Post by NightLord on Sept 14, 2003 16:59:26 GMT 8
Young Japanese to play in S-league next season
Niigata - JAPANESE club Albirex Niigata will join Sinchi FC as the second foreign team to play in the Singapore league starting next season.
Sinchi, a Chinese club funded by a restaurant based in Singapore, are currently in seventh place from a 12-team league, the East Asians faring relatively well in their debut year in the South East Asian league.
Albirex Niigata, a second division club currently chasing promotion into the top flight in Japan, are surprisingly the most supported club across the nation.
A total of 472,507 fans paid through the gates to watch Albirex Niigata last year, with the current standing of 422,729 fans giving a real indication that the record could well be surpassed again this year.
Speaking to the Daily Yomiuri, Executive Director of Business at Albirex Niigata Mitsugu Tamura confirmed the club will be represented by their younger troops in Singapore, a crop of players who might not be able to gain first-team experience should the club eventually fly into J.1.
"Next year we will be putting together a team of young players and sending them to play in Singapore," said Tamura as two Japanese players, Akihiro Nakamura for Singapore Armed Forces and Hiroaki Tanaka of Tanjong Pagar United, are plying their trade in the island republic.
"We want them to gain experience by playing professionally outside Japan."
Albirex Niigata are currently six points ahead of Sanfrecce Hiroshima in J.2 with 12 rounds of matches left to the season.
* Views expressed in the news articles are not necessarily official views of the Asian Football Confederation.
Niigata - JAPANESE club Albirex Niigata will join Sinchi FC as the second foreign team to play in the Singapore league starting next season.
Sinchi, a Chinese club funded by a restaurant based in Singapore, are currently in seventh place from a 12-team league, the East Asians faring relatively well in their debut year in the South East Asian league.
Albirex Niigata, a second division club currently chasing promotion into the top flight in Japan, are surprisingly the most supported club across the nation.
A total of 472,507 fans paid through the gates to watch Albirex Niigata last year, with the current standing of 422,729 fans giving a real indication that the record could well be surpassed again this year.
Speaking to the Daily Yomiuri, Executive Director of Business at Albirex Niigata Mitsugu Tamura confirmed the club will be represented by their younger troops in Singapore, a crop of players who might not be able to gain first-team experience should the club eventually fly into J.1.
"Next year we will be putting together a team of young players and sending them to play in Singapore," said Tamura as two Japanese players, Akihiro Nakamura for Singapore Armed Forces and Hiroaki Tanaka of Tanjong Pagar United, are plying their trade in the island republic.
"We want them to gain experience by playing professionally outside Japan."
Albirex Niigata are currently six points ahead of Sanfrecce Hiroshima in J.2 with 12 rounds of matches left to the season.
* Views expressed in the news articles are not necessarily official views of the Asian Football Confederation.
