Hougang United FC
Hougang United Football Club is a Singaporean professional football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League.
| Full name | Hougang United Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Cheetahs |
| Short name | HGFC |
| Founded | 1998 (as Marine Castle United) 2011 (as Hougang United) |
| Ground | Hougang Stadium |
| Capacity | 3,800 |
| Owner | Northstar Group |
| Chairman | Bill Ng |
| Manager | Clement Teo |
| League | Singapore Premier League |
| 2021 | Singapore Premier League, 5th of 8 |
| Website | Club website |
| Current season | |
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.[1] 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.[2]
In 2019, Hougang United in a consolidation of home stadiums had to move out of Hougang Stadium to Jalan Besar Stadium.[1] Just a year later however, Hougang United moved back to their home stadium, much to the delight of its home supporters.
On 19 November 2022, Hougang United defeated defending champions Tampines Rovers 3–2 in the Singapore Cup final to win their inaugural Singapore Cup.[3] It is their first ever silverware.
Partnership
On 22 November 2014, Hougang United announced a partnership with Global Football Academy for the 2015 S.League season.[4]
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 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.[5]
Supporters
The club uniquely has an enthusiastic supporters' club 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.[6]
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 | |||||
| 2020 | 6th | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 24 | 15 | ||||||
| 2021 | 3rd | 21 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 48 | 40 | 34 | ||||||
- 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
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | AFC Cup | Group F | Lao Toyota | Cancelled | 1–3 | 3rd |
| Hồ Chí Minh City | 2–3 | Cancelled | ||||
| Yangon United | Cancelled | 1–0 | ||||
| 2022 | AFC Cup | Group I | Phnom Penh Crown | |||
| Viettel | ||||||
| Young Elephants | ||||||
Players
Current squad
- As of 18 June 2022[7]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
On loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
Technical staff
| Position | Name | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Manager | Matthew Tay | |||
| Team Manager | Robert Eziakor | |||
| Head coach | Clement Teo | |||
| Assistant coach | Firdaus Kassim | |||
| Assistant coach | Yuki Fujimoto | |||
| Fitness coach | Hairil Amin | |||
| Goalkeeper coach | Scott Starr | |||
| Strength and Conditioning coach | Syaqir Sulaiman | |||
| Head Of Development / U-21 coach | Marko Kraljevic | |||
| Sports Trainer | Thomas Pang | |||
| Physiotherapists | Maheen Gul | Shoban Rahulapaskaran | Daniel Tan | Ain Hassan |
| Equipment manager | Richard Lim | |||
| Equipment Officer | Wan Azlan Bin Wan Adanan | |||
| U-15 coach | Tay Puay Guan | |||
| U-17 coach | Robert Eziakor |
Managers
| Name | Nat | Period | Silverware | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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) | |||
| Jorg 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–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 | (Jan 2017–June 2018) | |||
| Clement Teo | (June 2017–) | 2022 Singapore Cup | ||
Manufacturers and sponsors
| Season | Name |
|---|---|
| 2015–2016 | ESW Manage |
| 2017–2020 | ESW Manage |
| 2020–2021 | Northstar Group |
| 2022–2024 | The Physio Circle[8] |
Honours
Cup
- Singapore Cup: Champion
References
- ^ a b "Eight Singapore Premier League clubs to share stadiums, views divided over 'semi-permanent move'". Retrieved 9 November 2020.
- ^ Ong, Terence (4 November 2014). . The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- ^ Lee, David (19 November 2022). "Football: Hat-trick hero Krajcek hails late brother after helping Hougang beat Tampines in Singapore Cup final | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
- ^ "Hougang United aim to do more for community". 9 February 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
- ^ "Hougang United F.C. Scholarship". hgfc.com.sg. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- ^ Lee, David (15 March 2020). "Football: Hools out for Hougang United, but Cheetahs lose despite loyal fans' backing | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
- ^ "SPL 2021 Club Guide: Hougang United". Singapore Premier League. 13 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ "Football: Hougang United aim for better recovery and silverware with new sponsors the Physio Circle | the Straits Times". 15 November 2021.
External links
- Official Hougang United FC Website
- S.League website page on Hougang United FC
- Hougang United FC Facebook page
- Official Hougang United Twitter
- Official Hougang United Instagram