Singapore National Football League

The FAS National Football League, commonly known as the NFL, and now known as Singapore Football League is a semi-professional football tournament for clubs that are affiliated to the Football Association of Singapore.[1] It makes up the second and third tier of football in Singapore after the professional Singapore Premier League, which was established in 1996 and before the FAS Island Wide League.[2] The teams are also eligible to compete in the Singapore FA Cup.[2]

Singapore Football League
Founded1975 (1975)
Country Singapore
ConfederationAFC
Level on pyramid2–3
Relegation toSingapore Island Wide League
Domestic cup(s)FA Cup
SFL Challenge Cup
Current championsTiong Bahru
(Division 1)
Singaproe Khalsa Association
(Division 2)
Project Vault Oxley
(Island Wide League)
Most championshipsSingapore Cricket Club
(9 titles in Division 1)
Singapore Chinese
(4 titles in Division 2)
Singapore Chinese
(3 titles in Division 3)
WebsiteOfficial Website
2020 Singapore National Football League

Although it is amateur competition organized by the FAS, several former Singapore internationals and ex-S.League players are playing in the NFL such as Jonathan Xu, Indra Sahdan (Eunos Crescent), Yazid Yasin (Gymkhana FC) and Zulkiffli Hassim (Yishun Sentek Mariners).

History

The history of NFL can be traced back to the earliest 20th century during the British colonization of Singapore whereby the Singapore Amateur Football Association (SAFA), now known as Football Association of Singapore was formed in year of 1892 in the late 19th century. The then FAS known as the SAFA was the main football association in Singapore and it was responsible for organising the top tier football leagues in Singapore. The NFL a top tier football league in Singapore from the early 20th century until the formation of FAS Premier League in 1988. It previously made up of Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3 with the bottom team of Division 3 being relegated to the FAS Island Wide League which is also a tournament organised by FAS for the affiliated clubs or new clubs wishing to participate in the NFL.

As of 2018, it is now makes up a tier 2 and tier 3 football league system of Singapore behind the professional Singapore Premier League with rules of promotion and relegation applied for teams in NFL Division One and NFL Division Two with no Island Wide League for the year. With 12 and 11 teams making up for Division 1 and Division 2 respectively. The teams play a two-round league format, with a Home-Away format. The league features promotions and relegations for all the teams in both divisions, where the top two teams of a division will be promoted to the upper division, and the last two of a division will be relegated to the lower division.

Division 1 clubs

Division 2 clubs

Past champions

In 1975, the Football Association of Singapore revamped the existing league structure involving 118 teams into a two-tier league system.[3] For the 1987 season, the teams play each other once in a league format. The top eight placed teams in the league progressed to a knock-out stage to determine the champions.[4] League stage winners Tiong Bahru defeated 4th-placed Tampines Rovers 2–1 in the final to clinch the championship.[5][6] Reference:[7] The top tier of the football league system was replaced by the FAS Premier League from 1988, the S.League from 1996 and the Singapore Premier League from 2018.

See also

References
  1. "National Football League". Football Association of Singapore. Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  2. https://www.myactivesg.com/sports/football/how-to-play/did-you-know/national-football-league
  3. Dorai, Joe (7 February 1975). "'Super' league will bring soccer to doorstep". The Straits Times. p. 31.
  4. Dorai, Joe (3 January 1987). "Doorstep, rather than lip, service". The Straits Times. p. 33.
  5. Dorai, Joe (24 February 1987). "Bedok now made a top venue". The Straits Times. p. 27.
  6. Siow, Peter (26 March 1987). "Tiong Bahru rule in rugged final". The Straits Times. p. 31.
  7. "Singapore - List of Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
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