Warriors Football Club is a Singaporean professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club that played in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. Before changing their name on 20 January 2013, they were previously known as the Singapore Armed Forces Football Club (SAFFC) since their establishment on 16 February 1996. Despite their name back then, not all players from the team came from the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. Some were internationals and others were foreign. The club's original choice of mascot was a wolf, but club officials chose a rhinoceros, which represents discipline, spirit, courage and teamwork. The Warriors are currently the most successful club in the history of the S.League since its inception, having won the title a record nine times in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2014 and finishing second on four occasions in 1996, 1999, 2001 and 2005. The Warriors were based at the

Jurong Stadium Jurong Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Jurong, Singapore, the stadium held 8,000 people. It was used mostly for football matches and was the home stadium of Sinchi FC when they played in the S.League from 2003 to 2005. Previously, Wa ...

until 2000, before moving to the

Choa Chu Kang Stadium The Choa Chu Kang Stadium (also known as the CCK Stadium) is part of the Choa Chu Kang Sports and Recreation complex located in Choa Chu Kang, Singapore. The international competition standard, multi-sport facility supports a range of sports and ...

in 2001. Before the

2015 SEA Games The 2015 Southeast Asian Games ( ms, Sukan Asia Tenggara 2015; ; ta, 2015 தென்கிழக்கு ஆசிய விளையாட்டுப் போட்டிகள்), officially known as the 28th Southeast Asian Games, o ...

, they had to vacate Choa Chu Kang and instead played their home matches at the Woodlands Stadium for the 2015 season instead. In 2019, they moved to the

Jurong East Stadium Jurong East Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Jurong East, Singapore. It is opened from 7am to 7.30pm. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Albirex Niigata Singapore FC and Tanjong Pagar United. The sta ...

, sharing their home with Albirex Niigata Singapore FC.

History

1975–2006

The Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association (SAFSA) football team was formed in 1975 to provide talented footballers serving National Service with opportunities to play competitive football. That year, they won the President's Cup, a feat that they repeated in 1978, when they also captured the National Football League title to complete double. Their Under-19 team won the national Under-19 title in 1979, 1980 and 1983, while the 1981 season of the National Football League saw the SAFSA emerge as unbeaten champions. The President's Cup was won by them again in 1984 and 1986, the latter time as part of a second double, as they also won the National Football League on goal difference. In 1990, the Pools Cup went to the SAFSA and their convincing displays led to their selection as one of eight clubs to compete in the newly formed S.League.Malathi Das and Palakrishnan (1996), "S.League: the kick-off", Singapore Professional Football League Pte Ltd, p. 38 Singapore Armed Forces FC's entry into the S.League in 1996 also resulted in the withdrawal of SAFSA from the National Football League. SAFSA would not participate in Singaporean football leagues again until 1999, when they rejoined the league. SAFFC finished second in 1996 and 1999 and won the league in 1997 and 1998. Former Singapore international Fandi Ahmad took over from

Mladen Pralija Mladen Pralija (born 28 January 1959) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Playing career Pralija began his career in the Yugoslav First League with HNK Hajduk Split in 1977. He made his club debut on 11 Nove ...

in 1999. Three coaches were at the reins during this period, each lasting only one season. SAFFC finished second in 2005 but otherwise outside the top two.

2006–2012

Richard Bok Richard Bok is a Singaporean soccer coach and former football player. He is currently Head Coach Serangoon Centre with ActiveSG Football Academy. Bok is the most successful coach in the history of Singapore's S.League.S.League and the Singapore Cup in 2007 and 2008. A year later, they qualified for the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

by defeating Thai champions PEA FC and PSMS Medan of Indonesia in the Eastern zone play-offs, becoming Singapore's first-ever representative at the highest club competition in Asia. SAFFC were drawn in a group with

J.League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most successfu ...

champions

Kashima Antlers are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...

K League K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2. History Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National S ...

champions

Suwon Samsung Bluewings ''(The Blue, White and Reds)''Tricolor'' , short name = SSB , image = , caption = , founded = , ground = Suwon World Cup Stadium , capacity = 44,031 , owner = Cheil Worldwide(Samsung's subsidiary) , chairma ...

and Chinese Super League runners-up Shanghai Shenhua. They lost all of their matches, except for a 1–1 draw against Shanghai Shenhua at home. In 2010, SAFFC qualified for their second consecutive AFC Champions League by registering a 3–0 home win against

Sriwijaya F.C. Sriwijaya Football Club, commonly known as Sriwijaya riwiˈdʒajaor SFC, is an Indonesian professional football club based in Palembang, South Sumatra, that competes in the Liga 2, the second tier of Indonesian football. The club was founded o ...

of Indonesia and defeated Muangthong United F.C. of Thailand in the Eastern zone play-off final, again at home. Against Henan Jianye of China in the group stage, they drew in the two teams' first encounter and won the return leg 2–1 in Singapore, finishing third in a group that also contained familiar rivals Suwon Samsung Bluewings and former champions Gamba Osaka.

2013–present

On 20 January 2013, SAFFC announced that they had changed their name to Warriors Football Club ahead of the

2013 S.League The 2013 S.League was the 18th season since the establishment of the S.League, the top professional football league in Singapore. It is known as the Yeo's Great Eastern S.League for sponsorship reasons. The season began in February 2013 and en ...

season. Alex Weaver, in his first full season as coach of Warriors FC, clinched the

2014 S.League The 2014 S.League was the 19th season since the establishment of the S.League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association football clubs. The league was also known as the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League due to sponsorship reason ...

title on the last day of the competition for the Warriors. With DPMM FC of Brunei leading the table until the last day, the Warriors scored a 1–0 win over Albirex Niigata Singapore FC and received a favour from Tampines Rovers, who beat DPMM 2–1 to hand Warriors FC their first title in 5 years and their 9th title in the league's 19-year history. However, good times did not last for the Warriors. In November 2019, the team were brought to court and charged with 107 counts of not paying salaries for their staff. In total, they failed to pay more than S$350,000 in salaries to about 30 employees, including players, coaches and supporting staff. 2 days after the incident was reported, ST reported that there were 2 parties that were interested to take over Warriors FC. On 31 December 2019, the FAS had instructed the Warriors to sit out the 2020 Singapore Premier League season due to their financial and legal issues. They applied to return to the Singapore Premier League and Singapore Cup competitions for 2021 to no avail.

Seasons

* The 1996 season of the S.League was split into two series. Tiger Beer Series winners Geylang United defeated Pioneer Series winners Singapore Armed Forces in the championship play-off to clinch the S.League title. *

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

saw the introduction of penalty shoot-outs if a match ended in a draw in regular time. Winners of penalty shoot-outs won two points instead of one.

Performance in AFC competitions

: 3 appearances ::

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

: Group stage ::

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

: Group stage ::

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

: Second qualifying round * Asian Club Championship: 3 appearances ::

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

: First round ::

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

: Second round ::

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

: First round *

AFC Cup The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying s ...

: 4 appearances ::

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

: Quarter-finals ::

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

: Quarter-finals ::

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

: Group stage ::

: Group stage * AFC Cup Winners Cup: 2 appearances ::

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

: Second round ::

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

: First round

AFC clubs ranking

Player of the Year Award

Top scorers

* Mirko Grabovac was naturalised from 2002 until he renounced his Singaporean citizenship in 2008. * Aleksandar Đurić was naturalised since 2007.

References

External links

Official club website

S.League website page on Warriors FC

Joma
{{S-League Football clubs in Singapore Military of Singapore Association football clubs established in 1975 1975 establishments in Singapore Singapore Premier League clubs Military association football clubs in Singapore