Hougang United FC

Hougang United Football Club is a professional football club based in Hougang, Singapore. The club competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of Singaporean football. Founded in 1998 as Marine Castle United, the club changed its name to Hougang United in 2011. Nicknamed the Cheetahs, Hougang United has played its home games at Hougang Stadium since its formation.

Hougang United
Full nameHougang United Football Club
Nickname(s)The Cheetahs
Short nameHGFC
Founded1998 (1998) (as Marine Castle United)
2011 (2011) (as Hougang United)
GroundHougang Stadium
Jalan Besar Stadium (Hougang stadium going through renovation works)
Capacity3,800
10,000
ChairmanBill Ng
ManagerMarko Kraljević (Interim)
LeagueSingapore Premier League
2022Singapore Premier League, 5th of 8
WebsiteClub website

The Cheetahs are also the current defending champions of the Singapore Cup.

History

Foundation

The club was founded as Marine Castle United Football Club, which was formed by Newcastle United fans in the Marine Parade area in 1998. Upon successful entry into the S.League in 1998, the club struggled in its early foray in the first few years, finishing in the bottom two for the next four seasons. The club's chairman was Dilwant Singh who became the club manager and head coach of the prime league team throughout his time at the club. Marine Castle then changed its name to Sengkang Marine Football Club in 2002 and the Dilwant was succeeded by David Rowe in which Dilwant became the assistant head coach. Sengkang Marine then goes on to finished in 8th position consecutively, its highest ever finish in its short history.

Merger with Paya Lebar-Punggol

Financial difficulties then forced Sengkang Marine out of the S.League in 2004, and Paya Lebar-Punggol Football Club took its place in 2005, finishing the season as wooden-spoonist. The two clubs then merged their resources from 2006 to 2010 to form Sengkang Punggol Football Club, finishing no higher than 10th.

Permanently renaming the club's name as Hougang United (2011–present)

On 1 January 2011, the chairman of Sengkang Punggol Football Club, Mr. Bill Ng, announced the changes that began the rewriting of another chapter of the football club. With improved financial status and a change in name to the present Hougang United Football Club, there was renewed optimism among the Hougang fan base around the club's home stadium since its inception, Hougang Stadium.[1] The club also had its fair share of marquee players in the earlier days such as Michael Currie, who formerly played for Queens Park Rangers). Conversely, Grant Holt began his early career at the club, before going on to play for upper division clubs in England, such as Nottingham Forest and Norwich City in the English Premier League.

In November 2014, it was announced that Hougang United and Woodlands Wellington will merge for the 2015 season.[2]

AFC Cup debut

Hougang United make their AFC Cup debut in the 2020 AFC Cup but due to COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament got cancelled thus only winning one match against Laos side, Lao Toyota 1–3 at the New Laos National Stadium in Vientiane. The Cheetahs also qualified for the 2022 AFC Cup group stage where they play all their match in a centralised venue at the Thống Nhất Stadium in Vietnam which see Hougang United finishing 2nd out of 4th place winning 4–3 against Cambodian side, Phnom Penh Crown and defeating Laos side, Young Elephants 1–3 before suffering a heavy defeat to Vietnamese club, Viettel 5–2.

Hougang United players lifting the 2022 Singapore Cup trophy in its first ever piece of silverware in the club history.

First silverware

On 19 November 2022, under the lead of caretaker manager Firdaus Kassim, Hougang United defeated defending champions, Tampines Rovers 3–2 in the 2022 Singapore Cup final in which Kristijan Krajček scored a hat-trick to secured The Cheetahs their first ever silverware.[3]

The club also finished 5th in the Singapore Premier League in the same season which meant they failed to qualify for any continental competitions but due to their Singapore Cup win, they snatched an AFC Cup spot from fellow Premier League club, Geylang International.[4] Hougang United started off their 2023–24 AFC Cup campaign with a trip to Kota Kinabalu facing Sabah on 21 September 2023 where they played their first fixtures in a heavy downpours which they suffered a 3–1 away lost however in the next match against Haiphong at the Jalan Besar Stadium, Hougang United bounced back from 1–0 down as Đorđe Maksimović scored a brace in the last 10 minute in the game to settled for a 2–1 victory as the Cheetahs collected the 3 points.

Sponsors

Season Kit Supplier
2011England Mitre
2012Acono
2013Waga
2014Italy Macron
2015–2018Vonda
2019–2021Thailand Warrix
2022-Thailand Ari
Season Main Sponsors
2015–2016ESW Manage
2017–2020ESW Manage
2020–2021Singapore Northstar Group
2022–2024Singapore The Physio Circle[5]

Ownership and finances

Partnership

On 22 November 2014, Hougang United announced a partnership with Global Football Academy for the 2015 S.League season.[6] On 16 November 2021, Hougang United announced the signing of main sponsorship with The Physio Circle for 3 years starting from 2022 to 2024.

On 19 October 2022, Hougang United announced the signing of sponsorship with Advance Capital Partners Pte Ltd for its women's team competing in the FAS Women's Premier League.

Scholarship

The Hougang United Scholarship was launched in May 2015. The aim of the scholarship is to support and facilitate the academic development of young non-professional footballing talents.[7]

Stadium

The Cheetahs home ground is based at the Hougang Stadium. The stadium has a capacity of 3,800 people. They have been the tenant at the stadium from 1998 until 2023 before moving out to the Jalan Besar Stadium temporary for the season due to renovating works. The club was once the sole club to play in a stadium in the north-eastern part of Singapore but since the implementation of VAR for the 2023 Singapore Premier League season, the club has been forced to move to the Jalan Besar Stadium as their new home stadium for the time being.[8]

Supporters

Hougang HOOLs tifo - Satu Hati, Satu Hougang (One Heart, One Hougang)

The club uniquely has an enthusiastic supporters' club known as the Hougang HOOLS (Hougang Only One Love), which was established in 2010.[9]

There is also a fan website representing the hougang support as a whole: https://www.hougangunitedfans.com/ The site features a blog, forum, players roster and a list of content creators who also bleed hougang.

Players

Current squad

As of 13 June 2023

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF Singapore SGP Anders Aplin
3 DF Singapore SGP Jordan Vestering U23
4 DF Singapore SGP Nazrul Nazari (vice-captain)
5 DF Japan JPN Naoki Kuriyama
6 DF Japan JPN Kazuma Takayama
7 FW Singapore SGP Amy Recha
8 MF Singapore SGP Shahdan Sulaiman
9 FW Singapore SGP Fairoz Hasan
10 MF Croatia CRO Kristijan Krajček
11 FW Singapore SGP Hazzuwan Halim
14 MF Singapore SGP Umar Ramle
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 DF Singapore SGP Ajay Robson U23
17 DF Singapore SGP Irwan Shah
18 MF Singapore SGP Idraki Adnan U23
19 GK Singapore SGP Zaiful Nizam
22 FW Singapore SGP Gabriel Quak
23 FW Singapore SGP Sahil Suhaimi
24 MF Singapore SGP Amir Zalani
25 GK Singapore SGP Zainol Gulam
36 DF Singapore SGP Abdil Qaiyyim
37 MF Singapore SGP Zulfahmi Arifin (captain)
44 FW Serbia SRB Đorđe Maksimović
68 DF Singapore SGP Iryan Fandi U23

Under-21s and Academy

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
53 GK Singapore SGP Keith Chung U21
55 DF Singapore SGP Rauf Sanizal U21
58 MF Singapore SGP Louka Vaissierre-Tan U21
60 MF Singapore SGP Raimi Ishraq U21
No. Pos. Nation Player
61 GK Singapore SGP Isaac Jonathan Lee U21
63 MF Singapore SGP Hariysh Krishnakumar U21
74 DF Singapore SGP Nasrul Pujiyono U21

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 Singapore SGP Harhys Stewart (to Young Lions)
MF Singapore SGP Nikesh Singh Sidhu (National Service until 2023)
DF Singapore SGP Sahffee Jubpre (National Service until 2023)
MF Singapore SGP Farhan Zulkifli (National Service until 2025)
GK Singapore SGP Aizil Yazid (National Service until 2025, to Young Lions)

Technical staff

Position Name
General Manager Singapore Matthew Tay
Team Manager Nigeria Robert Eziakor
Manager Croatia Marko Kraljević
Fitness coach Singapore Hairil Amin
Goalkeeper coach Australia Scott Starr
Youth coach Singapore Firdaus Kassim
Strength and Conditioning coach Singapore Syaqir Sulaiman
Sports Trainer Singapore Thomas Pang
Physiotherapists United Kingdom Shoban Rahulapaskaran
Singapore Ain Hassan
Singapore Daniel Tan
Equipment manager Singapore Richard Lim
Equipment Officer Singapore Wan Azlan Bin Wan Adanan
U-15 coach Singapore Tay Puay Guan
U-17 coach Nigeria Robert Eziakor

Managers

Name Nat Period Silverware
As Marine Castle United
Alan Vest New Zealand (1 January–30 July 2001)
As Sengkang Marine
Trevor Morgan England (1 August 2001 – 30 July 2003)
Abdullah Noor England (1 August–31 December 2003)
As Paya Lebar Punggol
Chow Kwai Lam Malaysia (1 January–4 June 2005)
Qi Yubo China (12 June–31 December 2005)
As Sengkang Punggol
Trevor Morgan England (10 January 2006 – 19 September 2007)
Saswadimata Dasuki Singapore (20 September 2007 – 21 July 2008)
Mirko Grabovac (caretaker) Croatia (29 July–5 October 2008)
Swandi Ahmad (interim) Singapore (6 October–31 December 2008)
Jorg Steinebrunner Germany (1 January–24 June 2009)
As Hougang United
Aide Iskandar (interim) Singapore (25 June–31 December 2009)
Aide Iskandar Singapore (1 January 2010 – 31 December 2011)
Nenad Bacina Croatia (1 December 2011 – 30 November 2012)
Johana Bin Johari (interim) Singapore (30 November–31 December 2012)
Alex Weaver England (1 January–31 March 2013)
Johana Bin Johari (interim) Singapore (April–August 2013)
Amin Nasir Singapore (21 August 2013 – 31 December 2014)
Salim Moin Singapore (1 January–30 October 2015)
K. Balagumaran Singapore (1 November 2015 – 30 November 2016)
Philippe Aw Singapore (Jan 2017–June 2018)
Clement Teo Singapore (June 2017–20 November 2022) 2022 Singapore Cup
Firdaus Kassim Singapore (20 November 2022-

Seasons

Season Name Changed League Pos. P W D L GS GA Pts Singapore Cup League Cup AFC Champions League FIFA Club World Cup
1998 Marine Castle United S.League 11th 20231519449 Group stage Not qualified
1999 12th 223316215612 Round of 16
2000 11th 224414184516 Round of 16
2001 11th 337620357127 Group stage
2002 Sengkang Marine 8th 3311616628439 Semi-finals
2003 8th 3378–117326638 Group stage
2004
2005 Paya Lebar Punggol S.League 10th 27112523784 Preliminary Not qualified Not qualified
2006 Sengkang Punggol 11th 304620327218 Quarter-finals
2007 11th 3351018396925 Quarter-finals Runners-up
2008 11th 3331020135419 Round of 16 Preliminary
2009 10th 305619265821 Round of 16 Group stage
2010 11th 337620244827 Round of 16 Semi-finals
2011 Hougang United 7th 3315315556343* Semi-finals Runners-up
2012 8th 24789313329 Quarter-finals Quarter-finals
2013 10th 279315374030 Quarter-finals Group stage
2014 7th 271269494242 Preliminary Semi-finals
2015 10th 274914284221 Preliminary Semi-finals
2016 6th 249510353932 Preliminary Group stage
2017 6th 249312243130 Semi-finals Group stage
2018 Singapore Premier League 9th 242616224412 Quarter finals
2019 3rd 24134758 4543 Group stage
2020 6th 1443719 2415
2021 3rd 21104748 4034
  • 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.
  • Sengkang Marine sat out the 2004 S.League season. They merged with Paya Lebar Punggol to form Sengkang Marine on their return to the S.League in 2006.
  • Hougang United deducted 5-point for a pre-match brawl with Etoile during the 2011 season.

Continental record

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2020 AFC Cup Group F Laos Lao Toyota Cancelled 3–1 3rd out of 4
Vietnam Hồ Chí Minh City 2–3 Cancelled
Myanmar Yangon United Cancelled 0–1
2022 AFC Cup Group I Cambodia Phnom Penh Crown 4-3 2nd out of 4
Laos Young Elephants 3-1
Vietnam Viettel 2-5
2023–24 AFC Cup Group H Malaysia Sabah 1–3
Indonesia PSM Makassar 1–3
Vietnam Hải Phòng 2–1

Honours

Cup

Records and statistics

As of 2 October 2023.

Top 10 all-time appearances

Rank Player Years Club appearances
1 Singapore Lau Meng Meng 2009–2015 174
2 Singapore Nazrul Nazari 2016–present 172
3 Singapore Nurhilmi Jasni 2012–2018 165
4 Singapore Faizal Amir 2010–2016 146
5 Singapore Fadhil Salim 2010–2014 142
6 Singapore Azhar Sairudin 2011–2014,

2017

138
7 Singapore Fazli Jaffar 2011–2014,

2015

130
8 Singapore Fairoz Hasan 2013–2017,

2023–present

128
9 Guinea Mamadou Diallo 2008–2013 126
10 Singapore Fabian Kwok 2017–2022 122

Top 10 all-time scorers

Rank Player Club appearances Total goals
1 Croatia Stipe Plazibat 57 34
Canada Jordan Webb 88
3 Guinea Mamadou Diallo 126 28
4 Brazil Pedro Bortoluzo 30 23
Brazil Geison Moura 32
6 Brazil Diego Gama 63 22
7 Croatia Kristijan Krajček 56 21
Singapore Shawal Anuar 68
9 Japan Tomoyuki Doi 21 19
Singapore Nurhilmi Jasni 165
  • Biggest Wins: 7–3 vs Tampines Rovers (11 September 2021)
  • Heaviest Defeats: 8–2 vs Lion City Sailors (13 August 2023)
  • Youngest Goal scorers: Farhan Zulkifli ~ 16 years 7 months 19 days old (On 29 June 2019 vs Home United)
  • Oldest Goal scorers: Shahril Ishak ~ 38 years 6 months 28 days old (On 20 August 2022 vs Young Lions)
  • Youngest ever debutant: Farhan Zulkifli ~ 16 years 7 months 19 days old (On 29 June 2019 vs Home United)

Notable players

References

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