Specials – Page 3 – SailorFanTalk

[Special] When You Wear Your Jersey On Matchday – Takeaways from an Away Day in Korea

In this SailorFanTalk special, we have a guest writer, Tan Chin Heng! Chin Heng joined The Crew and SailorFanTalk in Korea for our clash against Jeonbuk, and then extended his trip to take in a K League 2 match. Here he writes about his experience and what lessons can be applied to the SPL scene. “Football is nothing without fans”. Familiar words that have been uttered by many, most notably by former Celtic / Scotland manager Jock Stein and Manchester United legend Sir Matt Busby. As we ride off into the sunset of the 2023 SPL season, we have an opportunity to take a step back and move our focus off the pitch to look at the most important aspect of football – the fans. Images of empty stadiums in the Covid-19 era may still be fresh on our minds, and that hollow feeling of watching games without any noise in the stands reminds us that fans really are an indispensable part of the beautiful game. A Fan Watching the Fans As an avid groundhopper, I’ve had the pleasure of visiting stadiums and watching football in over a dozen (and counting) different countries, and the most memorable moments I have witnessed at games have been off the pitch. I have seen thousands of Hibernian fans jumping in unison while singing their hearts out at an away European tie while 8-0 down on aggregate, 70,000 fans erupt in joy as Bruno Fernandes scored a late penalty against Nottingham Forest to complete an improbable 3-2 comeback, Spurs fans singing late into the night at Camp Nou after scoring a last-gasp equaliser against Barcelona to send them through to the Champions League knockout rounds. From the hallowed grounds of Old Trafford to the waterlogged pitch at Toa Payoh Stadium, whenever I go to a game I usually spend a good chunk of time observing the hardcore fans rather than watching the football itself, because the fan culture makes all the difference in a matchday experience. Over the course of this ACL campaign, I also had the privilege of attending all 3 LCS away games with the Crew. I travelled to Hong Kong as one of the winners of the contest held by the club, and to South Korea and Thailand on my own to meet up with the Crew over there. I think all those who travelled to our away games can agree that we have taken valuable lessons from watching fans of other clubs and countries in action, and we wanted to take what we learnt and apply it to the SPL because we realized it’s not just about the football, but the quality of fan culture in Singapore as well. Saying Annyeong to Anyang In today’s article, I am taking you to our second ACL trip in Korea. Not to the Jeonbuk game (that 3-0 loss has since become a repressed memory buried deep in my consciousness), but to Anyang, a city just south of Seoul with a population of 600,000. A few of us extended our trip after the ACL game and were staying in Seoul for the weekend. Being football fans, we naturally wanted to check out the local league. I remember being a little bummed that there were no other K League 1 games near Seoul that Saturday, so after a bit of research we “settled” on watching K League 2 (the second tier of Korean football) instead, as there was a game at Anyang which is about a 45-minute subway ride away. As we made our way to Anyang Stadium on match day, I was not expecting much from the game. For context, Anyang were playing against Seoul E-land FC at the tail-end of the K League 2 season. Both teams had hardly anything to play for, at best Anyang had an outside chance of making the promotion playoffs if they won all their remaining games and a bunch of other results went their way. In essence, this game was pretty much a dead rubber and I was expecting perhaps a few hundred fans, a small stadium, a flat atmosphere. Never have I been so wrong. Matchday As we walked up to the main gate of Anyang stadium, we saw the first signs that we were in for a special matchday experience as we were greeted by a wave of purple everywhere, the home colours of Anyang FC. Right beside the stadium entrance was a well-stocked merchandise booth and a ticketing counter fully decked in purple, with hundreds of fans in their purple home jerseys getting ready to enter the stadium. After taking some time to sort out our tickets and raid the merchandise booth, we walked through the entrance gate and were greeted by two giant inflatable mascots in sight just beyond the gates dressed in the home jersey. The first surprise was the atmosphere that we immediately felt once we entered the stadium. It didn’t feel just a football game – it felt more like some sort of festival. Anyang Stadium was not a ‘proper’ football stadium, so it also had running tracks along the perimeter of the pitch. However, stands were built on the running tracks along the two long sides of the pitch for fans to be closer to the action, and the remaining area of the running tracks housed the giant mascots, food trucks, and an area for kids to play some football-related games. It seemed like a perfect way for friends and families to spend a Saturday evening. We took some photos, got some fried chicken from one of the food trucks, and settled down into our seats to soak it all in. The next surprise came as we approached kick-off. Like many of the clubs in Korea, Anyang had a pre-game song they would play on the big screens before the players came out of the tunnel. Just as the music started blaring on the speakers, the stand holding the Anyang ultras sprang into life. Dozens of flags waving in

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[Special] “Ahoy Stranger! Come Aboard” – A Tale of an “Outsider” Joining the Crew

2 Comments / Specials / Ernest Cheong

In this SailorFanTalk special, we have a guest writer, Ernest Cheong! Ernest joined The Crew and SailorFanTalk in Korea for our clash against Jeonbuk last month. Here he writes about his positive experience and why he believes more should join in and lend their support to the Sailors #allhandsondeck Once Upon a Time Once upon a time, there was a lone man on a deserted island. He would watch the seafarers from afar, intrigued by their bravado and vigour when they sat sail on their voyages. He could see them even from his lonesome abode, for the sea was vast and wide. It represented the unknown, both the waters and the humans who navigated it. You see, the man had never once left shore, worried about the uncertainties out there. One fateful day the man spotted an abandoned raft that had washed ashore, it bore the same insignia of the ships he had been in awe of. Curiously, a note was intact on the interior of the waterborne craft: “Ahoy stranger! Consider this an invitation to set sail with us on an adventure of a lifetime. Now the tide is too shallow for us to reach your residence, take this raft and come aboard to experience the thrills of sailing with us!” The man was confounded – his curiosity had been noticed by the seafarers after all. Perhaps there was something out there for him other than his life of solitude. Thus the man left the island on the said raft, into the vast unknown. The ship was not hard to spot, the crew were expecting his arrival. Nearing his hosts, however, his anxiety took over – what if his sea-legs did not work, what if he would not belong among this trope of experienced sailors? The man went aboard the ship with conviction. To his pleasant surprise, the seafarers were not unlike him. They were once all island-dwellers like him, curious about the wonders out there. Each took a plunge and eventually formed a community of explorers. Inspired, the man and his fellow crew set sail for new lands, recruiting new like-minded individuals. The island days soon became a distant memory. Back to the Present That was an elongated figurative account of my experience meeting the Crew, but what an adventure it has been. It isn’t everyday you take the plunge to go overseas with strangers you’ve never met. We travelled 4521 km to Jeonju, South Korea, to support our beloved Sailors for their ACL match against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, but that wasn’t all that transpired. The Crew felt like family – we didn’t just bond over football. This was a group of passionate people from different walks of life that banded together on a chilly night in Jeonju. Though the match result wasn’t to be, we made sure we did not let ourselves down with the boisterous support we displayed. The First Meeting The vibes were immaculate the moment I met The Crew for the first time at Changi Airport Terminal 3. I’m not exaggerating – I tend to sit alone or with my own group of football kakis during LCS games. This was my first time interacting with the ‘Ultras’, and my only regret is not taking the initiative to do so earlier. I am fortunate to have been chosen by the club for this particular expedition – it was actually my second attempt nominating myself. Eddy was the one who encouraged me to try again. Frankly if it wasn’t for that, perhaps I wouldn’t be here sharing my experience with all of you. Anyway, we collected our complimentary gift bag which included the ACL meal tee (how thoughtful of the club), took a few pictures for the club’s socials, checked in and had some time for ourselves before the flight. It took no time at all to warm up to my new acquaintances – again, the vibes were immaculate. Before long we were chatting away, and the smaller group I was with barely made it in time for boarding! It was a 2:45am flight, so once we got on the plane we knocked ourselves out. We had a long day ahead. Arrival in Korea After a flight where I could barely sleep, we touched down in Incheon and were greeted by our amazing guide Sujin. We were advised to pack some refreshments for the 3.5hr transit to Jeonju, and soon after we were on our way. I remember marvelling at the Incheon Bridge, a 21km cable-stayed bridge connecting Yeongjong Island to the rest of the cities. It gave us magnificent views of the Korean Peninsula and that was the first time it truly clicked in – we are finally here in Korea to support our Sailors! Now the coach ride was where things became interesting. You wouldn’t believe it, but many of my core memories of the trip were from the time we spent traveling between places. We made full use of the microphone onboard, playing ice-breaker games that honestly were less cheesy than expected. We also recorded ourselves trying to sing parts of Korean songs – we were in Korea after all! There was a great enthusiasm on show, despite the long flight, and looking back it set the precedent for the amazing 3 days we would spend together. We stopped by a local rest stop along the highway. This might not sound like much but it was jam-packed with amenities. In Singapore we have petrol stations, but in Korea we have establishments with multiple food courts, eateries, convenience marts and the like. This was a proper mall. We stepped out into the cool air, the seasons were still changing and the temperature was just right. The rest stop served as the first time many of us tasted authentic Korean food, and though it was not extravagant, I am sure the travelling party enjoyed our first meal together. The rest of the way to our hotel was largely the same, we even had time

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[Specials] FAS Awards Night 2023 – A Look at the Nominees

Leave a Comment / Specials / Eddy Hirono

It’s FAS Awards Night tomorrow, and given that we haven’t had football for a bit, I don’t know about you, but I am quite excited about this. Our Sailors have been nominated for a whole bunch of awards, which is unsurprising, given that we have had some really stellar performers, and only just lost out to Albirex in the title race in the SPL, while finishing as champions for the second year in a row in the WPL. Here’s some of my thoughts regarding the awards and who I think should win! AIA Player of the Year Nominees – Maxime Lestienne – Lion City Sailors Seia Kunori – Albirex Niigata (S) Ryoya Taniguchi – Balestier Khalsa These awards tend to favour attacking players, which I always found a little unfair, because defenders are just as important to a team achieving results as its attackers. Perhaps it is simpler to gauge contributions from attackers because there is a measurable end-product – goals and assists. Since the introduction of the Ballon D’or award in 1956, only 3 defenders and 1 goalkeeper have ever won. Franz Beckenbauer in 1972 and 1976, Matthias Sammer in 1996, Fabio Cannavaro in 2006, and Lev Yashin in 1963. Our local awards nights also suffer from the same problem – of the 27 Player of the Year awards handed out since 1996, only 4 belong to the backline – 3 defenders and 1 goalkeeper. Round of applause for S Subramani in 1998, Daniel Bennett in 2001, Valery Hiek in 2009, and Hassan Sunny in 2014. After all that build-up – perhaps you may ask me which defender in the league I feel deserves a special mention. My answer is actually no one – I don’t think it was a year for defenders at all. Had Tampines kept up their early-season defensive prowess throughout the year, I may have been tempted to suggest one of Milos Zlatkovic or Shuya Yamashita – but they didn’t, so there’s that. Sorry if you feel I wasted your time with a history lesson – old people tings, lol. On to our 3 candidates, let’s quickly look at some of the merits for choosing each player. Given that this is an individual award, I think the above table should show without a doubt that Maxime Lestienne deserves this award. When I was compiling these stats, I could barely believe some of them – I mean I knew he was good, but this good? Wow. I would like to zoom in on the 4th metric I used – goals and assists as a percentage of team’s total goals. This for me is a gauge as to how influential the player has been to his team. It is quite clear that in fact there is a bit of an over-reliance on Maxime, as 58.2% of the goals scored by the Sailors are either scored or assisted by him. This far outstrips his two competitors for the award. I think enough ink has been spilt here – if he doesn’t win the award, we riot. AIA Young Player of the Year Nominees – Hakeme Yazid – Brunei DPMM FC Seia Kunori – Albirex Niigata (S) Abdul Rasaq Akeem – Lion City Sailors FC Of course, if favouritism were to enter the picture, I’d highlight how extraordinary Abdul Rasaq has been this season. He is the top local goalscorer with 10 goals, and it is impressive how he started the season probably expecting to play limited minutes, but ended up being our frontman for many games once Kodai Tanaka suffered an unfortunate and serious injury. He even saw off the challenge of a foreign signing – Bernie Ibini-Isei, to hold on to the starting striker spot, which is very impressive for someone of his age. However, if we were to give the three players the same statistical treatment that we did above, the case for Abdul Rasaq becomes less compelling. Seia Kunori dominates with his sheer number of goals and assists. He has also won the title, while Hakeme Yazid’s team finished in 7th place, and it would seem a bit strange to give Young Player of the Year to a player from a team that largely struggled. Of course, bear in mind that Hakeme Yazid did all this without the benefit of home advantage all season, and the stats below do show that his team relied heavily on him, as he contributed to almost half of the goals scored by DPMM. While the stats also do show Abdul Rasaq having a very impressive conversion rate, I think there is no doubt that everything points towards Seia Kunori picking up the Young Player of the Year award. Polar Mineral Water Coach of the Year Nominees – Kazuaki Yoshinaga – Albirex Niigata (S) Peter De Roo – Balestier Khalsa Gavin Lee – Tampines Can’t bring myself to care much about this – but I’d like to see Peter de Roo get it for Balestier punching above their weight and playing swashbuckling attacking football all year. Win, lose or draw, a game featuring Balestier Khalsa was always exciting. Oh wait maybe just win or lose – Balestier didn’t draw a game all season. 12 wins and 12 losses. Alexa, play “All or Nothing” by O-Town. Sidenote – if Yoshinaga wins it, he will be the first coach to win this award 4 times, going ahead of Richard Bok and Vorawan Chitavanich. Select Goal of the Year Winner – Khairul Amri vs Hougang United (6 April 2023) Strangely, last year’s awards ceremony had 3 nominees for Goal of the Year but this year it seems from the press release that this Khairul Amri goal has already been selected as Goal of the Year. Not that it’s not a deserving winner, it’s a brilliant goal from the legendary Khairul Amri. Mid-air, cross played behind him, he manages to jump up and contort his body to land a ferocious scissor-kick volley that gave the keeper no chance. It was a brilliant goal

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[Preview] The Pre-Preview For Our Champions League Opponents – True Bangkok United

1 Comment / Match Previews, Specials / Eddy Hirono

The AFC Champions League (“ACL“) is upon us and although we still have to navigate a last game of the SPL season against Geylang International, I have been getting many questions from friends who ask whether I know anything about the teams. I don’t really – I am not at all an expert on Asian football, but I’ve done some digging around and consulted people much more knowledgeable than I, to bring you this pre-preview. There will still be a preview in the days leading up to the match, but that will probably centre more around who’s available and who isn’t. So without further ado, let’s dive in and talk about True Bangkok United. The Name True Bangkok United. Is there a fake Bangkok United? Is it like Real Madrid? Why is there an adjective in a club name? Well, True is a huge communications conglomerate in Thailand, and they are the owners of the club. Ah – that’s pretty boring. And in case you are newer to football and wondering about Real Madrid, I got you. Here’s a table to explain some quirky club names – feel free to add on to the list in the comments if you want. Club Name Meaning of Club Name Real Madrid “Real” is actually a Spanish word meaning “Royal”. Real Madrid was granted the title of “Real” in 1920 by the Spanish monarchy. Many other Spanish clubs have been granted this title too, such as Real Sociedad, Real Valladolid, Real Zaragoza. Real Salt Lake When I broke up with my first girlfriend, my tears formed a real salt lake. An MLS team that obviously had nothing to do with the Spanish monarchy, the owner just decided that he admired Real Madrid’s basketball and football teams, so he smacked the word “Real” on it. Club The Strongest A Bolivian club founded in 1908 that was originally named The Strong Football Club, but perhaps someone still felt it wasn’t big-energy enough, so boom, they went along and called it The Strongest. In 1930 they won the Bolivian league without conceding a single goal. Manifest. True Bangkok United Originally formed as Bangkok University FC (more on this later), they changed their name to Bangkok United in 2009, and True stepped in in 2010. Their Coach I did not realise this when the draw was announced, but when I was reading up on them, I found out that their coach is none other than legendary Thai midfielder, Totchtawan Sripan – more commonly known to Singaporean fans as Tawan Sripan. He has an illustrious football history in the ASEAN region and he even played in Singapore from 1998 – 2003, for Sembawang Rangers. In fact, that was his longest stint at any club. At international level, he played 75 times for Thailand, scoring 18 goals. Notably, he also scored against Manchester City and Netherlands in friendly games. As a coach, he has quite an impressive record. If you take a look at the Wikipedia extract below, you will see that he has been head coach of Bangkok United for the past 3 years or so. And he’s already won silverware this season, leading Bangkok United to a Champions Cup victory over Buriram. Of course, you would have seen a little gap between March and December 2022. Here’s where another familiar name pops up. In that time, Aurelio Vidmar (our former coach of course) was the head coach and Totchtawan was the technical director. Aurelio Vidmar left the club for personal reasons. After Vidmar’s departure, Totchtawan led the club to an impressive 2nd place finish. Totchtawan has also won the league and cup double with Muangthong United in 2016, and was then named Coach of the Year. He also has AFC Champions League experience – leading Muangthong United to beat Kashima Antlers, Ulsan Hyundai and Brisbane Roar, and qualify for the next round. Just look at this. Maybe we should be scared! Their Players This really isn’t my forte. I cannot claim to know many of their players well enough to comment, except Heberty who is a regional legend. But he’s left to go on loan to JDT, so that’s great for us. Heberty hit 35 goals in 70 games for Bangkok United and is a player with great technique. I was scrambling around and then decided, instead of hearing from me, you guys should hear from a Bangkok United fan. So I went and trawled Twitter looking for someone who would speak to me in exchange for a beer when I go over to Thailand to watch the away game. Lo and behold, Englishman Matt Jenkins came to the rescue. Matt was formerly a season-ticket holder at Chelsea and has been a fan of Bangkok United for 6 years. I had a chat with him, and he had this to say about the players that we are coming up against- As a club we have had an up and down few years… Always pushing for honours but normally fading away, or having a poor run that normally kills our chances. This season has a somewhat different feel to it. We’ve removed some of what I would call “luxury players”, and put some excellent players in the first 11 that are willing to work for the team. And it’s already paying dividends! We beat Buriram 0-2 in the season opening showpiece, the Champions Cup. And from there we have started the season unbeaten. We are also playing some good football, but more importantly keeping discipline and working with a fluid formation. I feel looking at the group it’s something we could progress from.. That said I know little about any of our opponents, including that of Lion City Sailors. So it’s more blind optimism than detailed odds and team knowledge. You’ll meet a strong BUFC side. With our stalwart Brazilian centreback Everton captaining the side, and organising a back four that’s pretty much all Thai / or Thai-German, sitting in front of Pattiwat the Thai national 2nd

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[Specials] SailorFanTalk Supports Local for August

Leave a Comment / Specials / Eddy Hirono

If you have been following our Instagram page, you would have seen that for the month of August, we have been doing special stuff to celebrate National Day. First, we did a cover version of some National Day songs and set it to some iconic moments from LCS’s history. Give chance on the music and singing, yeah? Haha. Second, we started posting on our Instastories everyday something local that myself and Joseph like. It ranged from music, to movies, to food, and even randomly, favourite Carousell accounts. And after 31 long days, where Joseph especially struggled for inspiration (“alamak Eddy I am a creature of habit la, I always eat and do the same things“), we have finally compiled our respective lists of 31 recommendations. Without further ado, here they are! I have included the category in brackets behind the recommendation, in case you are not sure what it is. For full details, check out our Instastories archive and click on the #supportlocal tab! Eddy’s #SupportLocal Recommendations Day 1 – Ang Ku Kueh Hut (Food) Day 2 – Ma Maison Tonkatsu Curry Rice (Food) Day 3: Sezairi – Fire to the Floor (Song) Day 4: Boothype (Boot Review Site) Day 5: No Second Draft (Movie Review Site) Day 6: Nissin Spicy Tonkotsu (Cup Noodles) Day 7: Electrico – Runaway (Song) Day 8: Taho Lemon Chilli Sauce (Chilli Sauce) Day 9: Not Without Us – Perspectives of Disability and Inclusion in Singapore (Non-Fiction Book) Day 10: TheLionCityBoy – Halimah ft. Akeem Jahat (Song) Day 11: Singapore Dreaming (Movie – Available on Netflix) Day 12: Noonbeat – What is Love (Song) Day 13: Sonny Liew – The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (Graphic Novel) Day 14: MyJerseyCorner (Carousell account) Day 15: Tanya Chua – Where I Belong (Song) Day 16: Morning Assembly – Marina Bay (Song) Day 17: The Stuck In Podcast by Jared Gallagher (Podcast) Day 18: Tanyu Grilled Fish (Food) Day 19: Political Prude (Podcast) Day 20: Dreamz FM – Should I Stay (Song) Day 21: The Pack (Cycling Attire) Day 22: Anjappar (Food) Day 23: 7 Letters (Movie – available on Netflix) Day 24: Sports Minutes (Podcast) Day 25: Gareth Fernandez – Physical (Song) Day 26: Starrkeepers Goalkeeping Academy (Football Coaching) Day 27: Financial Coconuts (Podcast) Day 28: Soccerkakis (Football Website) Day 29: The Gym Pod (Gym) Day 30: Brandon Khoo (Drummer, Drumming Instructor) Day 31: Leonleelx (Content Creator, Goalkeeping Enthusiast) Joseph’s #SupportLocal Recommendations Day 1 – Ah Boy Chicken Rice (Food) Day 2 – ProRehab (Physio) Day 3 – L Bistro (Karaoke Bar) Day 4: Cologne Culture (Perfumes) Day 5: Wunderfolks (Tarts) Day 6: Kaira Gong – My Island Home (Song) Day 7: McDonald’s Buttermilk Chicken Burger (Food) Day 8: Dian Xiao Er (Food) Day 9: Mediacorp (Broadcaster) Day 10: Pasar Malam (Night Market) Day 11: Nam Kee Chicken Rice (Food) Day 12: FootballPlus (Charity) Day 13: Attap Flavors (Food) Day 14: Ameri’Da (Crochet) Day 15: MADDspace – Together as One (Song) Day 16: Skin Therapy (Facial) Day 17: Melt.sg (Food) Day 18: TWG Tea (Tea) Day 19: Tigafolks (Catering) Day 20: Jia Xiang Kolo Mee (Food) Day 21: Weston Corp (Football Shop) Day 22: Changi Village Hokkien Mee @ Yishun Park Hawker Centre (Food) Day 23: Grub (Food) Day 24: Ya Kun Kaya Toast (Food) Day 25: Elsie’s Kitchen (Catering) Day 26: Old Chang Kee (Food) Day 27: The Hop Pod (Podcast) Day 28: 7-11 (Food) Day 29: TheJianHaoTan – Titan Academy series (Youtube Show) Day 30: Hush Podcast (Podcast) Day 31: ToastBox Curry Chicken with Rice (Food) Hope you enjoyed this! Once again, for full details and our write-ups on each day, check out our Instastories archive and click on the #supportlocal tab! Written by Eddy Hirono and Joseph Jireh If you’d like to support the work we do here at SailorFanTalk, you may want to visit https://ko-fi.com/sailorfantalk and leave us a tip!

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[Specials] Quick Thoughts on Our Singapore Cup Draw

Leave a Comment / News Reactions, Specials / Eddy Hirono

By now, you should have seen it all over the socials, but in case you haven’t, here it is. Quick thoughts – this seems like an OK group for us, considering that it doesn’t contain Albirex, and all the teams in there are below us in the league table. But of course, because only Albirex is above us. Before I share with you some questions / thoughts about the teams we are drawing, let’s take a look at how we did against these teams this season in the league. Record Against Our Cup Opponents Balestier Khalsa – Played 3, Won 3. Scored 13, Conceded 6. (3-0, 5-4, 5-2) Hougang United – Played 3, Won 3. Scored 16, Conceded 2. (5-0, 3-0, 8-2) Tanjong Pagar United – Played 3, Won 3. Scored 13, Conceded 4. (3-1, 7-1, 3-2) I think the results speak for themselves. Of the 9 games played, we have won all 9, scoring 42 goals and conceding 12. But of course, scorelines don’t always tell the full picture. Balestier Khalsa I think most LCS fans will feel that the 5-4 game against Balestier Khalsa was a game where we felt there was total chaos. The recent 5-2 win was also a game where we couldn’t glean much from considering that Madhu Mohana got sent off so early in the first half. Balestier Khalsa have also played an impressive brand of progressive football this season, so they’ll be the ones we fear most going into the Cup. Memories of last season’s 5-3 collapse in the league and the 3-3 draw in the cup are also still fresh for some traumatised fans – like me. Hougang United All 3 games against them were comfortable this season. If you wanna be nitpicky, the 5-0 win needed Zharfan Rohaizad to be on his best form to ensure that Hougang didn’t score against us. However, the Hougang team was always missing one or two key players in their match-ups against us. With Maksimovic settling in, with Shahdan Sulaiman coming back to fitness, and with their managerial instability finally gone, will they be a threat to us? Tanjong Pagar United Strangely, despite their low position in the table, out of the 3 games against them, we actually didn’t look all too convincing in 2 of them, the 3-1 win to kick off the season, and the recent 3-2 win where we turned it around late in the game at Bishan Stadium. They boast many experienced players, and funnily enough a good few of them were from Home Utd so there’s some history there. I’ve always had a soft spot for the team this season in games where I am a neutral, because of the presence of players like Faizal Roslan, Shahrin Saberin, Shakir Hamzah, Naqiuddin Eunos, etc. So they could very well be dark horses. If they can somehow coax out better performances from their foreigners – they might be one to watch out for. Makeup of Our Team Unless we hear anything to the contrary, the foreigner quota should still be 3+1 (just like in SPL). Who we choose for the 3+1 will be indicative of how we prioritise the cups, and perhaps even how the club decides to share the workload. I am gonna assume that we have 3 matchdays in the group stage, then followed by 2 matchdays in the semifinal, and one matchday in the final. Of course, this assumes that we make it all the way through. These are the foreigners on our books – Richairo Zivkovic, Maxime Lestienne, Diego Lopes, Rui Pires, Kodai Tanaka, Super, Bailey Wright, Pedro Henrique. 8 in total. Who will fill the 3+1? With the exception of Kodai Tanaka, the rest of the foreigners all saw gametime against Spurs so we can assume that fitness-wise they are good to go. Bailey Wright and Kodai Tanaka are the Asians, so it is between them for the +1 slot. Of course, we can choose to register both of them, but that would mean we have a tricky task picking from the rest. Will the club decide that the SG Cup is a good opportunity to play someone like Kodai Tanaka in games that are against lower-quality opposition? If so, will that mean deregistering Richairo so that he can focus on the ACL? Same with Pedro Henrique and Rui Pires, will they be given SG Cup slots to get more gametime to try to get them up to speed faster considering they have not played a lot of football at all? Many possibilities, no answers as of yet, so I guess it’s wait and see. Personally, I would hope that given the disappointment of not winning the league title, we are not in a position to turn our nose up at any silverware. As such, I hope we we will register our strongest possible team. Let me know in the comments or in our Telegram chat if you disagree! Cup Scheduling I find it so strange that it is now the end of August, but yet noone knows for sure whether the group stage games will be one-off, or home-away format. The difference in terms of scheduling must be huge. There’s potentially an additional 3 games to play, and let’s not forget, we have to play them while navigating our AFC Champions League games as well. Also, (shoutout to Kidou from the Telegram chat) for this thought – if we make it to the SG Cup Semis and Finals, the games will be within 3/4 days of our Champions League games. In case it ends up being 3 games, i would hope that there can be some flexibility from FAS to allow more rest-time before our ACL games by rescheduling cup fixtures. This has been done in English football, and although I know it’s not easy, I hope that once the fixtures are released, our club will look into it and immediately get the ball rolling in terms of making such arrangements. Avoiding Albirex I have

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[Specials] The Crew Football Shirts Powered by SailorFanTalk. Get One!

5 Comments / Specials / Eddy Hirono

The above picture is not one of Taiwanese boyband F4. If anything, it’s Alt+F4, because once you see it, you will close the window. On with the serious stuff. SailorFanTalk is proud to be the main sponsor of the Crew’s 5v5 football team that takes part in the D2D Fan Club League. By main sponsor, I mean only sponsor. And by sponsor I mean, only partial sponsor – the players still have to pay their matchday fees. But SailorFanTalk covers certain logistical and training costs, while also heavily subsidising the two Crew shirts that we are finally releasing to the public. Over the past couple of months, there’s been quite a lot of interest in these shirts. People have enquired about how they can buy these shirts. I made this post to show you guys more pictures so you can decide if you really want them, and if you want to customise them, how to do so. Also, take note of the sizing! The team was experimenting with different manufacturers to see which we would prefer, so we have two different manufacturers and two VERY DIFFERENT sizing guides. Blue Crew shirt (the Home shirt) Blue, white, and with sea waves all over it. This is home, truly. Home Kit of course, not Kit’s Home. See what I did there? Ok nevermind – if you are new to the Crew, you may have realised that the Crew always shouts “COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE” and not “COME ON YOU BOYS IN WHITE”, regardless of whether we are in white or blue. You’ll also notice that most of the fans just wear the blue kit way more than the white kit. I am not quite sure why this is so – it just is. And so when it came time for the Crew to pick their kit for last season, we opted for a blue base, with a seawaves pattern as a nod to the Sailors theme. Not to completely neglect the white (WHITE BLUE AND BOLD HEH), we also had a touch of white on the collar and sleeves, plus used it for Lore’s and our Crew logo. Shoutout to Lore by the way – all we did was tell them our theme, what design elements we wanted incorporated, and they did the rest. Brilliant. I shall let the pictures do the talking. Take note that you can customise the number and the name (on the sleeves), but if you opt not to, the default will come with no name on the sleeve, and a standard no. 12. Cos the Crew is the 12th man of the Sailors. Black Crew shirt (the Alternate shirt) Why black? Cos it looks cool and we needed an alternate shirt that wasn’t blue or white. We wanted to avoid a kit clash with the other teams. The idea for a blackout kit came from the players themselves, and we collaborated with XRAFT to bring it to life. Of course, it being an all-black kit, it did bring some challenges when it came to how to make the different visual elements stand out a little more, give it a little bit of texture. The design incorporates the seawaves again, but this time there is a striped pattern right across the shirt. LCSFC and the Crew logo are also embossed on in a fleck material, to give some visual and tactile contrast. The words “The Crew” appear on the left sleeve, while on the right sleeve, there is a special blacked-out SailorFanTalk patch. Once again, I shall let the pictures do the talking. Take note that you can customise the number and the name (on the back), but if you opt not to, the default will come with THE CREW on the back, and a standard no. 12. Cos the Crew is the 12th man of the Sailors. Sizing (VERY VERY IMPORTANT) As mentioned above, the two shirts are made by different manufacturers, and as such have very different sizing guides. Please bear that in mind. For example, I wear 2XL on the blue one, and L on the black one. Blue sizing (Lore FC) (in centimetres) Black sizing (XRAFT) (in inches) How to buy the shirts So you’ve decided to buy 1. Or 2. Or more. Well, let’s have a look at how much it’ll cost you! Blue 12 – no personalisation S$32Blue with personalisation – choose number choose name S$35 Black 12 – no personalisation S$32Black choose number choose name S$35 Bundle for 2 ( 2 blue / 2 black / 1 blue & 1 black ) choose number choose name – S$65 with free Singapore scarf (see below after the post for how the scarf looks like) Instructions: If you have any questions, do reach out to us via Instagram, or in our Telegram chat. Written by Eddy Hirono If you don’t want to miss any articles, be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram chat! If you’d like to support the work we do here at SailorFanTalk, you may want to visit https://ko-fi.com/sailorfantalk and leave us a tip!

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