Lion City Cup

Lion City Cup
Organising bodyFootball Association of Singapore
Founded1977; 47 years ago (1977)
RegionSingapore Singapore
Number of teams4-14 (different years)
Current championsTokyo Verdy (1st win)
Most successful team(s)Football Association of Singapore (6 Wins)

The Lion City Cup is a youth football tournament for boys. It was founded in 1977 by then Football Association of Singapore chairman Nadesan Ganesan, who organized the only Under-16 football tournament in the world, following the recommendation of FIFA's then secretary-general, Sepp Blatter, who was in Singapore for the 1982 Lion City Cup. The Cup has been credited with inspiring the creation of the 1985 FIFA U-16 World Championship hosted in China at FIFA's request.[1][2]

History

The Lion City Cup was first introduced in 1977, and the tournament was aimed at nurturing and developing youth footballing talents in Singapore. When the tournament was first started in 1977, it first featured youth teams from Malaysian state representative sides, given that there was keen interest in the Malaysia League and Cup competitions then. That year, a young Philip Yeo [arguably the most gifted footballer Singapore has ever known] who was the captain, helped Singapore emerge as champions after thrashing Pahang 5-0, in the finals played on 18 December 1977 at the old National Stadium. While the tournament was a regular annual affair from 1977 to 1982, the competition was discontinued from 1983 to 1989 because in 1982, the momentum of the event attracted the interest of FIFA, paving the way for the first FIFA U-16 World Cup in 1985. As a consequence, it became impracticable to hold the Lion City Cup with the same international caliber of invitees, and the competition was not held again until 1990 when it was revived in its original form and was an annual affair from that year until 2001, and then it went on a hiatus again for two years.

The tournament has been held at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Kallang as of now.

Multiple returns & hiatuses

In 2004, it came back to life for three years and then was not held in 2007.

In 2008, Thailand U-17 beat the UAE U-17 in the final and the event was scrapped for another two years.

Then another 3 continuous years of competitions from 2011 to 2013, before being abolished in 2014 due to lack of sponsors.

The event returned in 2015 only to be discontinued for the next seven years.

2023 comeback

The Lion City Cup returned for the 27th edition in 2023 after a seven-year hiatus. The 2023 edition was held on the 1st and 3rd September 2023, and featured regional sides Selangor (Malaysia), BG Pathum United (Thailand), Borneo Samarinda (Indonesia). Singapore’s representative was the National Development Centre (NDC) Under-15 team. This marked the first time that BG Pathum and Borneo F.C. participated in the tournament.[3]

2024

The Lion City Cup returned for the 28th edition in 2024 as an U16 tournament. Held on 4 and 6 October 2024, it featured the 2023 holders, BG Pathum United (Thailand) and 2 other regional sides. Making their tournament debuts were Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. (Malaysia) & Tokyo Verdy (Japan). Singapore’s representative was the National Under-16 team.[4]

Winners

Edition Year Final Third place game Num. teams
Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
1st 1977 Singapore Singapore U-16 5–0 Malaysia Pahang U-16 Malaysia Kelantan U-16 2–0 Malaysia Penang U-16 8
2nd 1978 a Singapore Singapore 'A' 3–0 Malaysia Selangor U-16 Singapore Singapore 'B' 2–1 Singapore Singapore 'C' 12
3rd 1979 b Iraq Iraq U-16 3–1 Australia Australia U-16 Thailand Thailand U-16 4–1 Singapore Singapore 'A' 14
4th 1980 Bahrain Bahrain U-16 1–0 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia U-16 South Korea South Korea U-16 2–0 Thailand Thailand U-16 12
5th 1981 South Korea South Korea U-16 2–1 Bahrain Bahrain U-16 Thailand Thailand U-16 3–1 Japan Japan U-16 11
6th 1982 Thailand Thailand U-16 1–0 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia U-16 Japan Japan U-16 1–0 Qatar Qatar U-16 9
Competition not held from 1983 to 1989
7th 1990 Singapore Singapore U-15 7–1 Malaysia Terengganu U-16 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur U-16 1–1 Malaysia Perak U-16 6
8th 1991 Myanmar Myanmar U-16 2–0 Singapore Singapore U-16 Hong Kong Hong Kong U-16 2–1 Malaysia Selangor U-16 8
9th 1992 Indonesia Indonesia U-16 0–0

(a.e.t.) (5–4 p)

Malaysia Kuala Lumpur U-16 Singapore Singapore U-16 1–0 Malaysia Melaka U-16 8
10th 1993 Indonesia Indonesia U-16 4–1 Australia Western Australia Malaysia Pahang U-16 5–2 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur U-16 8
11th 1994 Australia Perth Kangaroos 3–2 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur U-16 Hong Kong Hong Kong U-16 2–1 Malaysia Pahang U-16 8
12th 1995 Singapore Singapore 'A' 1–0 Hong Kong Hong Kong U-16 Australia Perth Kangaroos 3–1 Sweden AIK Stockholm U-16 8
13th 1996 South Korea South Korea U-16 4–0 Sweden AIK Stockholm U-16 Australia Perth Glory c 2–0 Singapore Singapore U-16 8
14th 1997 Sweden AIK Stockholm U-16 3–2 Australia Perth Glory U-16 Hong Kong Hong Kong U-16 0–0

(a.e.t.) (5–4 p)

Singapore Singapore 'A' 8
15th 1998 India India U-16 3–1 Australia Perth Glory U-16 Singapore Singapore 'A' 6–5 Malaysia Pahang U-16 8
16th 1999 India India U-16 2–0 Australia Perth Glory U-16 Singapore Singapore 'B' 1–2 Cambodia Cambodia U-16 8
17th 2000 United States Olympia Athletic 3–0 Australia Perth Glory U-16 Singapore Singapore U-16 2–1 China Beijing Guoan U-16 6
18th 2001 Denmark Lyngby BK 6–0 Hungary St Stephen's Japan Wakayama U-16 5–4 Singapore Singapore U-16 4
Competition not held from 2002 to 2003
19th 2004 Singapore Singapore U-17 4–0 Hong Kong Hong Kong U-17 Malaysia Malaysia U-17 and Australia Perth Glory U-17 5
20th 2005 Malaysia Malaysia U-18 2–2(a.e.t.)

(4–2 p)

Singapore Singapore U-18 Sweden AIK Stockholm U-18 2–2(a.e.t.)

(4–3 p)

Australia Football West 10
21st 2006 Singapore Singapore U-18 0–0(a.e.t.)

(7–6 p)

Hong Kong Hong Kong U-18 Third place match not held 7
Competition not held in 2007
22nd 2008 Thailand Thailand U-17 1–1(a.e.t.)

(4–3 p)

United Arab Emirates UAE U-17 Australia Australia U-16 3–1 Uzbekistan Uzbekistan U-17 8
Competition not held from 2009 to 2010
23rd 2011 Brazil Flamengo U-15 0–0(a.e.t.)

(4–3 p)

Singapore Singapore U-16 Singapore Singapore U-15 4–0 Italy Singapore U-15 6
24th 2012 Netherlands Ajax U-16 4–1 Singapore Singapore U-16 England Manchester City U-16 1–3 Brazil Vasco Da Gama U-16 6
25th 2013 Brazil Corinthians U-15 1–1(a.e.t.)

(5–3 p)

Netherlands PSV U-15 Germany Eintracht Frankfurt U-15 3–2 England Arsenal U-16 6
26th 2015 England Tottenham Hotspurs U-15 4–0 England Liverpool U-15 Singapore Singapore U-16 3–2 Singapore Singapore U-15 4
Competition not held from 2015 to 2022
27th 2023 Thailand BG Pathum United U-15 e 1–1(a.e.t.)

(4–3 p)

Singapore Singapore NDC U-15 d Malaysia Selangor U-15 2–1 Indonesia Borneo Samarinda U-15 4
28th[5] 2024 Japan Tokyo Verdy FC 4–1 Thailand BG Pathum United Malaysia Johor Darul Ta'zim 5–1 Singapore Singapore U-16 4

Notes

  • a: Singapore 'C' replaced Thailand U-16 which withdrew from the tournament
  • b: Indonesia was represented with players from Jakarta.
  • c: Perth Kangaroos were disbanded after the 1995 season and went back to their native country donning a new entry as Perth Glory [6]
  • d: FAS sent a team from the National Development Centre (NDU) to participate in the tournament.
  • e: BG Pathum United side which won Lion City Cup was their third tier U15 team.

Notable overseas players

List of footballers that went on to play in Europe's top five leagues or represent their country at the FIFA World Cup

References

  1. ^ "Looking back at 100 Years of Singapore soccer". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 2011-08-24.
  2. ^ Dorai, Joe (11 December 1985). "Youth Cup revived". The Straits Times. p. 36.
  3. ^ Tianbao, Lin (2023-08-09). "Lion City Cup returns, U-15 team to feature". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
  4. ^ "Singapore U-16 set to challenge regional powerhouses for the 2024 Lion City Cup - Football Association of Singapore". www.fas.org.sg. Retrieved 2024-10-05.
  5. ^ Teoh, Melvyn (2024-10-07). "Tokyo Verdy beat BG Pathum to clinch Lion City Cup; JDT third after thrashing S'pore U-16". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  6. ^ "Lion City Cup". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 2023-09-03.