Hougang United (Singapore)

Hougang United FC is a professional football club in Singapore who were formed in 1981 as Marine Castle United by a group of Newcastle United fans. After playing in the National League for many seasons the club was accepted into the S League for the 1998 season.

For the first four seasons United finished in the bottom two of the table. A young Grant Holt played for the club in 2001 at the start of a professional career which would see him grace the Premier League back in England.

 

A change of name to Sengkang Marine FC in 2002 brought about slightly better finishes for a couple of seasons. Financial problems forced the club out of the competition in 2004 to be replaced by Paya Lebar-Punggol FC.

The club merged for the 2006 season to form Sengkang Punggol FC to play in the S League, finishing bottom of the table on their re-appearance. Tenth place in 2009 when Murphy Wiredu top scored for the side offers an indication of their performances.

 

Things improved in 2011 as the club took adopted the new title of Hougang United, which attracted a local fan base and marquee players and going on to finish in seventh place thanks in part to the goals of Jordan Webb.

The supporters group became known as the HOOLS, standing for Hougang Only One Love, as Nenad Baćina became head coach in 2012. After ending the 2014 season in seventh position under the stewardship of Amin Nasir, the club announced it would be merging with Woodlands Wellington FC to form a new S League club for the 2015 campaign.

 

The club retained the name of Hougang United, finishing bottom of the table in a season which saw both Salim Moin and then K Balagumaran in the position of head coach. Jozef Kapláň skippered the side in 2016 which finished sixth as Stipe Plazibat put away the goals.

Philippe Aw took command of the team from January 2017, lasting until halfway through the 2018 campaign, which saw the Cheetahs finish bottom. Clement Teo was put in charge after an interim period and led Hougang to the third position in 2019 with Faris Ramli putting away the goals.

 

AFC Cup football followed but was abandoned soon after it began owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. Another third place was achieved in 2021 as Japanese forward Tomoyuki Doi topped the league scoring charts.

The 2022 season finally saw Hougang collect silverware. A hattrick from Kristijan Krajcek saw his side defeat Tampines Rovers 3-2. The following day coach Teo handed in his resignation to take on a similar role at Boeung Ket Angkor in Cambodia.

 

Former S League player Marko Kraljević was appointed in his place, leading the side to sixth position in 2023, which was one in which the team moved to play home games at Jalan Besar Stadium while Hougang stadium undertook renovation works.

Hougang United will play in the Singapore Premier League in the 2024 season.

My visit

Hougang United 4 Tanjong Pagar United 2 (Wednesday 29^th October 2014) S. League Relegation Round (att: approx. 500) 

Having awoken after a brief siesta, I dragged my aching body off my hotel bed treading gingerly on my blistered feet. I’d had a fantastic day visiting six other S. League venues using the trains and buses of Singapore.

My evening appointment wasn’t too far away at Hougang. Following the game I was to be picked up by my local based cricket pal from the sixes circuit; Sanjaya De Silva, so I dressed as smartly as I could while remaining comfortable.

Thinking I’d save some energy I saw a bus heading to Aljunied station. That seemed most attractive. It would save my feet and energy. I sat back and relaxed as we headed off in the wrong direction! 

Yes, we did get to my intended target, but only after a long circular bus ride around the stunning housing and buildings of Marina East. All part of the perils of groundhopping in my book, but also an inadvertent opportunity to see new places.

This meant I was likely to miss at least the first ten minutes of the match, which was due to kick off at 7.30pm. I wandered across the open space outside the station and walked towards the bright floodlights. 

I was just passing the swimming complex as I heard the anthem being played to welcome the sides out. It was time to get my skates on, with no real damage done as I only missed about thirty seconds!

I paid my $5 admission, which equated to £3 and walked inside the stand. The old lady at the front of the stand gave me a couple of fans to keep myself cool, which doubled up as a basic programme while I found my bearings.

Hougang Stadium had a smart Main Stand with the only proper seating in the centre VIP section. The rest was deep stepped shiny concrete. Open seating was on offer on the far side, but there was no proper spectator accommodation. A running track encircled the playing surface. The teams entered from either end of the stand.

The HOOLS were down the far end of the stand, so I went to investigate. They had a full range of songs, although I found their ditty about building a bonfire for the officials most out of keeping for the very polite locals I’d come across. 

Some wore a familiar shirt to me. It was the same as the orange Scarborough Athletic top from the previous season. It wasn’t long before Nelson Moura put the lads in an even more enthusiastic mode as he put Hougang ahead. The PA blasted out White Stripe’s Seven Nation Army to celebrate.

The red and white striped visitors were not the best team I’d ever seen, but they weren’t there to defend. I decided to view the action from the far side for a while. The stewards allowed fans to walk round the track to reach the seats, trusting anyone to be sensible and not encroach onto the pitch.

I’d returned just before the interval as Firman Hanif made it 2-0. The Tanjong players trooped by me disconsolately shortly after for a drink and to receive instructions after the break. At half time the club held a free raffle with the numbers on match tickets being entered. It seemed a pleasant community-based club. I was ten numbers out for a minor prize.

After the restart, the visitors made life interesting as Kamel Ramdani slotted home a penalty to the immense joy of one real character. A local man well past retirement age dressed in party attire with a hat that had flashing lights on it. 

When the goal went in, he released a large popper that let out hundreds of bits of confetti. It seemed to cheer up the few visiting fans at that end of the stand. The game could have gone either way for a while. 

Tanjong tried their best to draw level, but ‘The Cheetahs’ put it to bed with goals from Brazilian Igor Ferreira on seventy-three minutes and a second from Moura four minutes later to make it 4-1.

I moved towards the front after letting Sanjaya know that the game was close to finishing. There was one last goal as the diminutive Tanjong winger Abdul Rashid, who was missing half of one arm netted deservedly with three minutes to go.

That should have been of no significance, but it certainly was to the old boy who cleaned the terraces. He’d got a head start and cleaned a few minutes earlier. He seemed proud of his work. 

He sadly hadn’t allowed for our ‘character’ who then let off another giant popper to spew paper all over a wide space. The look of the cleaner was a real picture. The poor lad was speechless apart from telling the old girl who handed out the fans. 

He just stood there and stared at his nemesis. I stood nearby as I didn’t want a geriatric brawl. Fortunately common sense prevailed as the cleaner just hissed as Mr Party Hat went down the tunnel. It made me laugh anyway!

Sanjaya was waiting for me in the car park and kindly took me to the private Singapore Indian Association club for beers and nibbles out on the lawn, before main course was enjoyed at the excellent Newton Circus. 

I’d definitely never dined out on oyster omelette and chilli coated stingray after a match before, but it was something I was more than willing to try in the future. It was a perfect end to a wonderful day. Yet, there was still fun ahead as I missed the last train back towards my hotel.

Fortunately, I soon hailed a taxi who knew where my hotel was. I didn’t half sleep well despite the noise from other guests and the desperately thin walls. It certainly didn’t occur to me that I’d seen the last game Hougang United would play before Woodlands Wellington would merge with them.