Lion City Sailors FC
Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as The Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional football club competing in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. Since the 2021 season, the team have played their home games at Jalan Besar Stadium.
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| Full name | Lion City Sailors Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Sailors | ||
| Short name | LCS | ||
| Founded | 2020 (as Lion City Sailors) | ||
| Ground | Bishan Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 6,254 | ||
| Owner | Sea Limited | ||
| Chairman | Forrest Li | ||
| Manager | Risto Vidaković | ||
| League | Singapore Premier League | ||
| 2022 | Singapore Premier League, 2nd of 8 | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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LCS is one of the most successful football clubs in Singapore, with its club owner being Forrest Li, who also owns Sea Ltd.
In 2021, the club smashed the league transfer history with a record S$3 million signing of Diego Lopes.
History
The Police Sports Association was founded in 1945 to organize football activities for the Singapore Police Force. It sent two teams to compete in the Singapore Amateur Football Association League in the 1950s and 1960s, but neither team won any trophies. Under coach Choo Seng Quee, Police SA won the inaugural President's Cup in 1968, then reached and lost the next two finals.
When the S.League was formed in 1996, the club was known as the Police Football Club. The following year, its name was changed to Home United to reflect the fact that the team represented not only the Singapore Police Force, but also other HomeTeam departments of the Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs such as the Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.
Home United was two-time S.League winners and holders of a record six Singapore Cup trophies. It was the first club to achieve the S.League and Singapore Cup double in 2003.[1]
The team's nickname was the "Protectors"; its mascot, a dragon; its home ground, the Bishan Stadium.
On 14 February 2020, the club was privatised for the first time in its history, when Singaporean billionaire Forrest Li announced that he had purchased a 100% stake in the club.[2] Home United Football Club was officially renamed as Lion City Sailors Football Club and its signature red colour was replaced with white and blue. LCS' main aim following its rebranding was to boost professionalism in Singaporean football, with becoming a Southeast Asian super club its long-term goal.[3] The new name, Sailors, was a homage to the country's maritime heritage.
On 21 January 2021, the club created history by smashing the Singapore Premier League transfer-fee record with the signing of midfielder Diego Lopes from Portuguese top-flight side Rio Ave for 1.8 million euros on a three-year deal.[4]
On 18 April 2022, the club defeated K League 1 club Daegu FC 3–0 in the 2022 AFC Champions League, their first AFC Champions League win since their rebranding.
Lion City Sailors Football Academy
In February 2013, Home United opened and operated a football academy, Home United FC Youth Football Academy (HYFA).[5] HYFA comprises ten futsal courts, two full-size football pitches, an events plaza, staff offices, meeting rooms and a Sports Performance Centre.[6]
In June 2020, the launch of the new Lion City Sailors Football Academy was announced, along with further plans on youth development and its investments. It was given a one-star rating by the Asian Football Confederation.[7]
On 24 April 2021, the Lion City Sailors announced the construction of a new training facility that will be home to both the Sailors and the LCS Football Academy. The facility is planned to be completed in April 2022.[8]
Players
Squad
- As of 20 January 2023[9]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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On loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Club officials
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Chairman |  Forrest Li |
| Chief Executive Officer | Vacant |
| Sporting Director | Badri Ghent |
| Head Coach |  Risto Vidaković |
| Assistant Coach |  Daan van Oudheusden |
| Assistant Coach | Noh Rahman |
| Goalkeeper Coach | Chua Lye-heng |
| Head of Performance |  Mario Jovanović |
| Performance Coach | Nasruldin Baharuddin Shazaly Ayob |
| Football Physiologist |  Firdaus Maasar |
| Sportstherapist | Fathul Nur Hakim |
| Head of Physiotherapy | Nurhafizah Abu Sujad |
| Sports Trainer | Fazly Hasan Danial Feriza |
| Logistics Officer | Zahir Taufeek |
| Performance Analyst | Nigel Goh |
| Video Analyst | Adi Saleh |
| Data Analyst | Daniel Lau |
| Under-21s Head Coach | Robin Chitrakar |
| Under-21s Assistant Coach | Winston Yap |
| Under-21s Goalkeeper Coach | Jun Guang-yeo |
Honours
League
- S.League: 3
- National Football League Division One: 1
- 1985
Cup
- Singapore Cup: 6 (record)
- Singapore Community Shield: 2
- 2019, 2022
- President's Cup: 1
- 1980
- FAS Challenge Cup: 1
- 1968
Reserves
- Prime League: 8 (record)
- Singapore FA Cup: 3
- 2013, 2015, 2016
Performance
Performance by coach
The following table provides a summary of the coach appointed by the club.
- Statistics correct as of 7 Nov 2022
| Manager | Career | Pld | W | D | L | Win % | Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philippe Aw |
December 2014 – July 2016 | 55 | 21 | 14 | 20 | 38.2 | |
| Aidil Sharin |
August 2016 – December 2018 | 91 | 50 | 17 | 24 | 54.9 | |
| Saswadimata Dasuki |
December 2018 – April 2019 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 33.3 | |
| Noh Rahman (interim) |
April – June 2019 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 37.5 | |
 Radojko Avramović |
July – August 2019 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 50.0 | |
| Noh Rahman (interim) |
August – November 2019 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 14.3 | |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Aurelio Vidmar |
December 2019 – April 2021 | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 59.1 | |
| Robin Chitrakar (interim) |
May – June 2021 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 | |
 Kim Do-hoon |
June 2021 – August 2022 | 36 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 61.1 | 2021 Singapore Premier League
2022 Singapore Community Shield |
| Luka Lalic (interim) |
August - December 2022 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 41.7 | |
| Risto Vidaković |
December 2022 - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
Performance by Competition
Singapore Premier LeagueThe following table provides a summary of the result by season.
AFC CompetitionThe following table provides a summary of the result by season.
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AFC clubs ranking
- As of 21 Dec 2020 [10]
| Current Rank | Country | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 38 |  | Al Taawoun |
| 39 | | Johor Darul Takzim |
| 40 | | Lion City Sailors |
| 41 |  | Vissel Kobe |
| 42 |  | Shanghai Shenhua |
Sponsors
| Kit Supplier | Main Sponsors |
|---|---|
 Puma | Sea Limited |
References
- "Darby fears for S'pore football".
- "Football: Singapore tech firm Sea takes ownership of Home United; club changes name to Lion City Sailors FC". CNA. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- "Inside Lion City Sailors - The making of Singapore's first superclub". Goal. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- Narendaren Karnageran (21 January 2021). "Lion City Sailors sign Rio Ave's Lopes in landmark S$2.9m transfer". The New Paper.
- "In need of a sound compromise". AsiaOne. 16 January 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- Osman, Shamir (10 June 2016). "Residents launch petition over Home United Youth Academy noise". The New Paper. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- Kwek, Kimberly (24 September 2020). "Football: Lion City Sailors' academy first in Singapore to receive One-Star rating from Asian confederation". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- "Lion City Sailors break ground at Singapore's first state-of-the-art integrated football training facility". Retrieved 28 July 2021.
- "SPL 2023 Transfer Centre Club Guide: Lion City Sailors". Singapore Premier League. 24 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- "AFC club ranking".