Warriors (Singapore)

Warriors FC

Ground: Jurong East Stadium
Capacity: 2,700
Club Founded: 1975

Club Dissolved: 2019

Warriors FC was a professional football club in Singapore, currently in abeyance, founded as the Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association (SAFSA) football side, providing competitive football to those serving in the armed forces. 

Warriors FC Background

The team won the National League and Presidents Cup several times in its early years, before becoming a member of the S League in 1990 as one of eight founder members. As Singapore Armed Forces FC, they won the league title twice while playing home games at Jurong Stadium.

Jure Ereš and Mirko Grabovac were stars of the team, which added the Singapore Cup to their list of honours in 1999. A year later, a third league title was secured, with the double denied in the cup final against Home United. The club moved into Choa Chu Kang Stadium, where another S League title was collected in 2002.

Richard Bok arrived as Head Coach in 2006, leading the side to the league title in his first season at the helm with Aleksandar Đurić and Ashrin Shariff forming a fine forward partnership. The championship was retained in 2007, along with the Singapore Cup. The trophy was retained a year later, along with the league title, completing another double.

The team also reached the last eight of the AFC Cup for a second time before collecting an eighth S League title in 2009. Another Singapore Cup triumph followed in 2012 before the Singapore Armed Forces changed their name to Warriors FC a year later.

 

Alex Weaver was in charge of the team that won the 2014 S League, as Nicolás Vélez and Miroslav Pejić scored the goals. A temporary spell at Woodlands Stadium followed, coinciding with a spell when several managers came and went.

Former fans' hero Mirko Grabovac was appointed as manager in 2018, the first season of the rebranded Singapore Premier League. The club changed venues to Jurong East Stadium for the 2019 season as the standards required from facilities were increased.

Jurong East Stadium, where Warriors FC played their 2019 season home games

The team lost 4-3 to Tampines Rovers in the cup final before Warriors were omitted from the Singapore Premier League in 2020 owing to the club's poor finances, including debts for previous unpaid salaries. They re-applied for the 2021 season but were rejected. 

My visit

Choa Chu Kang Stadium 

Stadium Visit - Wednesday 29th October 2014

It was just after lunch on a scorching, humid day in Singapore. While I was loving the adventure of a day's ground hopping, my body was rapidly beginning to hurt as I alighted from a train on the SMRT at Yew Tee in the furthest northeast of the island.

Choa Chu Kang Stadium looked just that bit too far on foot, so I was delighted to find that the 307 bus would drop me right outside. As with all my venues for the day, there was a gate open as the main arena backed onto a sports complex.

The only real spectator facilities came by way of a fantastic, raised stand which had a soaring, curved arched roof, rising over the centre section. The pitch was surrounded by an athletics track. Any other room for fans was by courtesy of flat open standing. It was another venue with a sign warning any competitors to suspend their sport when the lightning siren sounded!

Behind the stand was a modern swimming complex and facilities for tennis, basketball, badminton, as well as a gym and dance studio. Areas for eating and drinking were also provided along with sports shops. It really was yet another example in Singapore of how community sports facilities should be.

I took the short walk around the corner onto the main Choa Chu Kung Drive to await the next 307 bus down to the station of the same name. I was ready for more serious rehydration.

Unfortunately, owing to an IT disaster on my return to the UK, I lost most of my pictures from Singapore, so several images on this page have been downloaded from the internet.