Hougang United Football Club is a professional football club based in Hougang, Singapore. The club competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of Singaporean football. Founded in 1998 as Marine Castle United, the club changed its name to Hougang United in 2011. Nicknamed the Cheetahs, Hougang United has played its home games at Hougang Stadium since its formation. Currently, the club are playing their home games at the Jalan Besar Stadium, as the Hougang Stadium is under going renovation.
 | |||
| Full name | Hougang United Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Cheetahs | ||
| Short name | HGFC | ||
| Founded | 1998 (as Marine Castle United) 2011 (as Hougang United) | ||
| Ground | Hougang Stadium Jalan Besar Stadium (Hougang stadium going through renovation works) | ||
| Capacity | 3,800 10,000 | ||
| Chairman | Bill Ng | ||
| Manager | Marko Kraljević | ||
| League | Singapore Premier League | ||
| 2023 | Singapore Premier League, 6th of 9 | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
|
| |||
History edit
Foundation edit
The club was founded as Marine Castle United Football Club, which was formed by Newcastle United fans in the Marine Parade area in 1998. Upon successful entry into the S.League in 1998, the club struggled in its early foray in the first few years, finishing in the bottom two for the next four seasons. The club's chairman was Dilwant Singh who became the club manager and head coach of the prime league team throughout his time at the club. Marine Castle then changed its name to Sengkang Marine Football Club in 2002 and the Dilwant was succeeded by David Rowe in which Dilwant became the assistant head coach. Sengkang Marine then goes on to finished in 8th position consecutively, its highest ever finish in its short history.
Merger with Paya Lebar-Punggol edit
Financial difficulties then forced Sengkang Marine out of the S.League in 2004, and Paya Lebar-Punggol Football Club took its place in 2005, finishing the season as wooden-spoonist. The two clubs then merged their resources from 2006 to 2010 to form Sengkang Punggol Football Club, finishing no higher than 10th.
Permanently renaming the club's name as Hougang United (2011–present) edit
On 1 January 2011, the chairman of Sengkang Punggol Football Club, Mr. Bill Ng, announced the changes that began the rewriting of another chapter of the football club. With improved financial status and a change in name to the present Hougang United Football Club, there was renewed optimism among the Hougang fan base around the club's home stadium since its inception, Hougang Stadium.[1] The club also had its fair share of marquee players in the earlier days such as Michael Currie, who formerly played for Queens Park Rangers). Conversely, Grant Holt began his early career at the club, before going on to play for upper division clubs in England, such as Nottingham Forest and Norwich City in the English Premier League.
In November 2014, it was announced that Hougang United and Woodlands Wellington will merge for the 2015 season.[2]
AFC Cup debut edit
Hougang United make their AFC Cup debut in the 2020 AFC Cup but due to COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament got cancelled thus only winning one match against Laos side, Lao Toyota 1–3 at the New Laos National Stadium in Vientiane. The Cheetahs also qualified for the 2022 AFC Cup group stage where they play all their match in a centralised venue at the Thống Nhất Stadium in Vietnam which see Hougang United finishing 2nd out of 4th place winning 4–3 against Cambodian side, Phnom Penh Crown and defeating Laos side, Young Elephants 1–3 before suffering a heavy defeat to Vietnamese club, Viettel 5–2.
First silverware edit
On 19 November 2022, under the lead of caretaker manager Firdaus Kassim, Hougang United defeated defending champions, Tampines Rovers 3–2 in the 2022 Singapore Cup final in which Kristijan Krajček scored a hat-trick to secured The Cheetahs their first ever silverware.[3]
The club also finished 5th in the Singapore Premier League in the same season which meant they failed to qualify for any continental competitions but due to their Singapore Cup win, they snatched an AFC Cup spot from fellow Singapore Premier League club, Geylang International.[4] Hougang United started off their 2023–24 AFC Cup campaign with a trip to Kota Kinabalu facing Sabah on 21 September 2023 where they played their first fixtures in a heavy downpours which they suffered a 3–1 away lost however in the next match against Haiphong at the Jalan Besar Stadium, Hougang United bounced back from 1–0 down as Đorđe Maksimović scored a brace in the last 10 minute in the game to settled for a 2–1 victory as the Cheetahs collected the 3 points. Hougang United went on to have a great run in the 2023 Singapore Cup where they reach the final but were unable to retained their cup.
Sponsors edit
| Season | Kit Supplier |
|---|---|
| 2011 |  Mitre
|
| 2012 | Acono |
| 2013 | Waga |
| 2014 |  Macron
|
| 2015–2018 | Vonda |
| 2019–2021 |  Warrix
|
| 2022-2023 | Ari
|
| 2024- |  Kelme
|
| Season | Main Sponsors |
|---|---|
| 2015–2016 | ESW Manage |
| 2017–2020 | ESW Manage |
| 2020–2021 |  Northstar Group
|
| 2022–2024 | The Physio Circle[5]
|
Ownership and finances edit
Partnership edit
On 22 November 2014, Hougang United announced a partnership with Global Football Academy for the 2015 S.League season.[6] On 16 November 2021, Hougang United announced the signing of main sponsorship with The Physio Circle for 3 years starting from 2022 to 2024.
On 19 October 2022, Hougang United announced the signing of sponsorship with Advance Capital Partners Pte Ltd for its women's team competing in the FAS Women's Premier League.
Scholarship edit
The Hougang United Scholarship was launched in May 2015. The aim of the scholarship is to support and facilitate the academic development of young non-professional footballing talents.[7]
Stadium edit
The Cheetahs home ground is based at the Hougang Stadium. The stadium has a capacity of 3,800 people. They have been the tenant at the stadium from 1998 until 2023 before moving out to the Jalan Besar Stadium temporary for the season due to renovating works. The club was once the sole club to play in a stadium in the north-eastern part of Singapore but since the implementation of VAR for the 2023 Singapore Premier League season, the club has been forced to move to the Jalan Besar Stadium as their new home stadium for the time being.[8]
Supporters edit
.jpg)
The club uniquely has an enthusiastic supporters' club known as the Hougang HOOLS (Hougang Only One Love), which was established in 2010.[9]
There is also a fan website representing the hougang support as a whole: https://www.hougangunitedfans.com/ The site features a blog, forum, players roster and a list of content creators who also bleed hougang.
Players edit
Current squad edit
- As of 13 June 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Under-21s and Academy edit
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
On loan edit
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
Technical staff edit
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| General Manager | Matthew Tay
|
| Team Manager | |
| Manager |  Marko Kraljević
|
| Fitness coach | Rosman Sulaiman
|
| Goalkeeper coach |  Scott Starr
|
| Head of Youth/U21 coach |  Robert Eziakor
|
| Strength and Conditioning coach | Syaqir Sulaiman
|
| Sports Trainer | Thomas Pang
|
| Seishen Ratnagopal
| |
| Physiotherapists |  Shoban Rahulapaskaran
|
| Ain Hassan
| |
| Daniel Tan
| |
| Equipment Manager | Richard Lim
|
| Equipment Officer | Wan Azlan Bin Wan Adanan
|
| U-13 coach | Hairil Amin
|
| U-15 coach | Firdaus Mohamed
|
| U-17 coach | Hamid Reza Raeiskarimi
|
| Women's Team coach | Sivaraj Geevananthan
|
Managers edit
| Name | Nat | Period | Silverware |
|---|---|---|---|
| As Marine Castle United | |||
| Alan Vest | 
|
(1 January–30 July 2001) | |
| As Sengkang Marine | |||
| Trevor Morgan |
|
(1 August 2001 – 30 July 2003) | |
| Abdullah Noor |
|
(1 August–31 December 2003) | |
| As Paya Lebar Punggol | |||
| Chow Kwai Lam | 
|
(1 January–4 June 2005) | |
| Qi Yubo | 
|
(12 June–31 December 2005) | |
| As Sengkang Punggol | |||
| Trevor Morgan |
|
(10 January 2006 – 19 September 2007) | |
| Saswadimata Dasuki |
|
(20 September 2007 – 21 July 2008) | |
| Mirko Grabovac (caretaker) |
|
(29 July–5 October 2008) | |
| Swandi Ahmad (interim) |
|
(6 October–31 December 2008) | |
| Jörg Steinebrunner | 
|
(1 January–24 June 2009) | |
| As Hougang United | |||
| Aide Iskandar (interim) |
|
(25 June–31 December 2009) | |
| Aide Iskandar |
|
(1 January 2010 – 31 December 2011) | |
| Nenad Bacina |
|
(1 December 2011 – 30 November 2012) | |
| Johana Bin Johari (interim) |
|
(30 November–31 December 2012) | |
| Alex Weaver |
|
(1 January–31 March 2013) | |
| Johana Bin Johari (interim) |
|
(April 2013–August 2013) | |
| Amin Nasir |
|
(21 August 2013 – 31 December 2014) | |
| Salim Moin |
|
(1 January–30 October 2015) | |
| K. Balagumaran |
|
(1 November 2015 – 30 November 2016) | |
| Philippe Aw |
|
(January 2017–June 2018) | |
| Clement Teo |
|
(June 2017–20 November 2022) | |
| Firdaus Kassim |
|
(20 November 2022–17 April 2023) | 2022 Singapore Cup |
| Marko Kraljević |
|
(17 April 2023–present) | 2023 Singapore Cup runner-ups |
Seasons edit
| Season | Name Changed | League | Pos. | P | W | D | L | GS | GA | Pts | Singapore Cup | League Cup | AFC Champions League | FIFA Club World Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Marine Castle United | S.League | 11th | 20 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 19 | 44 | 9 | Group stage | Not qualified | ||
| 1999 | 12th | 22 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 21 | 56 | 12 | Round of 16 | |||||
| 2000 | 11th | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 45 | 16 | Round of 16 | |||||
| 2001 | 11th | 33 | 7 | 6 | 20 | 35 | 71 | 27 | Group stage | |||||
| 2002 | Sengkang Marine | 8th | 33 | 11 | 6 | 16 | 62 | 84 | 39 | Semi-finals | ||||
| 2003 | 8th | 33 | 7 | 8–1 | 17 | 32 | 66 | 38 | Group stage | |||||
| 2004 | ||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Paya Lebar Punggol | S.League | 10th | 27 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 23 | 78 | 4 | Preliminary | Not qualified | Not qualified | |
| 2006 | Sengkang Punggol | 11th | 30 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 32 | 72 | 18 | Quarter-finals | ||||
| 2007 | 11th | 33 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 39 | 69 | 25 | Quarter-finals | Runners-up | ||||
| 2008 | 11th | 33 | 3 | 10 | 20 | 13 | 54 | 19 | Round of 16 | Preliminary | ||||
| 2009 | 10th | 30 | 5 | 6 | 19 | 26 | 58 | 21 | Round of 16 | Group stage | ||||
| 2010 | 11th | 33 | 7 | 6 | 20 | 24 | 48 | 27 | Round of 16 | Semi-finals | ||||
| 2011 | Hougang United | 7th | 33 | 15 | 3 | 15 | 55 | 63 | 43* | Semi-finals | Runners-up | |||
| 2012 | 8th | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 31 | 33 | 29 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | ||||
| 2013 | 10th | 27 | 9 | 3 | 15 | 37 | 40 | 30 | Quarter-finals | Group stage | ||||
| 2014 | 7th | 27 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 49 | 42 | 42 | Preliminary | Semi-finals | ||||
| 2015 | 10th | 27 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 21 | Preliminary | Semi-finals | ||||
| 2016 | 6th | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 35 | 39 | 32 | Preliminary | Group stage | ||||
| 2017 | 6th | 24 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 24 | 31 | 30 | Semi-finals | Group stage | ||||
| 2018 | Singapore Premier League | 9th | 24 | 2 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 44 | 12 | Quarter finals | ||||
| 2019 | 3rd | 24 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 58 | 45 | 43 | Group stage | |||||
| 2020 | 6th | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 24 | 15 | ||||||
| 2021 | 3rd | 21 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 48 | 40 | 34 | ||||||
- 2003 saw the introduction of penalty shoot-outs if a match ended in a draw in regular time. Winners of penalty shoot-outs gained two points instead of one.
- Sengkang Marine sat out the 2004 S.League season. They merged with Paya Lebar Punggol to form Sengkang Marine on their return to the S.League in 2006.
- Hougang United deducted 5-point for a pre-match brawl with Etoile during the 2011 season.
Continental record edit
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | AFC Cup | Group F |  Lao Toyota
|
Cancelled | 3–1 | 3rd out of 4 |
 Hồ Chí Minh City
|
2–3 | Cancelled | ||||
 Yangon United
|
Cancelled | 0–1 | ||||
| 2022 | Group I |  Phnom Penh Crown
|
4–3 | 2nd out of 4 | ||
| Young Elephants
|
3–1 | |||||
| Viettel
|
2–5 | |||||
| 2023–24 | Group H | Sabah
|
1–4 | 1–3 | 4th out of 4 | |
| Hải Phòng
|
2–1 | 0–4 | ||||
 PSM Makassar
|
1–3 | 1–3 |
Honours edit
Cup
- Singapore Cup
- Singapore Community Shield
- Singapore League Cup
- Runners up (1): 2012
Records and statistics edit
As of 2 October 2023.
Top 10 all-time appearances edit
| Rank | Player | Years | Club appearances |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nazrul Nazari
|
2016–present | 181 |
| 2 | Lau Meng Meng
|
2009–2015 | 174 |
| 3 | Nurhilmi Jasni
|
2012–2018 | 165 |
| 4 | Faizal Amir
|
2010–2016 | 146 |
| 5 | Fadhil Salim
|
2010–2014 | 142 |
| 6 | Azhar Sairudin
|
2011–2014,
2017 |
138 |
| 7 | Fazli Jaffar
|
2011–2014,
2015 |
130 |
| 8 | Fairoz Hasan
|
2013–2017,
2023–present |
128 |
| 9 |  Mamadou Diallo
|
2008–2013 | 126 |
| 10 | Fabian Kwok
|
2017–2022 | 122 |
Top 10 all-time scorers edit
| Rank | Player | Club appearances | Total goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stipe Plazibat
|
57 | 34 |
 Jordan Webb
|
88 | ||
| 3 | Mamadou Diallo
|
126 | 28 |
| 4 |  Pedro Bortoluzo
|
30 | 23 |
| Geison Moura
|
32 | ||
| 6 | Diego Gama
|
63 | 22 |
| 7 | Kristijan Krajček
|
56 | 21 |
| Shawal Anuar
|
68 | ||
| 9 |  Tomoyuki Doi
|
21 | 19 |
| Nurhilmi Jasni
|
165 |
- Biggest Wins: 7–3 vs Tampines Rovers (11 September 2021)
- Heaviest Defeats: 8–2 vs Lion City Sailors (13 August 2023)
- Youngest Goal scorers: Farhan Zulkifli ~ 16 years 7 months 19 days old (On 29 June 2019 vs Home United)
- Oldest Goal scorers: Shahril Ishak ~ 38 years 6 months 28 days old (On 20 August 2022 vs Young Lions)
- Youngest ever debutant: Farhan Zulkifli ~ 16 years 7 months 19 days old (On 29 June 2019 vs Home United)
Notable players edit
References edit
- ^ "Eight Singapore Premier League clubs to share stadiums, views divided over 'semi-permanent move'". Retrieved 9 November 2020.
- ^ Ong, Terence (4 November 2014). "Jaguars to sit out next S-League season, Rams to merge with Hougang". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- ^ Lee, David (19 November 2022). "Football: Hat-trick hero Krajcek hails late brother after helping Hougang beat Tampines in Singapore Cup final | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
- ^ "Hougang United are 2022 Singapore Cup champions! - Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ "Football: Hougang United aim for better recovery and silverware with new sponsors the Physio Circle | the Straits Times". 15 November 2021.
- ^ "Hougang United aim to do more for community". 9 February 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
- ^ "Hougang United F.C. Scholarship". hgfc.com.sg. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- ^ "VAR to be implemented for 2023 Singapore Premier League season - Football Association of Singapore". spl.sg. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ Lee, David (15 March 2020). "Football: Hools out for Hougang United, but Cheetahs lose despite loyal fans' backing | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
External links edit
- Official website
- Team profile on S.League official website
- Hougang United FC on Facebook
- Hougang United FC on Twitter
- Hougang United FC on Instagram
