The Singapore League Cup was an annual association football competition in Singapore. It was launched in 2007 and was open to teams who competed in the S.League. Albirex Niigata (S), a satellite club of Albirex Niigata of the J League, has won the most titles in history.
History The inaugural competition of 2007 was sponsored by SingTel, and officially titled the SingTel League Cup. Eight of the twelve S.League teams took part in the 2007 tournament, which was held before the start of the S.League season proper.
In 2008, the competition's official sponsored name was the Avaya-J&J League Cup (with sponsorship coming from Avaya and Jebsen & Jessen Communications). All twelve S.League teams took part in the 2008 tournament. Unlike the 2007 event, the 2008 competition was held during the S.League season.
The 2009 edition of the League Cup was held from 1 to 19 June, again during the S.League season. The competition began with a group stage, where the clubs were divided into four groups of three. The top two teams from each group qualified for the knockout stage. All knockout matches were played at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Live television coverage was provided by Starhub.
2010 saw the League Cup returning to a knockout format. The teams which finished in the top 4 positions in the 2009 S.League season were given byes to the quarter-final round, and the remaining clubs played a qualifying round to decide who would join them in the Cup competition. The draw was conducted before the qualifying round, which meant that qualifying clubs already knew which quarter-final slot they would be playing for.
The 2011 League Cup final on 30 July 2011 saw Albirex Niigata (S) defeat Hougang United FC 5–4 on penalties to become the third consecutive foreign club to hold the trophy after DPMM FC and Étoile FC.
The 2012 tournament was sponsored by StarHub, and officially titled the StarHub League Cup. The 2015 edition was sponsored by The New Paper and known as The New Paper League Cup.
The title sponsor for 2016 was The New Paper. In 2018, The Singapore League Cup was abolished to ease fixture congestion.
Previous League Cup tournament (1997)
A competition called the Singapore League Cup was also held in Singapore in 1997. In that year it was won by the Singapore Armed Forces who defeated Geylang United 1–0 in the final. In 1998, that competition was renamed the Singapore Cup, and was opened to teams that do not play in the S.League. The Singapore Cup is now the major cup competition in Singapore football, and in recent years has involved invited teams from overseas in addition to teams playing in Singapore's local leagues.
YearWinnersRunners-upScore inFinal3rd place4th place1997 Singapore Armed Forces Geylang United1-0 Tampines Rovers Tiong Bahru United
Results YearWinnersRunners-upScore infinal3rd place4th place2007 Woodlands Wellington Sengkang Punggol4-0 Gombak United Home United2008 Gombak United Super Reds2-1 Balestier Khalsa Young Lions2009 DPMM (Brunei) Singapore Armed Forces1-1 (aet)4-3 (pen) Home United Woodlands Wellington2010 Étoile Woodlands Wellington3-1 Sengkang Punggol Gombak United2011 Albirex Niigata (S) Hougang United0-0 (aet)5-4 (pen) Tampines Rovers Home United2012 DPMM (Brunei) Geylang United2-0 Singapore Armed Forces Tampines Rovers rowspan = 6 2013 Balestier Khalsa DPMM (Brunei)4-0 Albirex Niigata (S)Woodlands Wellington2014 DPMM (Brunei) Tanjong Pagar United2-0 Hougang UnitedGeylang International2015 Albirex Niigata (S) Balestier Khalsa2-1 Hougang United Geylang International2016 Albirex Niigata (S) DPMM (Brunei)2-0 Home United Tampines Rovers2017 Albirex Niigata (S) Warriors FC1-0 (aet) DPMM (Brunei) Geylang International
Plate Tournament From 2012, a Plate Tournament was launched for the four teams that finished third in their respective groups.
YearWinnersRunners-upScorein Final2012 Balestier Khalsa Young Lions1–02013 Harimau Muda B Young Lions2–0 2014 Tampines Rovers Balestier Khalsa3–0 2015 colspan=3 2016 Geylang International Hougang United 2–12017 colspan=3
Performance by Clubs
ClubWinnersRunners-upPlate WinnersWinning years Albirex Niigata (S) 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017 DPMM 2009, 2012, 2014 Balestier Khalsa 2013 Woodlands Wellington 2007 Gombak United 2008 Étoile 2010 Warriors FC Hougang United Geylang International Super Reds Tanjong Pagar United Harimau Muda B Tampines Rovers
Sponsorship +PeriodSponsorName2007SingtelSingTel League Cup2008Avaya and Jebsen & Jessen CommunicationsAvaya-J&J League Cup2009–2011No main sponsorSingapore League Cup2012–2014StarHub StarHub League Cup2015–2017The New Paper The New Paper League Cup
See also Singapore Premier League Singapore Cup Singapore Community Shield Singapore National Football League Football Association of Singapore List of football clubs in Singapore
References
External links Singapore - List of Cup Winners, RSSSF.com