Woodlands Wellington (Singapore)

Woodlands Wellington FC was a professional club that participated in the S League in Singapore. The club was initially formed as Wellington FC in 1988 as a splinter group of Delhi Juniors, with their name deriving from playing at the Deptford Ground on Wellington Road in the district of Sembawang.

After competing in the Sembawang Group League and then the National Island-Wide League, Wellington progressed to the National League as members of Division Two. In 1994 ‘The Rams’ won promotion as champions.

They lifted the Division One crown at the first attempt in 1995, as well as being runners up in the Singapore Cup. The club was invited to become one of eight founder members of the S League in 1996.

 

A move to Woodlands Stadium was undertaken and at the same time their title changed to Woodlands Wellington FC. The move paid dividends as the team often played in front of capacity crowds in the north of the island with Woodlands finishing runners-up in that first season.

This was backed up by a third-place finish before the side slipped down the table for several seasons, including bottom place in 2001 before a huge improvement to fifth a year later. This was equalled in 2003 as Itimi Dickson netted the goals for Wellington 

Park Kung Guy became the fans goalscoring hero in 2004, prior to the club making an appearance in the 2005 Singapore Cup final where they were defeated 3-2 by Home United. Jonathon Angelucci put away the chances which ended in the Rams finishing third in the league.

 

Woodlands made the headlines in 2007 when the team walked off the pitch during a game against Tampines Rovers to protest refereeing decisions. The club was fined heavily and deducted six points.

Three midtable finishes ensued, while the team reached the cup final again in 2008, this time going down 2-1 after extra time to Singapore Armed Forces. By 2010 the side were bottom of the table once more, a performance that was repeated in 2011 and 2012.

Following the 2012 campaign rumours circulated that the club would drop out of the S League for 2013 because of financial problems blighting them. Manager Matthew Tay quashed the reports as fans set up a ‘Save Woodlands’ awareness campaign. 

A decent fifth place finish was a good return in 2013, but the Rams ended the 2014 campaign second from bottom under Head Coach Salim Moin, the former Singapore international midfielder.

However, in November 2014 it was announced that the club would merge with Hougang United for the 2015 S. League season keeping the name of United without any recognition of the Woodlands Wellington name.

My visit

Woodlands Wellington 3 Harimau Muda II 2 (Thursday 30th October 2014) S. League Relegation Round (att: approx. 300)

After the previous days huge groundhop, I’d gone for a more laid back and relaxing day using the free bus tour on my three days tourist pass. I’d enjoyed seeing what Singapore had to offer, and I was really impressed by the mixture of heritage and modern architecture.

Following a lie down back at my hotel I decided to have a pre match beer. Initially I’d considered Raffles for a Singapore Sling, but the website was rather sketchy about their prices, and as my dad always advocated; don’t enter shops if they don’t advertise prices.

Instead, I opted to get off the train at Somerset, at one end of Orchard Road. Over the busy thoroughfare I found what would be as cheap as I’d find in the tourist quarter. My dark Warsteiner was $15 (£7.50). Thank God it was happy hour prices!

To be honest the view and ambience were such that I nearly got stuck in for the night, but common sense prevailed. Even though I was tired, the SMRT red line ran from Orchard directly to Woodlands making it easy, albeit it taking the best part of forty five minutes.

On arrival I saw a set of bright floodlights, not where I imagined. Any confusion was soon quashed when I spotted the brighter glow coming from Woodlands Stadium just along the railway.

I missed the opening goal along with an elder holiday maker in front of me, as Nurshamil Ghani put the visitors from Malaysia ahead in the first minute. Muda were the team of the Malaysian under 20 national team and along with DPMM of Brunei and Albirex Niigata, offered overseas competition in the S. League.

I surveyed the scene of Woodlands Stadium. Once more there was an athletics track surrounding the pitch to offer the whole community facilities to be proud of. A long Main Stand with plastic seating in the centre was the only covered accommodation. The far side had semi-permanent open seating with the railway line running above it, with more temporary seating on the curves behind the goal.

The Rams fans cheered on their favourites with the usual drum banging out a beat. I decided to have a spell on the far side to try and avoid the heat, but even there I used the free fan come programme to try and create a breeze.

Around the half hour mark the hosts drew level thanks to an effort from the Korean Soon-Ho Moon. During the interval I wandered out the back by the clubhouse and ventured over to the excellent swimming complex in the hope of using a cash machine. I had no luck. Opposite was a huge sports hall, all run by the Singapore Sports Council.

After the break I was joined by the fan I’d gone in with. Richard was on holiday with his wife visiting their daughter. He was originally a Portsmouth fan when living on the south coast, before moving to Cullercoats and adopting Whitley Bay as his team and following non-league football.

We were having a really nice chat while watching what turned into a really decent second period. The game turned on the sending off of the visitors Afiq Faizal for a straight red on fifty five minutes, which we couldn’t quite work out. Presumably it was an off the ball incident?

Within three minutes Wellington had taken the lead with a goal from Fadhil Noh. They stretched it to 3-1 as Serbian defender Miloš Jevtić netted to the joy of the vocal home youngsters.

We were getting ready to leave when Muda grabbed a late consolation after building up some pressure with the goal of the game as substitute Muhamad Bahari scored with a bullet diving header. I said my farewell on full time but said we’d probably see each other at the following evening’s game. 

To be honest I was absolutely starving. I went as fast as my tired and blistered feet would carry me over the unlit open ground the huge malls surrounding Woodlands station to withdraw some money and buy delicious pizza and cheese straws. Eating was discouraged on all public transport, but I broke pieces off on the quiet train.

After one change I alighted past my hotel at a stop called Dakota as I had a particular nightcap venue in mind. I took the short walk up the path alongside the Geylang River to a bar called The Tuck Shop on Gullemard Road, which overlooked the water.

It was just what the doctor ordered. It had outside seating as well as plenty around the bar itself. Bottles from all over the world were available as chilled out music at just the right volume piped out. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable. 

I went for the Summer Ale from the local Archipelago Brewery and it was simply superb coming in a proper glass, with its hoppy flavour. Yes it was the equivalent of £8, but that’s the local going rate. It was worth every cent for the ambience and moment.

Alas, I was too tired to contemplate another pint. The price wouldn’t have deterred me. I’d been ultra-careful on the trip to allow for a few pleasures. I walked up to Geylang Road and caught the bus home, settling for a Magnum ice cream before bed.

It had been a wonderful day. Only a week or so later did I discover for the second successive evening, I’d seen the last game for a club in its current guise.