The 2019 Singapore Premier League (also known as the

AIA AIA or A.I.A. or Aia may refer to: Aia * Aia, a small town in the province of Gipuzkoa, Spain * Peñas de Aya, small mountain range in Oiartzun, Gipuzkoa * Aia, current Kutaisi, ancient capital of Colchis * Aia, another name for Aea (Malis), an ...

Singapore Premier League due to sponsorship reasons) was the 2nd season of the

Singapore Premier League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as the SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), wh ...

, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association

football clubs A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

, since its rebranding in 2018. A major overhaul from the new FAS management was made from this season onwards to improve the standard of Singapore football.

Rules

The following key changes were made to the rules for the 2019 season: # Singapore Premier League clubs could sign three imports from next season after the increase in foreign player quota was raised at the Football Association of Singapore's 36th Annual Congress # From 2019, only four stadiums host regular matches. The 8 teams (excluding DPMM) will host the matches in the following stadiums. Our Tampines Hub (Tampines Rovers and Geylang International), Jalan Besar Stadium (Young Lions and Hougang United), Bishan Stadium (Home United and Balestier Khalsa) and Jurong East Stadium (Albirex Niigata and Warriors FC). # For 2019, Albirex is allowed to sign as many locals as their budget allows. However, the club are only allowed one Singaporean over the age of 23. Also, Albirex must have two Singaporeans in their starting lineup for each game. # Each team is now able to register up to 28 players in their squad, an increase of 3 players as compared to 2018.

Teams

A total of 9 teams compete in the league. Albirex Niigata (S) and

DPMM FC Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota Football Club (English language, English: His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Brunei Football Club; Abbreviation, abbrev: DPMM or Brunei DPMM) is a professional association football, football club based in Bandar S ...

are invited foreign clubs from

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

respectively. Despite large criticism and discussion against the Young Lions project, the Young Lions will continue to compete till 2019 for the purposes of training and preparing for the

2019 SEA Games The 2019 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 30th Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games, and commonly known as Philippines 2019, were the 30th edition of the SEA Games, Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport ...

. The criticism mainly focused on the poor performances every season by the largely youth team made up of Singapore Football's brightest prospects. Season-long consecutive losses against the rest of the more mature teams inflicts serious long-term consequences on the morale of the players, considering that most of these players are in the developmental ages of their footballing career. The new age restrictions imposed on the rest of the Singapore Premier League clubs could be seen as giving the Young Lions a better advantage in terms of seniority, but most critics and fans of Singapore football are still wanting the FAS to abolish the FAS-managed Young Lions and have them developed under the guidance of genuine local clubs.

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and sponsors

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Coaching changes

Foreigners

Singapore Premier League clubs could sign three imports from next season after the increase in foreign player quota was raised at the Football Association of Singapore's 36th Annual Congress Albirex Niigata can sign up unlimited number of Singaporean players for the new season. Only 1 local player above 23 years old is allowed. Players name in bold indicates the player was registered during the mid-season transfer window. ''Note 1: Albirex, a Japanese club, is allowed to sign as many locals as their budget allows. However, the club are only allowed one Singaporean over the age of 23. '' ''Note 2: DPMM FC, a Bruneian club, can sign 3 non-Bruneian foreigners.'' ''Note 3: Singapore teams can sign 4 foreigners, of which 2 must be below 21 years old.''

Results

League table

Statistics

Top scorers

:''As of 29 September 2019.''

Clean sheets

:''As of 29 September 2019.''

Hat-tricks

Note ⁴ Player scored 4 goals ⁵ Player scored 5 goals

Own goal

Penalty missed

Awards

Monthly awards

Singapore Premier League Awards night winners

References

External links

Football Association of Singapore website

Singapore Premier League website
{{DEFAULTSORT:S.League 2019

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

1 2019 in Asian association football leagues