Warriors Football Club was a Singaporean professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Choa Chu Kang Choa Chu Kang (), alternatively spelled Chua Chu Kang and often abbreviated as CCK, is a planning area and residential town located at the northwestern point of the West Region of Singapore. The town shares borders with Sungei Kadut to the ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, that played in 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 division of football in

. 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. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

. 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. Warriors are currently the most successful club in the history of the Singapore league since its inception, having won the league title a record 9 times in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2014 and finishing second on four occasions in 1996, 1999, 2001 and 2005.

History

1975–1995

The Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association (SAFSA) football team was formed in 1975 to provide talented footballers serving

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

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 Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

. 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

1996–2005

The club than revamp it named to Singapore Armed Forces Football Club (SAFFC) and also adopt a new mascot as in its club logo where they joined the inaugural S.League in 1996. The reserve team which still keep its old name and old logo 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 than finished second in 1996 in its debut season where they signed 5 Croatian players Ivica Raguž, Jure Ereš,

Velimir Crljen Velimir Crljen (born 23 July 1966) is a Croatian retired footballer and manager who played in the Croatian First Football League, American Professional Soccer League, Canadian Professional Soccer League, and S.League. He also had several notabl ...

, Davor Mioč and Goran Grubesic. With Grubesic leaving the club at the end of the 1996 season, SAFFC continued with 4 of the remaining foreigners where the club went on to win back-to-back S.League title in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

and

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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. After retiring from football, club captain

Fandi Ahmad Fandi bin Ahmad (born 29 May 1962) is a Singaporean professional Manager (association football), football manager/head coach and former Association football, player. During his professional career, he played mainly as a Forward (association fo ...

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 Hajduk Split in 1977. He made his club debut on 11 November ...

as the club head coach in 1999 where he guided them to win the S.League title in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

. 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

Singaporean

Richard Bok Richard Bok Kok Chuan is a Singaporean professional football coach and former football player at SAFFC. He is currently the head coach of ActiveSG Football Academy at Serangoon Centre. Richard is the most successful coach in the history of Singa ...

took over as SAFFC's head coach in 2006 and led them to four consecutive league championships from 2006 to 2009. In 2008, SAFFC became the first Singaporean club to achieve a back-to-back domestic double, after winning both the S.League and the

Singapore Cup The Singapore Cup is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Singaporean football. Established in 1998, it is the foremost prestigious cup competition in the country. It is open to clubs in the Singapore Premier League. Since ...

in 2007 and 2008.

AFC Champions League debut

In 2009, SAFFC qualified for the

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

by defeating Thailand champions

PEA Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name ''Pisum sativum' ...

and

PSMS Medan Persatuan Sepakbola Medan dan Sekitarnya, commonly known as PSMS, is an Indonesian professional Association football, football club based in Medan, North Sumatra. It is one of Indonesia's most successful clubs. They currently compete in Liga 2 ( ...

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 , commonly a.k.a. shortened to the , and officially known as the for sponsorship with Meiji Yasuda Life, is the men's association football league in Japan. It is responsible for organizing Japan's major professional football tournaments, in ...

champions

Kashima Antlers The are a professional association football, football club based in Kashima, Ibaraki, Japan. They currently play in the J1 League, the top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The club has financial backing from Mercari, a Japanese ...

K League K League () is South Korea's professional football league. It includes the first division K League 1 and the second division K League 2. Clubs competing in the K League have won a record total of twelve AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions ...

champions

Suwon Samsung Bluewings The Suwon Samsung Bluewings () are a South Korean Association football, football club based in Suwon that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. Founded in December 1995, they have won the K League on four occas ...

and

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

runners-up

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Shanghai, that competes in . Shanghai Shenhua plays its home matches at the Shanghai Stadium, located within Xuhui District. The owner of Shanghai Shenhua is ...

. 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 Srivijaya (), also spelled Sri Vijaya, was a Hindu-Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia) that influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddh ...

of Indonesia and defeated

Muangthong United Muangthong United Football Club () is a Thai professional football club based in Muang Thong Thani, Pak Kret district, Nonthaburi province. The club plays in the Thai League 1, the top-flight football league of Thailand. Muangthong United has pa ...

of Thailand in the Eastern zone play-off final, again at home. Against

Henan Jianye Henan Football Club (), currently known as Henan F.C. Jiuzu Dukang () for sponsorship reasons, is a Chinese professional football club based in Zhengzhou, Henan, that competes in . Henan plays their home matches at the Hanghai Stadium, located wi ...

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 is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's home stadium is Panasonic Stadium Suita. They form a ...

2013–2019

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

Alex Weaver Alex Weaver is an English UEFA Pro Licence association football, football manager (association football), manager. Career Weaver began coaching at 17 years old when he passed the English FA Coaching Certificate (Now FA Level 2 in Football Co ...

, 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 reas ...

title on the last day of the competition for the Warriors. With DPMM of

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 ...

leading the table until the last day, the Warriors scored a 1–0 win over Albirex Niigata Singapore and received a favour from

Tampines Rovers Tampines Rovers Football Club (currently known as BG Tampines Rovers due to sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football, football club based in Tampines, Singapore, that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of t ...

, who beat DPMM 2–1 to hand Warriors 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.

Stadium

The Warriors were initially based at the

Jurong Stadium Jurong Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Jurong, Singapore, the stadium held 8,000 people. History 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. Previou ...

until 2000, before permanetely moving to the 4,268 capacity

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 a ...

in 2001. Permanently sealed success into history at Choa Chu Kang Stadium The stadium has become familiar for its elegant and soaring curved white steel roof, with supporting pylons, that covers the main grandstand. The

pitch itself consists of a self-watering "cell-system" turf pitch installation, supplied from Switzerland and approved by

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 ...

for international competition. The club has won 6 League titles during their time here. Before the

2015 SEA Games The 2015 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 28th Southeast Asian Games, or the 28th SEA Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2015, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held by the city-state of Singapore from 5 to 16 June 201 ...

commenced, they had to vacate Choa Chu Kang Stadium and instead played their home matches at the

Woodlands Stadium Woodlands Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Woodlands, Singapore. It is the main home ground of S.League side, Woodlands Wellington, and used mostly for football matches for both the S.League and Singapore National Football Leag ...

for the 2015 season instead.

Seasons

* The 1996 season of the S.League was split into two series. Tiger Beer Series winners

Geylang United Geylang International Football Club is a professional football club based in Bedok, Singapore, that competes in Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was founded in 1973 and played their first season in 1 ...

defeated Pioneer Series winners Singapore Armed Forces in the championship play-off to clinch the S.League title. *

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

: Group stage ::

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

: Group stage ::

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

: Second qualifying round *

Asian Club Championship The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) 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 cl ...

: 3 appearances ::

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

: First round ::

: Second round ::

: First round *

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

: 4 appearances ::

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

: Quarter-finals ::

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

: Quarter-finals ::

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

: Group stage ::

: Group stage *

AFC Cup Winners Cup The Asian Cup Winners' Cup was an Asian football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-Asian club competition organised by Asian Football Confedera ...

: 2 appearances ::

: Second round ::

2001 The year's most prominent event was 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. The United States led a Participan ...

: First round

Personal awards

Domestic

* League Player of the Year ** Ivica Raguž (1996) **

Mirko Grabovac Mirko Grabovac (born 19 September 1971) is a Croatian former professional football player and coach. He changed his nationality to Singaporean in 2001 in order to play for the Singapore national football team, before renouncing it in 2008. He ...

(2000) **

Therdsak Chaiman Therdsak Chaiman (; born 29 September 1973) is a Thai football manager and former attacking midfielder. Regarded as one of Southeast Asia's greatest-ever footballers, he is affectionately known among Thai fans as Uncle Therd (). He is the curren ...

(2002) **

Aleksandar Đurić Aleksandar Đurić ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Ђурић; born 12 August 1970) is a former professional association football, footballer who serves as the Principal (commercial law), principal for Sport Singapore and the ActiveSG Football ...

(2007, 2008) ** Mislav Karoglan (2011) ** Hassan Sunny (2014) * League Young Player of the Year ** Nicolás Vélez (2014) * League Coach of the Year ** Jita Singh (1998) **

(2000) **

(2006, 2007, 2009) * League Top Scorer ** Jure Ereš (1996) **

(1999, 2000, 2001, 2002) **

(2007, 2008, 2009) ** Mislav Karoglan (2011) * League Golden Gloves ** Hassan Sunny (2009)

Awards

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.

Honours

League

(record) **Champions (9):

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

**Runners-up (4):

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Cup

** Champions (4):

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

** Runners-up (3): 1998, 2000, 2019 * Singapore Community Shield ** Champions (3):

** Runners-up (1): 2013 *

President's Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

** Champions (3): 1975, 1984, 1986

Reserve

Singapore FA Cup The Singapore FA Cup, (also known as the Singapore Pools FA Cup for sponsorship reasons), is an annual association football, football competition in Singapore. After the Singapore Cup and earlier Singapore League Cup, League Cup, the Singapore FA ...

** Champions (4):

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Singapore League Cup The Singapore League Cup was an annual association football competition in Singapore. It was launched in 2007 and was open to teams who competed in the S.League. Albirex Niigata (S), a satellite club of Albirex Niigata of the J League, has won t ...

** Runners-up (2): 2009, 2017

Records and statistics

Top 10 all-time appearances

Top 10 all-time scorers

* Biggest Wins: 9–0 vs

Sembawang Rangers Sembawang Rangers Football Club was a professional football club in Singapore, based in Sembawang, Singapore The club played for S.League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was also referred to among supporters as the "Stallio ...

(''On 15 June 2002'') * Heaviest Defeats: 8–1 vs

Home United Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as the Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional football club based in Bishan. It competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. Founded ...

(''On 18 August 2004'') * Youngest Goal scorers: Marijan Šuto ~ 19 years 7 months 3 days old (''On 5 May 2016 vs DPMM'') * Oldest Goal scorers:

~ 39 years 2 months 4 days old (''On 16 October 2009 vs Sengkang Punggol'') * Youngest ever debutant: Danial Zulkifli ~ 17 years 2 months 6 days old (''On 25 July 2016 vs Geylang International'')

Former managers

References

External links

* *
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