Hougang United FC
Hougang United Football Club is a professional football club in Singapore's professional league Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore.
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| Full name | Hougang United Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Cheetahs | ||
| Founded | 1998 (as Marine Castle United) 2002 2006 (as Hougang United) | ||
| Ground | Hougang Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 3,800 | ||
| Chairman | Bill Ng | ||
| Manager | Clement Teo | ||
| League | Singapore Premier League | ||
| 2019 | 3rd | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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History
Hougang United Football Club was founded as Marine Castle United Football Club, which was formed by Newcastle United fans in the Marine Parade area. 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.
Marine Castle changed its name to Sengkang Marine Football Club in 2002 and finished in 8th position consecutively, its highest ever finish in its short history.
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.
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. The club also had its fair share of ‘marquee players’ in the earlier days like Grant Holt (formerly Norwich City), Michael Currie (formerly Queens Park Rangers), and Kim See-man (former South Korea youth international).
In November 2014, it was announced that Hougang United and Woodlands Wellington will merge for the 2015 season.[1]
Partnership
On 22 November 2014, Hougang United announced a partnership with Global Football Academy for the 2015 S.League season.[2]
Scholarship
The Hougang United FC 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.[3]
Supporters
The club has a supporters' community known as the Hougang HOOLS (Hougang Only One Love), which was set up in 2010. The fan group often organise an annual end of season friendly game against the players whom they sing for the entire season. The fan group's main objective is to collate everyone who supports Hougang United and grow them into a healthy fan community. The fan group also has an amateur band called Gate 3, who write songs about celebrating Hougang United.
Seasons
| 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 | |||||
- 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.
- Hougang United's highest finish in 2019 season.
Contiental record
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | AFC Cup | Group F |  |
1–3 | ||
 |
2–3 | |||||
 |
1–0 |
Players
Current squad
- As of 4 March 2020[4]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Managers (head coach)
| Name | Nat | Period | Silverware |
|---|---|---|---|
| As Marine Castle | None | ||
| As Sengkang Marine | |||
| Trevor Morgan |  |
(2002–2003) | |
| As Paya Lebar Punggol | |||
| Chow Kwai Lam |  |
(2004 –2005) | |
| As Sengkang Punggol | |||
| Trevor Morgan | |
(2006–2007) | |
| Saswadimata Dasuki |  |
(2007–2008) | |
| Mirko Grabovac (caretaker) |  |
(2008) | |
| Swandi Ahmad (interim) | |
(2008) | |
| Jorg Steinebrunner |  |
(2009) | |
| As Hougang United | |||
| Aide Iskandar (interim) | |
(25 June 2009 – 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 2012 – 31 December 2012) | |
| Alex Weaver | |
(1 January 2013 – 31 March 2013) | |
| Johana Bin Johari (interim) | |
(April 2013 – August 2013) | |
| Amin Nasir | |
(21 August 2013 – 31 December 2014) | |
| Salim Moin | |
(1 January 2015 – 30 October 2015) | |
| K.Balagumaran | |
(1 November 2015 – 30 November 2016) | |
| Philippe Aw | |
(Jan 2017 – June 2018) | |
| Clement Teo (caretaker) | |
(June 2017 – Nov 2018) | |
Sponsors
| Season | Sponsor Name |
|---|---|
| 2015–2016 | ESW Manage |
| 2017 | Green Rubber |
| 2017 | ESW Manage |
| 2017 | Living Star |
| 2017 | VX Sports |
| 2017 | Churros Factory |
| 2017 | Cita Rasa Kitchen |
| 2017 | Pin Si Restaurant |
References
- Ong, Terence (4 November 2014). "Jaguars to sit out next S-League season, Rams to merge with Hougang". The Straits Times. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- "Hougang United aim to do more for community". Retrieved 21 November 2018.
- "Hougang United F.C. Scholarship". hgfc.com.sg. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- "The Team". Hougang United Football Club. Retrieved 4 March 2020.