Post by Rangers on Sept 26, 2003 23:16:47 GMT 8
This is the last straw
Towards the end of last year and beginning of this year, Gombak Utd was forced to sit out of S-league, Balestier and Clementi were forced to merge as one team called Balestier Khalsa. All these decisions were made under the pressure of football authorities. The fans of these clubs were disappointed with the decision. And some were even outrage. But the voice of their dissatisfaction and disappointments were totally ignored. Those football authorities think that their decision is right and sensible, and that in time people (fans?) will move on, forget everything about it and sleague will be better and move to a brighter future.
Another decision that faced some objection was the inclusion of a Sinchi, which according to the football authorities; their inclusion will improve the sleague, increase competition and attract more fans. I leave that to you guys to decide whether all these were fulfilled by the inclusion of Sinchi in S-league.
Fast forward to this year, right now. The news of S-league having only 10 competing teams for the next season, with one additional foreign club in Albirex Niigata join and 3 current sleague clubs in Sengkang Marine, Tanjong Pagar and my beloved Sembawang Rangers to make way and exit form S-league has really disappoint me and the whole of the Sembawang fans. And by now the latest news is that Tanjong Pagar have volunteered to sit out of next year’s S-league, and confirmation of 10 teams in S-league for next season in the meeting of club chairmen.
While I cant speak for Sengkang’s and especially Tanjong Pagar’s case (TP has a sponsor in JVC and yet they are struggling financially. Makes me wonder what really happen), I am not going to deny that perhaps Sembawang could have done better in attracting sponsors. But what I want you guys to know that you can’t fault the management of Sembawang Rangers in doing their best to give what the players and the fans want. And the whole people connected with Sembawang Rangers are all behind the club and the management. All I am asking and emphasizing is please take into account the fans’ view and their whole-hearted support all these years because we are talking about 3 clubs with a significant number of fans here. But it is very obvious that to those people in the S-league committee and FAS, fans views are not important at all.
From that, I have come to the conclusion that fans are not important in S-league. And S-league doesn’t need fans at all. In fact, this whole S-league project doesn’t need fans’ views and support at all to continue. The most important thing is $$ and the recommendations by the so-called experts. As long as the club has $$ that is good enough already. Whether the club has fans or not is not important. As long as there are enough competing teams to allow Singapore pools to open for betting good enough already. If there aren’t enough teams, it can always invite another foreign team to join. And whether the club produce any players for the national team is also not important at all. There is always a foreign player who might want to become Singaporean and represent the country. Not enough foreign players? Get a foreign club with the whole team full of foreign players to join S-league! Not enough $$ to go around, no sponsors coming in? Just get rid of another local club and invite another foreign club! Not enough local players and quality to go around? Same thing, decrease the number of local clubs and invite more foreign teams! After all, some of those are the reasons given by the football authorities to justify their decisions!
Whether or not there is a last minute reprieve for Sembawang Rangers is no longer important, because the damage has already being done. As we can see here, the fans are losing their faith with the messy state of our local football and S-league, and the way the football authorities handling and running of our No.1 sport in Singapore. Time and time again, they have take their easy way out on decision making (eg. Appointment of Poulsen to handle 2 jobs), shortsighted views and solutions (penalty kicks, invitation of foreign clubs to improve competition and attract fans). And yet despite making mistakes on major decisions, these people are still in office and not resign or ask to leave for their mistakes made. And they claimed they should be given a chance to prove their worth and time for S-league and the national team to improve. And yet Sembawang Rangers is now on the verge of being kick out of S-league, simply because of the club’s inability to attract sponsors and no chance of making amends at all.
8 years ago in 1996, S-league was touted as a national project, a project that cannot be failed because it has to prove to both the fans here and the people from the north that there is life after Malaysia Cup. And Sembawang Rangers (2 clubs combined to form Sembawang Rangers) respond to the call and become one of the pioneer 8 clubs in S-league. Now, since the whole thing is not working at all, S-league need to downsize. And Sembawang Rangers has to be sacrificed. To quote an article written by Peter Siow for Streats dated 10 Sep 2003, “ Thank you, now you can leave”…This writer from Streats was really kind, because I don’t think there will be a thank you at all.
If Sembawang Rangers, the club that I support has to leave S-league because of financial reasons, then so be it. We are Sembawang Rangers fans forever and ever, with or without S-league.
And since S-league doesn’t need Sembawang Rangers, then I guess Sembawang Rangers fans don’t need S-league at all, because “financially” speaking, its not worth spending $$ following the league run by the people that “kill” the PASSION of fans and the club they supported.
Towards the end of last year and beginning of this year, Gombak Utd was forced to sit out of S-league, Balestier and Clementi were forced to merge as one team called Balestier Khalsa. All these decisions were made under the pressure of football authorities. The fans of these clubs were disappointed with the decision. And some were even outrage. But the voice of their dissatisfaction and disappointments were totally ignored. Those football authorities think that their decision is right and sensible, and that in time people (fans?) will move on, forget everything about it and sleague will be better and move to a brighter future.
Another decision that faced some objection was the inclusion of a Sinchi, which according to the football authorities; their inclusion will improve the sleague, increase competition and attract more fans. I leave that to you guys to decide whether all these were fulfilled by the inclusion of Sinchi in S-league.
Fast forward to this year, right now. The news of S-league having only 10 competing teams for the next season, with one additional foreign club in Albirex Niigata join and 3 current sleague clubs in Sengkang Marine, Tanjong Pagar and my beloved Sembawang Rangers to make way and exit form S-league has really disappoint me and the whole of the Sembawang fans. And by now the latest news is that Tanjong Pagar have volunteered to sit out of next year’s S-league, and confirmation of 10 teams in S-league for next season in the meeting of club chairmen.
While I cant speak for Sengkang’s and especially Tanjong Pagar’s case (TP has a sponsor in JVC and yet they are struggling financially. Makes me wonder what really happen), I am not going to deny that perhaps Sembawang could have done better in attracting sponsors. But what I want you guys to know that you can’t fault the management of Sembawang Rangers in doing their best to give what the players and the fans want. And the whole people connected with Sembawang Rangers are all behind the club and the management. All I am asking and emphasizing is please take into account the fans’ view and their whole-hearted support all these years because we are talking about 3 clubs with a significant number of fans here. But it is very obvious that to those people in the S-league committee and FAS, fans views are not important at all.
From that, I have come to the conclusion that fans are not important in S-league. And S-league doesn’t need fans at all. In fact, this whole S-league project doesn’t need fans’ views and support at all to continue. The most important thing is $$ and the recommendations by the so-called experts. As long as the club has $$ that is good enough already. Whether the club has fans or not is not important. As long as there are enough competing teams to allow Singapore pools to open for betting good enough already. If there aren’t enough teams, it can always invite another foreign team to join. And whether the club produce any players for the national team is also not important at all. There is always a foreign player who might want to become Singaporean and represent the country. Not enough foreign players? Get a foreign club with the whole team full of foreign players to join S-league! Not enough $$ to go around, no sponsors coming in? Just get rid of another local club and invite another foreign club! Not enough local players and quality to go around? Same thing, decrease the number of local clubs and invite more foreign teams! After all, some of those are the reasons given by the football authorities to justify their decisions!
Whether or not there is a last minute reprieve for Sembawang Rangers is no longer important, because the damage has already being done. As we can see here, the fans are losing their faith with the messy state of our local football and S-league, and the way the football authorities handling and running of our No.1 sport in Singapore. Time and time again, they have take their easy way out on decision making (eg. Appointment of Poulsen to handle 2 jobs), shortsighted views and solutions (penalty kicks, invitation of foreign clubs to improve competition and attract fans). And yet despite making mistakes on major decisions, these people are still in office and not resign or ask to leave for their mistakes made. And they claimed they should be given a chance to prove their worth and time for S-league and the national team to improve. And yet Sembawang Rangers is now on the verge of being kick out of S-league, simply because of the club’s inability to attract sponsors and no chance of making amends at all.
8 years ago in 1996, S-league was touted as a national project, a project that cannot be failed because it has to prove to both the fans here and the people from the north that there is life after Malaysia Cup. And Sembawang Rangers (2 clubs combined to form Sembawang Rangers) respond to the call and become one of the pioneer 8 clubs in S-league. Now, since the whole thing is not working at all, S-league need to downsize. And Sembawang Rangers has to be sacrificed. To quote an article written by Peter Siow for Streats dated 10 Sep 2003, “ Thank you, now you can leave”…This writer from Streats was really kind, because I don’t think there will be a thank you at all.
If Sembawang Rangers, the club that I support has to leave S-league because of financial reasons, then so be it. We are Sembawang Rangers fans forever and ever, with or without S-league.
And since S-league doesn’t need Sembawang Rangers, then I guess Sembawang Rangers fans don’t need S-league at all, because “financially” speaking, its not worth spending $$ following the league run by the people that “kill” the PASSION of fans and the club they supported.
