Balestier Khalsa FC

Balestier Khalsa Football Club is a professional football club which plays in Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club's logo depicts a Tiger, the nickname of the club, on top of a pair of Kirpan. The logo is made up of key elements from the two clubs it was merged from. The Tiger is the mascot of the Balestier half of the merged entity while the kirpan is a religious dagger worn by members of the Sikh faith, who were a major backer of half of the merged entity through the Clementi club.[1]

Balestier Khalsa
Full nameBalestier Khalsa Football Club
Nickname(s)The Tigers
Founded1898
(as Fathul Karib)

1975
(as Balestier United)

1996
(as Balestier Central)

2002
(as Balestier Khalsa)
GroundBishan Stadium
Capacity3,500
ChairmanS. Thavaneson
ManagerMarko Kraljević
LeagueSingapore Premier League
2019Singapore Premier League, 9th of 9

History

Tracing their origins all the way back to 1898, the club was formed as Fathul Karib and based in Farrer Park. One of the highlights over the following half century, before the side was renamed Balestier United Recreation Club in the 1970s, was providing nine players to the Singapore side which competed in the 1958 Asian Games, losing 2–1 to both continental heavyweights South Korea and Israel.[2]

Balestier United Recreational Club

The club's name was changed to Balestier United Recreation Club[3] in April 1975, when it joined the inaugural National Football League. The team captured the Singapore Cup in 1958 and 1992. The club played in the Singapore Premier League (the forerunner to the S.League) from 1988 to 1995. The club became the first club in Singapore to bring in foreign players when they signed two Yugoslavian players, Josko Spanjic and Boris Lucic, for the 1989 season. Balestier United are currently still active in local football, competing in the National Football League Division 1. Former Balestier Khalsa players such, Ruhaizad Ismail, Daniel Ong and Syafiq Zainal all playing for this team currently.

Balestier Central

In 1996, Balestier United Recreational Club became a founder member of the S.League and changed its name to Balestier Central.

Clementi Khalsa
Clementi Khalsa FC logo

Clementi Khalsa was formed as a club to represent Singapore's Sikh community and joined the S.League in 1999. Prior to the merger with Balestier Central, the club was based in the Clementi area of Singapore and played its home games at the Clementi Stadium.

Merger

The club is an amalgamation of Balestier Central Football Club and Clementi Khalsa Football Club who merged at the end of the 2002 S.League season. Due to its link with Clementi Khalsa, the club is very popular amongst Singapore's Sikh community.

Balestier Khalsa

On 10 August 2012, Balestier Khalsa won the first League Cup Plate Final as the team defeated Young Lions in the Jalan Besar Stadium.

In 2013, Darren Stewart signed several players from his former team, Gombak United and formed a strong foundation of the team, including foreign players Kim Min-ho and Park Kang-jin, together with Singapore national team player Qiu Li and proved to be a success. On 14 September 2013, The Tigers went one level higher by scoring a huge 4–0 win over DPMM FC in the League Cup Final and clinched their first ever silverware. Captain, Paul Cunningham and the team lift the trophy as well as clinching 3rd placing in the Singapore Cup.

Balestier Khalsa signed former U-21 Croatian international Goran Ljubojević on 11 February 2014 as their first ever marquee signing.[4] As well as Emir Lotinac of Serbia from Novi Pazar. The Tigers won their first ever Singapore Cup on 7 November 2014, beating Home United 3–1 with Goran, Kim and Park scoring the goals.[5] Thus, qualified for AFC Cup in the following year.

The Tigers make their continental competition debut on 24 February 2015, losing 0–3 to Hong Kong Premier League champions, Kitchee. 10 March, they almost held eventual 2015 champions, Johor Darul Ta'zim to goalless draw but the visitor scored in the stoppage time. Balestier Khalsa finally got their historical first win in the following week, Jonathan Xu scoring his and Tiger's maiden AFC Cup goal and Miroslav Krištić's goal beating East Bengal 2–1. On 10 July 2015, Balestier Khalsa lost narrowly 2–1 against Albirex Niigata (S) to finish runner up in the League Cup.

In 2016, Balestier Khalsa qualified for AFC Cup as Singapore's 2nd best local team and got their first away goals/ point in the AFC Cup, held Dhivehi Premier League champions, New Radiant 2–2 at Malé. They continue to improved their run in the competition and winning Kitchee & New Radiant 1–0 and 3–0 at home. Balestier Khalsa finished 4th in the Singapore Cup after losing to Ceres-La Salle in the third place playoff.

In 2017, due to tight budget, Balestier Khalsa signed 3 Myanmar national football team players, Aung Kyaw Naing, Kyaw Zayar Win, Nanda Lin Kyaw Chit from Nay Pyi Taw, Ayeyawady United and Yadanabon respectively.

Players
As of 7 March 2020 [6]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  SIN Zacharial Leong U23
2 DF  SIN Fadli Kamis
3 DF  SIN Jufri Taha
4 DF  SIN Khalili Khalif U23
5 DF  SRB Ensar Brunčević U21
6 MF  SIN C. Aarish Kumar U23
7 MF  SIN Hazzuwan Halim
8 MF  CRO Kristijan Krajček
9 FW  JPN Shuhei Hoshino
10 FW  CRO Šime Žužul
11 MF  SIN Karthik Raj
17 MF  SIN Zulfadhmi Suzliman
18 DF  SIN Ahmad Syahir
19 GK  SIN Zaiful Nizam (Captain)
21 MF  SIN Yeo Hai Ngee
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 MF  SIN Elijah Lim U23
26 MF  SIN Faizal Raffi
28 FW  SIN Syukri Noorhaizam U23
32 DF  SIN Danish Uwais U23
39 DF  SIN Aiman Zavyan U23
45 DF  SIN Christian Chiang Moroni U23
55 MF  SIN Azizi Rahman U19
59 DF  SIN Syed Harun Alsagaff U19
61 GK  SIN Martyn Mun U23
62 FW  SIN Suriya Ramesh U19
63 DF  SIN Azhar Manap U23
77 MF  SIN Sameer Alassane U19
88 GK  SIN Oliver Sim U19
97 DF  SIN Faris Fazlee U23

Remarks:
U23 These players are under the age of 23 to fulfill the league requirement of minimum of 6 U-23 players per team.

Honours

League
Winners : 2012, 2013

Cup
Winners : 2014
Runners-up: 2015
Winners : 2013
Runners-up: 2015
Winners : 2012
Runners-up: 2014
Winners : 2012
Winners : 1992
Winners : 1958

Domestic record

As Balestier Central/ Balestier Khalsa

Season League Pos. P W D L GS GA Pts Singapore Cup League Cup Top goalscorer Managers
1996-1 S.League 3rd* 14 7 3 4 22 18 24 Goran Paulic 22 Robin Chan
1996-2 3rd* 14 7 3 4 25 19 24
1997 4th 16 8 4 4 43 26 28 21
1998 4th 20 9 4 7 47 43 31 Group stage 19 PN Sivaji
1999 7th 22 6 8 8 25 27 26 Semi-final Eric Francis 6
2000 12th 22 3 5 14 16 42 14 Round of 16 Jason Ainsley 4
2001 7th 33 8 11 14 43 57 35 Group stage Ali Imran Lomri
Daorueang Krongpol		 8
2002 11th 33 6 5 22 50 103 23 Group stage Itimi Owepa Wilson 23 Robin Chan
2003 11th 33 5 2–6 20 37 76 25 Quarter-final Kim Eun-Cher 9 Abdullah Noor
2004 8th 27 6 19 22 36 73 20 Quarter-final Park Tae-won 7 Jang Jung
2005 7th 27 10 6 11 45 52 36 Preliminary Rd Kengne Ludovick 20
2006 7th 30 10 7 13 50 61 37 Semi-final 15 Abdul Karim Razzak
2007 9th 33 7 8 18 44 63 29 Quarter-final Quarter-final Ryuji Sueoka 9
2008 12th 33 3 8 22 26 60 17 Round of 16 Third place Paul Ekollo 6 Nasaruddin Jalil
2009 11th 30 4 6 20 22 58 18 Round of 16 Group stage Oh In-kyun 5
2010 8th 33 10 7 16 26 40 37 Quarter-final Preliminary Rd Rivaldo Costa 11 Nasaruddin Jalil
Salim Moin
2011 10th 33 7 5 21 28 63 26 Round of 16 Preliminary Rd Mark McGough 8 Salim Moin
2012 6th 24 11 6 7 23 20 39 Round of 16 Plate Winners Park Kang-jin 4 Darren Stewart
2013 4th 27 12 7 8 38 28 43 Third place Winners Qiu Li 12
2014 6th 27 11 7 9 46 34 40 Winners Plate Runners-up Goran Ljubojević 20 Marko Kraljević
2015 4th 27 12 8 7 39 35 44 Quarter-final Runners-up Miroslav Krištić 16
2016 8th 24 4 7 13 23 42 19 Semi-final Group stage Niko Tokić 10
2017 7th 24 5 4 15 17 33 19 Preliminary Rd Group stage Hazzuwan Halim 5
2018 Singapore Premier League 6th 24 7 6 11 25 36 27 Third place Keegan Linderboom 5
2019 9th 24 4 5 15 37 58 17 Group Stage Hazzuwan Halim
Šime Žužul		 10 Khidhir Khamis
Marko Kraljević
2020 Marko Kraljević

As Clementi Khalsa

Season League Pos. P W D L GS GA Pts Singapore Cup
1999 S.League 11th 22 3 6 13 29 55 15 Round of 16
2000 8th 22 5 10 7 33 46 25
2001 9th 33 7 9 17 43 76 30 Group stage
2002 10th 33 7 4 22 45 84 25
  • The 1996 season of the S.League was split into two series.
  • 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.

Continental record
Season Competition Round Club Home Away Position
1992–93 Asian Cup Winners' Cup First round Quảng Nam Đà Nẵng Withdrew
2015 AFC Cup Group F Kitchee 1–2 3–0 4th
Johor Darul Ta'zim 0–1 3–0
East Bengal 2–1 3–0
2016 AFC Cup Group F New Radiant 3–0 2–2 3rd
Kitchee 1–0 4–0
Kaya FC 0–3 1–0

Sponsors
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References
  1. "Untold Stories, Southeast Asian Clubs: Balestier Khalsa". fourfourtwo.com. 14 April 2016. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  2. "Untold Stories, Southeast Asian Clubs: Balestier Khalsa". Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  3. "History and Tradition of Balestier Khalsa FC". Balestier Khalsa. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  4. "Ljubojevic hopes for injury-free season at Balestier - Goal.com". goal.com. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  5. "Balestier Khalsa with first-ever RHB Singapore Cup win". espnfc.com. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  6. "Balestier Khalsa FC Player List". Singapore Premier League. 7 March 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
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