Geylang United

Geylang United is now officially the S. League team that FIOFAFI will be following this season.

Geylang United, nicknamed “The Eagles”, kick off their league campaign tonight, 7.45 pm, with a home game against Albirex Niigata at Bedok Stadium.

Geylang United have an experimental three-man coaching team.

After five seasons, where they’ve finished no better than sixth, the Eagles have turned to Lim Tong Hai, Mike Wong and Seak Poh Leong to guide the two-time SLeague champions (1996, 2001) back to the top of the table.

Director of coaching Poh Leong, a former Singapore skipper, holds the deciding vote to team matters when he is around, although most of the match-day duties will be administered by Lim and Wong.

Although Geylang United have a history behind them, no one can say we’ve adopted them because they’re successful!

Managing football teams by committee hardly ever proves successful, for example:

• Alan Curbishley’s first four years at Charlton Athletic.
• Steve Coppell’s second spell at Crystal Palace.
• Roy Evans and Gérard Houllier as joint managers at Liverpool.

Things usually only get better when one man takes charge.

Hopefully, Geylang United’s “threesome” works out better than FIOFAFI’s own Bukit Timah triumvirate!

Wong said that one of Geylang’s problem was the high squad turnover in recent years.

Nine players left Bedok Stadium after the 2008 season, with as many new players arriving, including Canadian striker Rickey Marvin Harris.

“A good team needs to keep its core, like SAFFC, before it can turn into a strong side. We are hoping to do that,” said Wong, who hopes to retain 80 per cent of the Geylang squad for next season.

We’ll just have to wait and see how they do this season.

So that you know, some general information about Geylang United:

Geylang United logo

Geylang United mascot

Geylang United colours