Geylang International Football Club is a professional football club based in Bedok, Singapore, that competes in Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was founded in 1973. They played their first league game in 1974, winning the FAS Division Three League which earned them a spot in National Football League Division One the following year. Their most successful period was during the 1980s and 90s, winning six consecutive FAS Premier League titles.
Geylang International has won 2 league titles and 1 Singapore Cup since the inception of a professional league in 1996. Their greatest season was in 1996, when they became the first team to win both the league title and the FA Cup. They also reached the 1997 Singapore FA Cup final, 2001 and 2003 Singapore Cup finals, and the 2012 Singapore League Cup final, finishing as runners-up.
Geylang International has a traditional rivalry with closest neighbour Tampines Rovers. Matches between these two are referred to as the "Eastern Derby" which is known to be one of the best rivalries in Singapore football.
History
Beginnings and breakthrough (1973–1995)
Formally founded by Colin Ng in 1973 during a dinner gathering with Arshad Khamis, Gulam Mohamed and Omar Ashiblie, Ng planned to build a successful club in Singapore. They were soon known as International Contract Specialists Football Club (ICS) and played their first friendly match against Rollel, a Singapore Business Houses Football League (SBHFL) Division One league club on 15 November 1973 with a 2–0 win. They made their season debut in 1974, walking away with 2 titles – FAS Division Three League & President's Cup with no losses. They had players including Arshad Khamis, Dollah Kassim, Gulam Mohamed, Samad Allapitchay, Kamal Mohd Nor and Robert Sim.
Name changed For the 1975 season, in line with the plans of the Football Association of Singapore to streamline the FAS League and have teams based on geographical identity for the new National Football League, ICS changed its name to Geylang Internationals, as their home ground was based at Geylang Field, Lorong 12. They were placed in Division One and won it that year, adding another title in 1976. Their back to back victories was made sweeter by winning the 1976 President's Cup.
A relegation in 1981 prompted the arrival of a new management committee that guided the club back to the top division in 1983. In 1984, club president Kasim Chik financed the club and businessman Patrick Ang, who joined in 1986, managed to secure sponsors for them. Despite being relegated that year, they returned to Division 1 of the National Football League the following season. In 1988, the FAS started a semi-professional league competition called the FAS Premier League as the top tier of the Singapore football league structure. they dominated all eight years of the league, winning six consecutive titles from 1988 to 1993 before finishing third in 1994 and second in 1995. Every game would see their home ground packed to the brim as fans clamoured to catch a game of the Eagles’ skilful players. Subsequently, due to the huge fan following which numbered in the thousands, all their games had to be played either in Jalan Besar Stadium or National Stadium. The success behind winning the FAS Premier League was also aided by the players they had. Notably players such as Malek Awab, Razali Saad, Dollah Kassim, Samad Allapitchay and Robert Sim all contributed to the success of the team. These were players who would also go on to represent the country. It might not be known widely by many but they even managed to attract one of the biggest European stars of that era to turn up in their club's colours. French forward and legend, Michel Platini visited Singapore to attend a football clinic conducted by them and played half a game for the Eagles to highlight the club's attraction.
Progressive and golden era (1996–2012)
As Geylang United Football Club, they were one of the eight teams in the inaugural season of the S.League in 1996. They won the first stage (the Tiger Beer Series) of the league season and finished fifth in the second stage (the Pioneer Series). They won the league after defeating SAFFC (the Pioneer Series champions) 2–1 in the Championship Play-off. They completed the season with another trophy, beating the same team on penalties, 4–2, in the Singapore FA Cup. As the team was full of international stars, led by 1998 Iranian World Cup head coach Jalal Talebi, players such as Fandi Ahmad, Kadir Yahaya, David Lee, Hamid Reza Estili, Mohammad Khakpour, and Chris Riley, Vincent Subramaniam (Head Coach for SAFFC) identified them as the Manchester United of Singapore. As league champions, they qualified for the 1997–98 Asian Club Championship but were eliminated after losing 8–2 on aggregate by Japanese side Kashima Antlers in the first round.
The 1997 season was a disappointing season for them. They failed to defend the S.League title, finishing fifth. The Eagles also failed to defend the FA Cup, after losing to SAFFC in the finals. They did not win any silverware till 2001, when they won their second league title by a close margin. Both forwards, Aleksandar Đurić and Brian Bothwell scored 57 goals for the team. It was the best performing S.League season for the team; scoring 84 goals and conceding 28 goals. Just days after winning the league title, they suffered their worst defeat in history; losing 8–0 to Home United in the Singapore Cup finals. As league champions, they were guaranteed a slot in the qualifying round of the 2002–03 AFC Champions League but were eliminated after losing to Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua 5–1 on aggregate in the second round.
AFC Cup debut The 2002 season saw Geylang United finish third in both the S.League and Singapore Cup. They came close to winning their third S.League title and first Singapore Cup in 2003, only to finish runners-up to Home United for both competitions. As runners-up, they qualified to play in the AFC Cup 2004 due to Home United's double. Their debut in the AFC Cup 2004 was an impressive one. Despite losing their opening match, they managed to stay unbeaten for their next five games in the group stage. They went on to qualify for the quarter-finals, beating Malaysian club Perak FA before losing to Syrian side Al-Wahda in the semi-final.
Geylang United won their first Singapore Cup in 2009, beating Thailand side Bangkok Glass 1–0 at the Jalan Besar Stadium. The win ensured them a place in the 2010 AFC Cup where they were placed in Group H alongside Vietnam SHB Da Nang, Thailand club Port and Hong Kong side Tai Po. However, they failed to qualify for the knockout stages, finishing 3rd in the group stages with four draws and two losses.
Weeks before the start of the 2012 season, Patrick Ang announced his retirement as club chairman. Ang, who had been with the club since 1986, moved up the ranks at the club as manager; vice-president; president and eventually chairman. He was given the nickname "Geylang's Godfather" after helping the club to gain main and co-sponsors. Former Singapore international, Leong Kok Fann took over the position. Mike Wong stepped down as coach after their 7–1 thrashing by Home United kept the club at the bottom of the league without a point. Under-21 coach, Vedhamuthu Kanan, swopped roles with Wong. Under the guidance of Kanan, the Eagles made it into the League Cup finals; only to lose in the final to Brunei DPMM. In the league itself, Kanan gave the U21 players the chance to be in the first team. It turned out to be a positive effort as some of these players who were given the chance to play in the S.League matches performed better than some of the first team players. They ended the season second from bottom in the nine-team table.
Decline in performances (2013–2016)
Renamed as Geylang International On 4 January 2013, the club announced in a pre-season press conference that it would change its club logo and name back to Geylang International Football Club. The club has set on a vision statement, playing philosophy and values like discipline and commitment to a six-week training routine planned for the players to follow meanwhile on the community outreach side, there will be a new partnership with Singapore Management University [SMU] Mentorship Programme which includes opportunities to interact with the club players. A vision statement, playing philosophy and values like discipline and commitment have also been clearly set out, and a six-week training routine planned for the players to follow. They started off the season playing against Malaysian club Johor Darul Ta'zim, ATM FA and Selangor losing 1–0, 2–1 and drawing 0–0 respectively. The Eagles then signed three Japanese trios, Takuma Ito, Norihiro Kawakami and Shotaro Ihata however the squad saw plenty of long-term injury crises, forcing their then-assistant coach, former Singapore international,Mohd Noor Ali to come out of retirement. They finished the season in 9th place. On 19 August 2013, they faced the Hong Kong club, Sun Source winning the match 5–0 at the Bedok Stadium.
The 2014 season was something to look out for as Vedhamuthu Kanan flew to Argentina during the pre-season to look for new foreign players. It was later announced that Leonel Felice, Franco Chivilo and Joaquin Lopez had signed a 1-year contract. In addition, Nazareno Velez joined in as assistant coach. The Eagles started off their 2014 pre season friendlies participating in the IFA Shield 2014 in India playing against Kingfisher East Bengal, United Sports Club and Korean Sun Moon University at the Salt Lake Stadium. However, the season did not start well as one of the Argentinian players failed to get their employment pass before the season kicked off. V. Kanan eventually got demoted back to coaching the U-21 team after 3 straight losses. German Jörg Steinebrunner was then appointed as the new head coach 24 hours before their next match. Despite their poor league performance, Steinebrunner almost led the team to the finals of the League Cup and Singapore Cup; only to lose both domestic competitions on penalty shoot-outs. The team ended the 2014 season in eighth place.
In 2015, Steinebrunner took this opportunity to get his players ahead of the new season. The Eagles participated in the 2015 Kata Group Hotel Challenge Cup tournament in Thailand facing Phuket winning 1–3 in the 1st leg and 2–1 in the 2nd leg. They then fly off to Indonesia to face Semen Padang and Felda United of Malaysia in a friendly match. The Eagles were inconsistent throughout the season, failing to win most of their matches. After their defeat in the semi-finals of the League Cup, they failed to collect any points for six consecutive games, remaining rooted to the bottom of the table for months. An unbeaten run in their last five matches with 3 wins and 2 draws allowed them to finish one place off the bottom.
New club chairman