Warriors FC

Warriors FC
Full name Warriors Football Club
Nickname(s) The Warriors
Founded 1975 (1975)
Ground Choa Chu Kang Stadium
Ground Capacity 4,600
Chairman Philip Lam Tin Sing
Head Coach Razif Onn
League S.League
2016 S.League, 7th
Website Club website

Warriors Football Club is a Singaporean professional football club that plays in the top-tier S.League. Before they officially changed their name on 20 January 2013,[1] they were previously known as the Singapore Armed Forces Football Club (SAFFC) since their establishment on 16 February 1996. Despite their name back then, membership of the Armed Forces was not a prerequisite for players representing the team, and several international players have played for them.

Using a rhino as club mascot was their second suggestion after the S.League rejected their initial proposal of having a warrior as being out of line with the policy of clubs having animal mascots.[2]

Warriors F.C. is currently the most successful club in the history of the S.League, having won the title a record nine times: in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014[3] and finishing second in 4 seasons: 1996, 1999, 2001, 2005 in the 21 years since the inception of the S.League.

The Warriors was based in Jurong Stadium till 2000 before moving to their current home ground Choa Chu Kang Stadium in 2001. In light of the preparation of the 2015 SEA Games, the Warriors had to vacate Choa Chu Kang Stadium and will instead play their home matches at the Woodlands Stadium for the 2015 season instead.

History

1975–2006

The Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association (SAFSA) football team was formed in 1975 to provide talented footballers serving National Service with opportunities to play competitive football. That year, they won the President's Cup, a feat they repeated in 1978, when they also captured the National Football League title to complete The Double. Their Under-19 team won the national Under-19 title in 1979, 1980 and 1983, while the 1981 season of the National Football League saw the SAFSA football team emerge as champions without losing a game. The President's Cup was captured again in 1984 and 1986, the latter time as part of a second Double, as they also won the National Football League on goal difference. In 1990, the Pools Cup went to the SAFSA football team and their convincing displays led to their selection as one of eight clubs to compete in the newly formed S.League.[4]

Singapore Armed Forces FC's entry into the S.League in 1996 also resulted in the withdrawal of SAFSA from the NFL. SAFSA would not participate in the local football leagues again till 1999, when they rejoined the National Football League.

SAFFC finished second in 1996, 1999 and won the league in 1997 and 1998.

Former Singapore international Fandi Ahmad took over from Mladen Pralija in 1999.

Three coaches were at the reins during this period, each lasting only one season. SAFFC finished second in 2005 but otherwise outside the top two.

2006–present

Richard Bok took over as club head coach in 2006 & led the Warriors to 4 consecutive championship 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009.

In 2008, Armed Forces became the first Singapore club to achieve the "double" back-to-back, after winning both the S.League and the Singapore Cup in 2007 and 2008.

In Asian Football Confederation Club competition, he led Armed Forces to 2 Quarter Finals in 2007 & 2008. In 2009, Armed Forces qualified into the AFC Champions League group stage by defeating Thai Champion PEA FC and PSMS Medan of Indonesia in the East playoff thus Armed Forces making Singapore football history by being the first club from Singapore to qualified for the highest club competition in Asia.

Squad 2010

Armed Forces were drawn in a group with J.League champions Kashima Antlers, K.League champions Suwon Samsung Bluewings and Chinese Super League runners-up Shanghai Shenhua, and despite being confirmed as the group losers after a 5–0 loss to Kashima Antlers in Japan, they managed to win their first ever point in the competition with a 1–1 draw against Shanghai Shenhua at home.

In 2010, Armed Forces qualified for their second consecutive AFC Champions League group stage by defeating Sriwijaya of Indonesia 3–0 at Jalan Besar stadium in Singapore and won on penalty in the East playoff Final with Muangthong United F.C. of Thailand in Singapore. Armed Forces were group with former Champion Gamba Osaka of Japan, Henan Jianye of China and again Suwon Samsung Bluewings of Korea. Armed Forces got their first ever away points with a draw against Chinese Super League side Henan Jianye in Henan, China. Thus equalling their 1 point in 2009. In the return leg on 13 April 2010 at Jalan Besar stadium in Singapore, Armed Forces record their first ever historical AFC Champions League win with a 2–1 victory over Henan Jianye. Eventually finishing 3rd in the group ahead of Chinese Super League team Henan Jianye putting Armed Forces and Singapore football on the map in Asia Football.

On 20 January 2013, Armed Forces announced that they had changed their name to Warriors Football Club ahead of the 2013 S.League season.[1]

Alex Weaver, in his first full season as coach of Warriors FC, clinched the 2014 S.League title on the last day of the competition for the Warriors. With Brunei DPMM leading the table until the last day, the Warriors scored a 1–0 win over Albirex Niigata Singapore FC and they received a favour from Tampines Rovers FC, who beat Brunei DPMM FC 2–1 to hand Warriors FC their first title in 5 years and their 9th title in the league's 19 years history.

Friendlies

Pre-Season Friendlies & Tournament 2017

  Win   Draw   Loss

Asia Clubs (Pre-season) Championship 2017 (Cambodia)

Seasons

Season S.League Singapore Cup League Cup
Pos P W D L F A Pts
1996-1 4th 14 5 3 6 27 25 18
1996-2 1st 14 9 5 0 32 14 32
1997 1st 16 12 1 3 42 11 37
1998 1st 20 14 4 2 46 17 46 Runners-up
1999 2nd 22 14 7 1 63 24 49 Winners
2000 1st 22 16 4 2 53 15 52 Runners-up
2001 2nd 33 24 2 7 101 46 74 Third Place
2002 1st 33 26 6 1 104 37 84 Quarter-finals
2003 3rd 33 20 2–5 6 68 37 69 Group Stage
2004 4th 27 14 3 10 45 48 45 Quarter-finals
2005 2nd 27 15 7 5 54 41 52 Semi-finals
2006 1st 30 20 8 2 71 36 68 Quarter-finals
2007 1st 33 25 4 4 95 38 79 Winners Withdrew
2008 1st 33 24 5 4 85 34 77 Winners Quarter-finals
2009 1st 30 22 1 7 73 31 67 Round of 16 Runners-up
2010 4th 33 16 5 12 56 41 53 Round of 16 Quarter-finals
2011 3rd 33 21 3 9 74 39 66 Quarter-finals Quarter-finals
2012 7th 24 9 5 10 43 41 32 Winners Semi-finals
2013 7th 27 9 8 10 38 38 35 Preliminary Group Stage
2014 1st 27 16 5 6 53 35 53 Preliminary Group Stage
2015 5th 27 11 4 12 40 51 37 Quarter-finals Group Stage
2016 7th 24 7 7 10 39 39 28 Preliminary Group Stage

Management Committee

Club officials

Management

Technical staff 2017




Former Coaches

Players

SLeague Current squad 2017

As of 16 February 2017[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Singapore GK Jasper Chan
2 Singapore DF Zulfadli Zainal Abidin
3 Singapore DF Syaqir Sulaiman
4 Singapore DF Hafiz Osman
5 Japan DF Kento Fukuda
6 Singapore MF Ridhuan Muhammad
7 Singapore MF Shaiful Esah
8 Singapore MF Emmeric Ong
9 Romania FW Andrei Cosmin Ciolacu
10 Canada FW Jordan Webb
11 Singapore MF Fazli Jaffar
12 Singapore FW Samuel Benjamin
No. Position Player
13 Singapore DF Baihakki Khaizan
14 Singapore MF Poh Yi Feng
15 Singapore FW Fadhil Noh
16 Singapore FW Nur Asyidiq
17 Singapore MF Shahril Ishak (Captain)
18 Singapore GK Zainol Gulam
19 Singapore MF Hafiz Nor
20 Singapore DF Ang Zhiwei
21 Singapore MF Firdaus Kasman
22 Singapore GK Hyrulnizam Juma'at
24 Singapore DF Ho Wai Loon
25 Singapore DF Muhammad Sharin Majid

Prime League Current squad 2017

As of 16 February 2017[6]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
26 United States FW Clay Silvas
27 Singapore MF Gautam Selvamany
28 Singapore MF Gerald Gwee
29 Singapore FW Andin Addie
30 Singapore DF Fazlie Shafie
31 Singapore MF A Pavithran
32 Singapore FW Danial Zulkifli
33 Singapore DF Bryan Tan Yu Ru
34 Singapore DF Hariz Zulkefli
35 Singapore GK Muhammad Zulkifli Rahim
36 Singapore GK Bryan Quek
No. Position Player
37 Singapore MF Nur Luqman Rahman
38 Singapore DF Aniq Iskandar
39 Singapore DF Nur Helmi Razali
40 Singapore GK Mukundan Maran
41 Singapore DF Daniel Shafiq
42 Singapore MF Suhairi Sabri
43 Singapore FW Syahmi Zuhaily Sobirin
44 Singapore MF Mikhail Ramdan
45 Singapore MF Ruzree Rohzaini
46 Singapore DF Hairul Asri

Honours

Domestic

League

  • 1978, 1981, 1986

Cups

  • 1975, 1984, 1986

Reserves

  • 1997, 1999, 2000, 2007
  • 2006, 2008

Performance in AFC competitions

2009: Group stage
2010: Group stage
2015: Second Qualifying Rounds
1999: First round
2000: Second round
2002: First round
2007: Quarter-finals
2008: Quarter-finals
2013: Group stage
2015: Group stage
1998: Second round
2001: First round

AFC clubs ranking

As of 2 July 2017.[7]
Current Rank Country Team
127 Singapore Warriors FC
128 Kazakhstan Dordoi Bishkek
129 Vietnam Than Quảng Ninh
130 Lebanon Salam Zgharta
131 Malaysia Kelantan FA

Sponsors

References

  1. 1 2 "SAFFC renamed as Warriors FC". ESPN Star.
  2. ↑ http://www.safwarriors.com.sg/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=11
  3. ↑ http://www.sleague.com/Web/main.aspx?ID=693b0933-5803-4580-a1bf-c0504756b2ee,,&TargetPageID=
  4. ↑ Malathi Das and Palakrishnan (1996), "S.League: the kick-off", Singapore Professional Football League Pte Ltd, p. 38
  5. ↑ S.League.com - Team Profile
  6. ↑ S.League official website http://www.sleague.com/clubs-profile/warriors/team-profile. Retrieved 18 January 2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ "AFC Club Ranking (2nd July 2017 )". globalfootballranks.com. Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  8. ↑ "Warriors Special Bundle 2014!". Retrieved 19 October 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.