Young Lions FC

Young Lions Football Club, commonly known as Young Lions, is a Singaporean developmental football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League. The team is under the direct control of the Football Association of Singapore. The Young Lions are one of the few football clubs in the world which place an age restriction on team members while playing in a top-flight professional league.

Young Lions
Full nameYoung Lions
Founded2002 (2002)
GroundJalan Besar Stadium
Head CoachNazri Nasir
LeagueSingapore Premier League
2021Singapore Premier League, 8th of 8

The Young Lions plays their league matches at the Jurong West Stadium. Their best S.League finish was third, which they achieved in 2004 and 2006.

Goal

By entering the Young Lions into the S.League, the FAS hopes to expose young players to top-level competition, thus helping to prepare them for international tournaments such as the Southeast Asian Games. While the bulk of the Young Lions squad is made up of members of Singapore's national under-23 team, the club also takes in promising young foreign players (e.g. Luka Savić). However, foreign players are normally only recruited into the Young Lions squad if they could potentially change their nationality to Singaporean and be eligible to play international football for Singapore at some point in the future.

Malaysian domestic competition

In 2011, the Football Association of Singapore and the Football Association of Malaysia reached an agreement that would see greater cooperation between the two nations. One of the intended avenues will see Young Lions play in the Malaysian Super League and Malaysia Cup from 2012 onwards, the first time a Singaporean team has participated in Malaysian domestic football since Singapore won the 1994 M-League and Malaysia Cup double. Although the new Singapore team will have the existing Young Lions set up at its core, the squad will be permitted up to five local players over the age of 14–16 players, as well as a number of overseas players in accordance with the quota set out by the rules of the Malaysian competitions the team will play in.[1]

Ultimately though, a new team was created for the Malaysia league: the LionsXII, while Young Lions remained in the S.League.

National Football Academy

Most of the Young Lions players come from the NFA (National Football Academy) and new players (from the NFA) will be promoted to the Young Lions squad every season.

The National Football Academy enters both the Singapore NFA U-17 and Singapore NFA U-18 teams into the Prime League to allow their players to gain more exposure and match experience by playing against older and more established players.[2]

Performance in domestic competitions

Season League Pos. P W D L GS GA Pts Singapore Cup League Cup
2003 S.League 12th (Wooden Spoon award) 3361–521337725 Quarter-finals
2004 3rd 271458745247 Quarter-finals
2005 6th 271269443742 Quarter-finals
2006 3rd 301578674352 Quarter-finals
2007 5th 3313812455447 Preliminary Withdrew
2008 9th 3371016304631 Semi-finals Semi-finals
2009 8th 309714334834 Preliminary Group stage
2010 9th 3391212374534 Semi-finals Preliminary
2011 9th 337620335427 Withdrew Withdrew
2012 10th 246513253723 Withdrew Group stage
2013 12th (Wooden Spoon award) 275319205218 Preliminary Group stage
2014 10th 277515385426 Withdrew Withdrew
2015 9th 277614304327 Withdrew Withdrew
2016 9th (Wooden Spoon award) 24231923709 Preliminary Withdrew
2017 9th (Wooden Spoon award) 24132010626 Withdrew Withdrew
2018 Singapore Premier League 7th 245613254621 Withdrew
  • 2003 saw the introduction of penalty shoot-outs if a match ended in a draw in regular time. Winners of penalty shoot-outs gained two points instead of one.

Players

As of 21 April 2022[3]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  SIN Umayr Sujuandy
2 DF  SIN Raoul Suhaimi
3 DF  SIN Jordan Emaviwe
4 DF  SIN Danish Irfan
5 DF  SIN Syabil Hisham
6 DF  SIN Jacob Mahler (Captain)
7 MF  SIN Daniel Goh
8 MF  SIN Shah Shahiran
9 FW  SIN Zikos Chua
10 FW  SIN Glenn Kweh
11 MF  SIN Rasaq Akeem
12 MF  SIN Joel Chew
13 DF  SIN Syahrul Sazali (Vice Captain)
14 MF  SIN Rezza Rezky
15 MF  SIN Amir Syafiz
16 DF  SIN Ryhan Stewart
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 GK  SIN Ridhwan Fikri
19 FW  SIN Khairin Nadim
20 MF  SIN Nor Hakim Redzuan
21 MF  SIN Zulqarnaen Suzliman
22 MF  SIN Danish Qayyum
23 MF  SIN Harhys Stewart
25 GK  SIN Dylan Pereira Singh
26 DF  SIN Danial Scott Crichton
27 MF  SIN Arshad Shamim
28 DF  SIN Syed Akmal
29 DF  SIN Harith Kanadi
30 MF  SIN Jared Gallagher
33 MF  SIN Fairuz Fazli Koh
34 MF  SIN Ryu Hardy Yussri
35 GK  SIN Rauf Erwan
FW  SIN Irfan Iskandar

Players on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF  SIN Sahffee Jubpre (National Service till 2023)

Staff

PositionName
Team ManagerSamuel Tan
Head coachNazri Nasir
Assistant coachKoichiro Iizuka
Goalkeeper coachRameshpal Singh
PhysiotherapistImran Khamis
Sports TrainerRyan Wang
Equipment OfficerOmar Mohd

Source:[4]

See also

  • Azkals Development Team, a Filipino professional football club whose players also play for the Philippines' national youth teams.

References

  1. Singapore Lions to participate in 2012 Malaysia Cup – Asia One, 12/07/11
  2. "Prime League Table". S.League Official Website. 11 July 2012.
  3. "SPL 2021 Club Guide: Young Lions". Singapore Premier League. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  4. "Club Profile – Garena Young Lions". S-League. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
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