{{Infobox football league season | logo = S League.svg | competition = [[S. League]] | season = 1997 | winners = [[Singapore Armed Forces FC|Singapore Armed Forces]]<br/>1st S.League title | continentalcup1 = [[1998–99 Asian Club Championship|Asian Club Championship]] | continentalcup1 qualifiers = [[Singapore Armed Forces FC|Singapore Armed Forces]] | matches = 72 | total goals = 249 | league topscorer = {{flagicon|CRO}} [[Goran Paulić]] (21) | biggest home win = [[Tiong Bahru United]] 5-1 [[Tampines Rovers]]<br/><small>(5 July 1997)</small><br/> [[SAF FC|Singapore Armed Forces]] 5-1 [[Balestier Central]]<br/><small>(8 July 1997)</small> | biggest away win = [[Tampines Rovers]] 2-8 [[Balestier Central]]<br/><small>(28 June 1997)</small> | highest scoring = [[Tampines Rovers]] 2-8 [[Balestier Central]]<br/><small>(28 June 1997)</small> | prevseason = [[1996 S.League|1996]] | nextseason = [[1998 S.League|1998]] }}
The '''1997 [[S.League]]''' was the 2nd season of the [[S.League]], the top professional [[Association football|football]] league in Singapore. The format of the league was changed, a single season of home and away matches replacing the split seasons and a playoff model of the 1996 season.
The 1997 S.League championship was won by [[Singapore Armed Forces FC]].
==Teams==
Police Football Club underwent a rebranding, being renamed as [[Home United]] while NFL side Jurong Town Football Club, who renamed themselves [[Jurong FC]], joined the competition taking the number of participating clubs to 9. As a result of the construction of the new [[Jurong East Stadium]] being incomplete, [[Jurong FC]] used [[Bukit Gombak Stadium]] as their home ground for the 1997 [[S.League]] season.
{{Location map+ |Singapore |width=750 |float=none |caption=Location of teams in '''1997 S.League'''| places= {{Location map~ |Singapore |lat=1.330401 |long=103.852891 |label=[[Balestier Central]]|position=left}} {{Location map~ |Singapore |lat=1.326406 |long=103.939264 |label=[[Geylang United|Geylang Utd]]|position=right}} {{Location map~ |Singapore |lat=1.310016 |long=103.860347 |label=[[Home United|Home Utd]]|position=right}} {{Location map~ |Singapore |lat=1.358253 |long=103.753519 |label=[[Jurong FC|Jurong]]|position=left}} {{Location map~ |Singapore |lat=1.412389 |long=103.832334 |label=[[Sembawang Rangers]]|position=right}} {{Location map~ |Singapore |lat=1.33327 |long=103.719429 |label=[[Singapore Armed Forces FC|Singapore Armed Forces]]|position=left}} {{Location map~ |Singapore |lat=1.352904 |long=103.940524 |label=[[Tampines Rovers]]|position=top}} {{Location map~ |Singapore |lat=1.29589 |long=103.802417 |label=[[Tiong Bahru United|Tiong Bahru Utd]]|position=bottom}} {{Location map~ |Singapore |lat=1.434591 |long=103.780788 |label=[[Woodlands Wellington]]|position=left}} }}
{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Team ! Stadium ! Capacity ! Location |- |[[Balestier Khalsa|Balestier Central]] || [[Toa Payoh Stadium]] | style="text-align:center;"| 3,900 || [[Toa Payoh]] |- |[[Geylang International|Geylang United]] || [[Bedok Stadium]] | style="text-align:center;"| 3,900 || [[Bedok]] |- |[[Jurong FC|Jurong]] || [[Bukit Gombak Stadium]] | style="text-align:center;"|3,000 || [[Bukit Batok]] |- |[[Home United]] || [[Jalan Besar Stadium]] | style="text-align:center;"| 8,000 || [[Kallang]] |- |[[Singapore Armed Forces FC|Singapore Armed Forces]] || [[Jurong Stadium]] | style="text-align:center;"| 6,000 || [[Jurong]] |- |[[Sembawang Rangers FC|Sembawang Rangers]] || [[Yishun Stadium]] | style="text-align:center;"| 3,400 || [[Yishun]] |- |[[Tampines Rovers]] || [[Tampines Stadium]] | style="text-align:center;"| 3,600 || [[Tampines]] |- |[[Tanjong Pagar United|Tiong Bahru United]] || [[Queenstown Stadium]] | style="text-align:center;"| 3,800 || [[Queenstown, Singapore|Queenstown]] |- |[[Woodlands Wellington]] || [[Woodlands Stadium]] | style="text-align:center;"| 4,300 || [[Woodlands, Singapore|Woodlands]] |}
==Foreign players== {| class="wikitable" |- ! style="width:190px;"| Club ! style="width:190px;"| Player 1 ! style="width:190px;"| Player 2 ! style="width:190px;"| Player 3 ! style="width:190px;"| Player 4 ! style="width:190px;"| Player 5 |- | [[Balestier Central]] | {{flagicon|CRO}} [[Goran Paulić]] | {{flagicon|CRO}} [[Marko Kraljević (footballer)|Marko Kraljević]] | {{flagicon|CRO}} [[Bojan Hodak]] | None | None |- | [[Geylang United]] | {{flagicon|IRN}} [[Hamid Reza Estili]] | {{flagicon|IRN}} [[Mohsen Garousi]] | {{flagicon|AUS}} [[Warren Spink]] | {{flagicon|SCO}} [[Martin Tierney]] | None |- | [[Home United]] | {{flagicon|BRA}} [[Egmar Goncalves]] | {{flagicon|BRA}} Fabio da Silva | {{flagicon|Hungary}} [[Zsolt Bücs]] | None | None |- | [[Jurong FC]] | {{flagicon|Ghana}} [[Musah Edoe]] | {{flagicon|Ghana}} [[Tanko Tetumah]] | {{flagicon|SCO}} [[Alan McTurk]] | None | None |- | [[Singapore Armed Forces FC|Singapore Armed Forces]] | {{flagicon|CRO}} [[Ivica Raguž]] | {{flagicon|CRO}} [[Jure Ereš]] | {{flagicon|CRO}} [[Velimir Crljen]] | {{flagicon|CRO}} [[Davor Mioč]] | None |- | [[Sembawang Rangers]] | {{flagicon|CRO}} [[Zlatko Vidan]] | {{flagicon|Bosnia}} [[Milomir Šešlija]] | {{flagicon|SEN}} Ousmane N'Diaye | {{flagicon|Netherlands}} [[Ignacio Tuhuteru]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Gary Blissett]] |- | [[Tampines Rovers]] | {{flagicon|AUS}} [[Scott O'Donell]] | {{flagicon|NZ}} [[Chris Jackson (New Zealand footballer)|Chris Jackson]] | None | None | None |- | [[Tiong Bahru United]] | {{flagicon|Senegal}} [[Nicodeme Boucher]] | {{flagicon|Croatia}} [[Dragan Talajić]] | {{flagicon|Cameroon}} [[Émile Mbouh]] | {{flagicon|Sweden}} [[Håkan Söderstjerna]] | None |- | [[Woodlands Wellington]] | {{flagicon|CZE}} [[Jan Janostak]] | {{flagicon|England}} [[Stuart Young (footballer)|Stuart Young]] | {{flagicon|England}} [[Max Nicholson (footballer)|Max Nicholson]] | None | None |- |}
==Final table== <onlyinclude>{{#invoke:Sports table|main|style=football |update=complete |source=[https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/sing97.html RSSSF]
|team1=SAF |team2=TBU | team3=WLW |team4=BLC |team5=GLU |team6=TAM |team7=JUR |team8=SEM |team9=HOM |result1 = ACCQ
|win_BLC=8 |draw_BLC=4 |loss_BLC=4 |gf_BLC=43 |ga_BLC=26 |win_GLU=6 |draw_GLU=7 |loss_GLU=3 |gf_GLU=23 |ga_GLU=18 |win_HOM=2 |draw_HOM=1 |loss_HOM=13 |gf_HOM=17 |ga_HOM=41 |win_JUR=4 |draw_JUR=3 |loss_JUR=9 |gf_JUR=15 |ga_JUR=33 |win_SEM=1 |draw_SEM=5 |loss_SEM=10 |gf_SEM=19 |ga_SEM=37 |win_SAF=12 |draw_SAF=1 |loss_SAF=3 |gf_SAF=42 |ga_SAF=11 |win_TAM=4 |draw_TAM=3 |loss_TAM=9 |gf_TAM=22 |ga_TAM=38 |win_TBU=10 |draw_TBU=4 |loss_TBU=2 |gf_TBU=33 |ga_TBU=16 |win_WLW=11 |draw_WLW=0 |loss_WLW=5 |gf_WLW=35 |ga_WLW=29
|name_BLC = [[Balestier Central]] |name_GLU = [[Geylang United]] |name_HOM = [[Home United]] |name_JUR = [[Jurong FC]] |name_SEM = [[Sembawang Rangers]] |name_SAF = [[Singapore Armed Forces FC|Singapore Armed Forces]] |name_TAM = [[Tampines Rovers]] |name_TBU = [[Tiong Bahru United]] |name_WLW = [[Woodlands Wellington]]
|show_limit=5 |class_rules = 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored |res_col_header=Q |col_ACCQ=green1 |text_ACCQ=Qualification to<br>[[1998–99 Asian Club Championship#First round|Asian Club Championship<br>first round]] }}</onlyinclude>
==Top scorers== {| class="wikitable sortable" ! Rank !!width='150'|Name!!width='140'|Club!! Goals |- |align="center"|1||{{flagicon|Croatia}} [[Goran Paulić]]||[[Balestier Central]]||align="center"|21 |- |align="center"|2||{{flagicon|Brazil}} [[Egmar Goncalves]]||[[Home United]]||align="center"|15 |- |align="center"|3||{{flagicon|Croatia}} [[Jure Ereš]]||[[Singapore Armed Forces FC|Singapore Armed Forces]]||align="center"|14 |- |}
==External links== * [https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/sing97.html S.League 1997]
{{S-League}}
[[Category:Singapore Premier League seasons]] [[Category:1997 in Singaporean football|1]] [[Category:1997–98 in Asian association football leagues|Sing]] [[Category:1996–97 in Asian association football leagues|Sing]]