# 1996 S.League > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/1996_S.League > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/1996_S.League.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_S.League > Source revision: 1295627666 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) This article needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "1996 S.League" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Football league season S.League Season 1996 Champions Geylang United 1st S.League title Asian Club Championship Geylang United Matches 113 Goals 364 (3.22 per match) Top goalscorer Jure Ereš (28) Biggest home win Singapore Armed Forces 5-0 Tampines Rovers (27 July 1996) Tiong Bahru United 5-0 Sembawang Rangers (19 October 1996) Biggest away win Police FC 0-5 Tiong Bahru United (5 October 1996) Highest scoring Singapore Armed Forces 6-2 Sembawang Rangers (11 May 1996) Police FC 3-5 Woodlands Wellington (19 October 1996) 1997 → The **1996 [S.League](/source/S.League)** was the 1st season of the [S.League](/source/S.League), the top professional [football](/source/Association_football) league in [Singapore](/source/Singapore). The S.League came into existence as a result of a fragmenting of relations between Singapore and Malaysian football associations. A dispute over the division of gate receipts for the Singapore representative in the Malaysian Premier League saw Singapore withdraw from the competition in 1995, ending a footballing connection between the two nations that stretched back to 1921, with the first participation of a Singapore team in the [Malaya Cup](/source/Malaysia_Cup). The semi-professional [FAS Premier League](/source/FAS_Premier_League) was founded in 1988, but had failed to find support amongst the local communities and media. The S.League was therefore created to fill the need to have a fully professional football league within Singapore. The [Football Association of Singapore](/source/Football_Association_of_Singapore) invited applications for clubs to compete in the newly formed league. Eight successful applications were made, these eight teams took part in a two-stage league season, with the winner of each stage qualifying for the end of season championship decider. The first half of the season was known as the [Tiger Beer](/source/Tiger_Beer) Series and the second half was known as the [Pioneer](/source/Pioneer_Corporation) Series. [Geylang United](/source/Geylang_International) defeated [Singapore Armed Forces FC](/source/Singapore_Armed_Forces_FC) in the end of season championship Playoff to be crowned the [1st S.League champions](/source/1996_Geylang_United_FC_season). ## Clubs Eight sides took part in the first S.League campaign; two of whom had been competitors in the former [Singapore Premier League](/source/FAS_Premier_League). These former Premier League clubs were Balestier United FC who changed their name upon joining the S.League to [Balestier Central](/source/Balestier_Khalsa) and the former Singapore Premier League powerhouse Geylang International, winners of six back-to-back Premier League titles, who renamed themselves [Geylang United](/source/Geylang_United_FC) for the first S.League season. The rest were clubs drawn from the amateur National Football League: [Police](/source/Home_United_FC), [Singapore Armed Forces](/source/Singapore_Armed_Forces_FC), [Tampines Rovers](/source/Tampines_Rovers), [Tiong Bahru United](/source/Tanjong_Pagar_United) and Wellington Football Club, who renamed themselves [Woodlands Wellington](/source/Woodlands_Wellington). [Sembawang Rangers](/source/Sembawang_Rangers_F.C.) were formed from a merger between two NFL sides, Gibraltar Crescent and Sembawang Sports Club. [Balestier Central](/source/Balestier_Central) [Geylang United](/source/Geylang_United) [Police](/source/Home_United_FC) [Sembawang Rangers](/source/Sembawang_Rangers) [Singapore Armed Forces](/source/Singapore_Armed_Forces_FC) [Tampines Rovers](/source/Tampines_Rovers) [Tiong Bahru United](/source/Tiong_Bahru_United) [Woodlands Wellington](/source/Woodlands_Wellington) Location of teams in **1996 S.League** Team Stadium Capacity Location Balestier Central Toa Payoh Stadium 3,900 Toa Payoh Geylang United Bedok Stadium 3,900 Bedok Police Jalan Besar Stadium 8,000 Kallang Singapore Armed Forces Jurong Stadium 6,000 Jurong Sembawang Rangers Yishun Stadium 3,400 Yishun Tampines Rovers Tampines Stadium 3,600 Tampines Tiong Bahru United Queenstown Stadium 3,800 Queenstown Woodlands Wellington Woodlands Stadium 4,300 Woodlands ## Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Balestier Central Ljutvo Bugucanin Goran Paulić Marko Kraljević Esad Sejdic Nathaniel Klay Naplah[1] Geylang United Mohammad Khakpour Hamid Reza Estili Chris Riley Zlatko Vidan Mohsen Garousi Police Egmar Goncalves Fabio da Silva Joao Batista Neto Sergio Cleveland Singapore Armed Forces Ivica Raguž Jure Ereš Velimir Crljen Davor Mioč Goran Grubesic Sembawang Rangers Anderson Da Silva Laszlo Kardos Mark Atkinson Ousmane N'Diaye Tampines Rovers Nagy Gabor Marco Antonio Scott O'Donell Seidu Suleiman Anas Nikolic Miroslav Tiong Bahru United Vlado Bozinoski Tibor Szaban David Miller Pedro Ricoy Ivan Kelic Woodlands Wellington Ervin Boban Sandro Radun Jan Janostak Joe Caleta Steven Rocknean ## League tables ### Series 1 (Tiger Beer Series) Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 Geylang United 14 9 1 4 27 14 +13 28 Qualification to S.League Championship play-off match 2 Woodlands Wellington 14 8 2 4 25 20 +5 26 3 Balestier Central 14 7 3 4 22 18 +4 24 4 Singapore Armed Forces 14 5 3 6 27 25 +2 18 5 Tiong Bahru United 14 4 5 5 20 19 +1 17 6 Police FC 14 4 5 5 22 23 −1 17 7 Sembawang Rangers 14 3 4 7 17 32 −15 13 8 Tampines Rovers 14 3 3 8 18 27 −9 12 Source: [RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/sing96.html) Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored ### Series 2 (Pioneer Series) Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 Singapore Armed Forces 14 9 5 0 32 14 +18 32 Qualification to S.League Championship play-off match 2 Tiong Bahru United 14 8 3 3 35 18 +17 27 3 Balestier Central 14 7 3 4 25 19 +6 24 4 Woodlands Wellington 14 6 3 5 29 25 +4 21 5 Geylang United 14 6 3 5 20 16 +4 21 6 Sembawang Rangers 14 4 3 7 14 23 −9 15 7 Tampines Rovers 14 2 2 10 10 28 −18 8 8 Police FC 14 2 2 10 18 40 −22 8 Source: [RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/sing96.html) Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored ### S.League Championship Playoff 9 November 1996 (1996-11-09) Singapore Armed Forces 1–2 Geylang United Jure Ereš 52' Mohammad Khakpour 46' Hamid Reza Estili 61' [Singapore National Stadium](/source/National_Stadium%2C_Singapore), Kallang Attendance: 30,000 The [Geylang United](/source/Geylang_International) victory in the Championship Playoff saw them qualify for the [1997–98 Asian Club Championship](/source/1997%E2%80%9398_Asian_Club_Championship). This was the first Singaporean representation in the Asian Club Championship since 1991–92, when Geylang International participated in 1st Round qualifying. Geylang were comfortably defeated by [1996 J.League](/source/1996_J.League) champions [Kashima Antlers](/source/Kashima_Antlers) in the first round of the East Asian half of the competition, Kashima finishing with an 8–2 aggregate win. ## Top scorers Rank Name Club Goals 1 Jure Ereš Singapore Armed Forces 28 2 Goran Paulić Balestier Central 22 3 Egmar Goncalves Police 19 ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["balestierkhalsafc.com"](http://www.balestierkhalsafc.com/match/72). *www.balestierkhalsafc.com*. - Ong, Henry. ["Singapore 1996"](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/sing96.html). *[RSSSF](/source/RSSSF)*. Retrieved 8 May 2014. v t e Singapore Premier League (SPL) S.League seasons 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Singapore Premier League seasons 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024–25 2025–26 2026–27 2026–27 clubs (manager, season) FC Jurong Shigetomi season Balestier Khalsa Kraljević season BG Tampines Rovers Akbar season Geylang International Noor Ali season Hougang United Eziakor season Lion City Sailors Ranković season Tanjong Pagar United Noh Alam season Young Lions Firdaus season Former clubs Beijing Guoan Dalian Shide Siwu DPMM Étoile Gombak United Harimau Muda A Harimau Muda B Jurong Liaoning Guangyuan Sembawang Rangers Sinchi Sporting Afrique Super Reds Warriors Woodlands Wellington --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [1996 S.League](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_S.League) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_S.League?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.