Finally, it rounded off an excellent year by winning the President's Cup.
In 1988, semi-professional football was introduced in Singapore. Tiong Bahru joined another nine elite clubs to participate and compete in the newly-formed Premier League. The early 1990s saw further successes, as they were Pools Cup winners in 1991 and 1993, finished runners-up in the FAS Premier League from 1991 to 1993 and bagged the FA Cup in 1994. Their strong performances led to their selection as one of eight clubs to compete in the newly-formed S.League, so in 1995, exactly 20 years after the birth of Tiong Bahru CSC, the club was renamed Tiong Bahru Football Club and obtained a permanent home at the Queenstown Stadium.[1] It became the first Club in Singapore to establish its own Clubhouse, a home for all its fans, members, players and officials. This was the first step towards its preparation for professional football in 1996.
Tiong Bahru United Football Club was formed in 1996. This was the beginnig of a new era of professionalism for the Club, whereby the Club began its venture in Singapore's first professional football league, the S.League. The Club then had its first foreign coach when Dutchman Robert Rene Alberts was assigned as Head Coach. It managed to finish runner-up in the S.League for two consecutive years in 1996 and 1997, and narrowly missed out on two Cup finals (the League Cup and FA Cup) after bowing out in the semi-finals through extra-time and penalty kicks. However, there was some consolation for the Club as it bagged the S.League Best Fan Club Award from 1997 to 1999, a great reward for all the loyal supporters.
In 1998, the Club embarked on an ambitious mission to go regional in Singapore. Tanjong Pagar United Football Club was established, and a new chapter in the Club's history was created. The idea of this name change was to encompass all 10 constituencies within the then Tanjong Pagar - West Coast GRC, making the Club the sole representative of this region. At the same time, the Club hopes to promote football to nearly 100,000 household residents within the same region. Towards the end of 1998, Tohari Paijan took on the reins of Head Coach and led the Club to the Cup Double, winning the FA Cup and the Tiger Beer Singapore Cup in his first season in-charge.
The Club followed that up by going on to clinch the S.League runner-up spot two seasons later in 2000. That was to be the last success of the Club, as unforeseen circumstances turned the Club's fortunes around. A dip in finances forced the Club to finally make an exit from the S.League at the end of the 2004 season.
Six long years were what it took for the Club to finally return its books to the black, and Tanjong Pagar United finally made its long-awaited return to the S.League in 2011. As its traditional Queenstown home was occupied by a rival Club, the Club returned to the S.League in its new home in Clementi. With a young but determined and strong-willed team, and the support of the local community in Clementi, the Club looks to make a U-turn in fortunes and look forward to reliving its glory days in Singapore football.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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