Jakarta Casual

Foreigners have always had an impact on Singapore of course. The very name Singapore dates to a prince, or king, from the nearby Indonesian island of Bintan. It was Englishman Stamford raffles who set the island on the way to free trade power house and it was another group of Englishmen who so feebly defended the island during the 2nd World War paving the way for the Japanese occupation.

Singapore of course is now an independent country, fiercely proud of her cleanliness and efficiency.

But while Singapore maybe proud of brands like Singapore Airlines and Tiger Beer it is less proud of its own domestic football. Pick up a local paper for a few days on the trot and it won't be long before you see someone pining for the good old days of the Malaysia Cup when packed houses filled the National Stadium as the Lions fought the likes of Selangor for regional pride and glory.

Since striking out on its own Singapore football has failed to attract the crowds that once created the Kallang Roar. Despite having teams that generally are supposed to represent local communities fans have not responded and people will prefer to follow Chelsea or Manchester United than their own local heroes for whatever reason. Chelsea, like Apple, McDonalds and Mercedes Benz are just another foreign brand that the urbane sophisticate to tick off his cool list.

In the wake of Bangkok Glass' win on Sunday many people told me the same thing. That the domination of the domestic game should act as a wake up call to the people who run the game. That something needs to be done to stop the game from dying a slow, unnoticed death.

There seems to be something in the Singapore psyche that loves a good whinge. I swear they're nearly as good as the Aussies at it. A local paper recently had a letter from some miffed gent who complained there were too many people at his local public swimming pool!

Following defeat to Vietnam in the 2008 ASEAN Football Federation Cup there was calls for a wake up among the people in charge. Following the exodus of players like Noh Alam Shah and M Riduan last year there was calls for someone to do something about the best players leaving. And now of course someone must do something after the humiliation of seeing all silverware grabbed by foreigners.

What to do is less clear.

Singapore is hidebound by a number of factors. Look at the team sheets for most games and you will be struck by the names in front of you. In a country where the Chinese form the majority you will rarely see a Chinese name. With parents pushing their offspring to be doctors or some kind of entrepreneur it is left mostly to the Malay and Indian to kick a ball professionally. Everybody wants something done as long as its not their children doing it.

That closed mind set means that an already small talent pool has suddenly got even smaller. And guess what? When they bring foreigners in and fast track them to citizenship the locals whine about all the foreigners in the game!

Well, duh!

On a purely footballing level the SLeague has proven to be one of the most exciting in the region, especially this season when three teams were still in with a chance of winning the title on the final match day. But the closeness of the league has not been matched by more bums on seats. Indeed one of the biggest news stories of the year was when a local paper revealed what everyone had already guessed. The official attendances did not reflect the actual number so of people in the stadium or even tickets sold.

So where are the fans? What are the FA doing to get people buying tickets to watch games?

Instead of the media and the local population getting excited by the title run in football in Singapore only attracts headlines when there’s something negative to report. And in Singapore unfortunately that happens way too often. Whether it’s having teams kicked out the league by FIFA or players beating the crap out of each other this 12 team league with few fans can certainly produce more than enough controversy to keep any red top headline writer happy for the whole season.

And when you throw into the mix revelations that players on the bench are not allowed to stand up and celebrate or cheer their team mates or that winning teams are allowed they only have a couple of minutes to celebrate because they want to shut the stadium down the general feeling has be one of WTF.

Last year when Noh Alam Shah et all headed to Indonesia many Singaporeans took it as a slur on their nation. What, they sniffed, could Indonesia possibly have that Singapore doesn’t? Well, it has passion for one thing.

The exodus south wasn’t the end of football as we knew it in Singapore and I wrote that at the time. Among the negativity that echoed round the island I looked for some bright lights and indeed we found them. The form of Shahril Ishak for example. Qiu Li’s strength up front for Tampines. Paul Cunningham impressing. Khairul Nizam finally getting on target. There was a vacuum and the vacuum was filled as other players seized their opportunities.

On the field there has been much that has been good in Singapore. Etoile have thrown down a challenge, it is up to the likes of SAFFC, Home United and Tampines Rovers to grab that. They have one advantage. Etoile are a team of mercenaries. The French Foreign Legion are looking for new clubs, Etoile was a fresh start for them, and after one season in the shop window you can be sure there will be a few suitors, both in Singapore and overseas, lining up to talk to them.

For me the biggest problem is not foreign teams winning all the trophies. Yes it may dent national pride but they were invited in and when you ask someone into your house you can’t blame them if they steal the family jewels.

Players heading overseas is not a problem either. It happens all around the world, why shouldn’t players get the chance to play in front of wild, passionate crowds. Maybe they think late salaries is a small price to pay for a more authentic football experience. And it is up to the players coming through to make sure they’re soon forgotten. Footballers don’t last forever, with the possible exception of Aleksander Duric.

Nope, for me the biggest problem facing Singapore football is the poverty of imagination at the highest levels. Why are the stadiums empty week in, week out? What is being done to bring the fans in? And I don’t mean tubs of ice cream being given away free. Why can’t people show any passion on or off the field? Why do match tickets say you can’t bring flags and banners into the stadium yet some people do? What is being done to meet AFC standards regarding promotion/relegation and achieving an average attendance of 5,000 fans per game?

For all the hype over the Strategic Plan that was released earlier in the season the biggest decisions taken in the second half of the season seem to have taken Singapore football backwards, not forwards. I’m talking about prioritizing foreign clubs over the Asian Champions League and banning Young Lions players for several months because of their part in the fracas with Beijing Guoan. Hardly moves designed to bring the bright future in Singapore football any closer.

Singapore football is not dead. The last few weeks have proven that. But it is sick and that sickness isn’t being treated. The biggest concern I have is that the professional game may just whither away and die and nobody would even notice, such is the apathy that currently envelopes the game.