Hougang United FC

(Redirected from Sengkang Punggol)

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.

Hougang United
Full nameHougang United Football Club
Nickname(s)The Cheetahs
Short nameHOU
Founded1998; 26 years ago (1998) as Marine Castle United
2011; 13 years ago (2011) as Hougang United
GroundHougang Stadium
Jalan Besar Stadium (Hougang stadium going through renovation works)
Capacity3,800
10,000
ChairmanBill Ng
Head coachMarko Kraljević
LeagueSingapore Premier League
2023Singapore Premier League, 6th of 9
WebsiteClub website
Current season

Currently, the club are playing their home games at the Jalan Besar Stadium, as the Hougang Stadium is undergoing renovation.

History

Foundation

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

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)

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

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.

Hougang United players lifting the 2022 Singapore Cup trophy in its first ever piece of silverware in the club history.

First silverware

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

PeriodKit manufacturer
2011 Mitre
2012 Acono
2013 Waga
2014 Macron
2015–2018 Vonda
2019–2021 Warrix
2022–2023 Ari
2024–present Kelme
SeasonMain Sponsors
2015–2016ESW Manage
2017–2020ESW Manage
2020–2021 Northstar Group
2022–2024 The Physio Circle[5]

Ownership and finances

Partnership

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

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

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

Hougang HOOLs tifo - Satu Hati, Satu Hougang (One Heart, One Hougang)

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.

The hashtag #1H1H (Satu Hati Satu Hougang) or (One Heart One Hougang) was made popular by the supporters and had been featured on the 2023 Jersey.

Players

Current squad

As of 30 May 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos. NationPlayer
15DF  SRBEnsar Brunčević
16MF  SGPAjay Robson U23
17MF  SGPJustin Hui
18MF  SGPNikesh Singh Sidhu
19GK  SGPZaiful Nizam
20DF  BIHFaris Hasić FP U21
21DF  SGPNazhiim Harman
22FW  SGPGabriel Quak
24FW  SGPZamani Zamri U23
30FW  MNEDejan Račić
44FW  BIHPetar Banović

Under-21s and Academy

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos. NationPlayer
61GK  SGPIsaac Jonathan Lee U21
62DF  SGPAdam Reefdy U21
65DF  SGPGabriel Goh U21

On loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Technical staff

PositionName
General Manager Matthew Tay
Team Manager
Head coach 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

NameNatPeriodSilverware
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

SeasonName ChangedLeaguePos.PWDLGSGAPtsSingapore CupLeague CupAFC Champions LeagueFIFA Club World Cup
1998Marine Castle UnitedS.League11th20231519449Group stageNot qualified
199912th223316215612Round of 16
200011th224414184516Round of 16
200111th337620357127Group stage
2002Sengkang Marine8th3311616628439Semi-finals
20038th3378–117326638Group stage
2004
2005Paya Lebar PunggolS.League10th27112523784PreliminaryNot qualifiedNot qualified
2006Sengkang Punggol11th304620327218Quarter-finals
200711th3351018396925Quarter-finalsRunners-up
200811th3331020135419Round of 16Preliminary
200910th305619265821Round of 16Group stage
201011th337620244827Round of 16Semi-finals
2011Hougang United7th3315315556343*Semi-finalsRunners-up
20128th24789313329Quarter-finalsQuarter-finals
201310th279315374030Quarter-finalsGroup stage
20147th271269494242PreliminarySemi-finals
201510th274914284221PreliminarySemi-finals
20166th249510353932PreliminaryGroup stage
20176th249312243130Semi-finalsGroup stage
2018Singapore Premier League9th242616224412Quarter finals
20193rd24134758 4543Group stage
20206th1443719 2415
20213rd21104748 4034
  • 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

SeasonCompetitionRoundClubHomeAwayAggregate
2020AFC CupGroup F Lao ToyotaCancelled3–13rd out of 4
Hồ Chí Minh City2–3Cancelled
Yangon UnitedCancelled0–1
2022Group I Phnom Penh Crown4–32nd out of 4
Young Elephants3–1
Viettel2–5
2023–24Group H Sabah1–41–34th out of 4
Hải Phòng2–10–4
PSM Makassar1–31–3

Honours

Cup

Records and statistics

As of 1 July 2024.

Top 10 all-time appearances

RankPlayerYearsClub appearances
1 Nazrul Nazari2016–present183
2 Lau Meng Meng2009–2015174
3 Nurhilmi Jasni2012–2018165
4 Faizal Amir2010–2016146
5 Fadhil Salim2010–2014142
6 Azhar Sairudin2011–2014,

2017

138
7 Fairoz Hasan2013–2017,

2023

137
8 Sobrie Mazelan2008–2014135
9 Fazli Jaffar2011–2014,

2015

130
10 Mamadou Diallo2008–2013126

Top 10 all-time scorers

RankPlayerClub appearancesTotal goals
1 Stipe Plazibat5734
Jordan Webb88
3 Mamadou Diallo12628
4 Pedro Bortoluzo3023
Geison Moura32
6 Diego Gama6322
7 Kristijan Krajček5621
Shawal Anuar68
9 Tomoyuki Doi2119
Nurhilmi Jasni165
  • 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

References