The 2021 Singapore Premier League (also known as the AIA Singapore Premier League due to sponsorship reasons) was the 4th season of the Singapore Premier League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for football clubs, since its rebranding in 2018.Football: Goodbye S-League, welcome Singapore Premier League Straits Times, 21 March 2018
The champions of the 2021 Singapore Premier League, Lion City Sailors, qualified for the AFC Champions League group stage automatically. The season began on 13 March and ended on 10 October. In the first part of the season, all matches were played behind closed doors.
Format SPL teams will play each other thrice. Each team is able to register up to 25 players. From 2021, Albirex is allowed to sign a maximum of 2 overage Singaporean players. As in 2019 and 2020, Albirex must have two Singaporeans in their starting lineup for each game. Young Lions and Lion City Sailors to play their home games at Jalan Besar Stadium while Balestier Khalsa will play at Toa Payoh Stadium. Other stadiums used are: (1) Our Tampines Hub (Tampines Rovers and Geylang International), Hougang Stadium (Hougang United) and (3) Jurong East Stadium (Albirex Niigata and Tanjong Pagar United). Teams will be equipped with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) device. A maximum of four foreign players may be named or fielded in any one match. Local SPL teams, excluding Albirex Niigata (S) and Young Lions, are required to have a minimum of six local U-23 players (born on or after 1 January 1998) for a squad size of 18 (minimum) to 25 (maximum) players. At least eight local U-30 players (born on or after 1 January 1991) have to be registered. Players shall be allocated jersey numbers 1 to 40. Jersey numbers become available for allocation to new members after a player ceases to play. 2019 champions, DPMM FC, will continue to sit out of the competition due to the restriction imposed by the Brunei Government. 1st transfer window: 1 January to 20 March 2021 2nd transfer window: 17 May to 13 June 2021
Teams A total of 8 teams competed in the league. Albirex Niigata (S) from Japan was the only foreign team invited.
Stadiums and locations
Image Team Stadium Capacity Albirex Niigata (S) Tanjong Pagar United Jurong East Stadium Balestier Khalsa Toa Payoh Stadium Hougang United Hougang Stadium Lion City Sailors Young Lions Jalan Besar Stadium Tampines Rovers Geylang International Our Tampines Hub
Personnel and sponsors Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Main shirt sponsor Other shirt sponsors Albirex Niigata (S) Keiji Shigetomi Kazuki Hashioka Takahiro Tezuka (VC) Ryoya Tanigushi (VC) Fairoz Hasan (VC) Mizuno Canon Kirin Kubota Reeracoen EnglishCentral Lensmode Gain City Nippon Medical Care Fitogether Namics Denka SMBC ACCEA Singapore JTB NSG JPLUS+ Daiho Group With You Global Creations SD Aircon Balestier Khalsa Marko Kraljević Fadli Kamis Kristijan Krajcek (VC) Adidas Jeep Weston Corporation Project Vaults StarBalm PSB Academy Geylang International Mohd Noor Ali Yuki Ichikawa Darren Teh (VC) FBT Epson Aris Studio 23 Joydom Engineering My Protein Singapore Steel Industries Springleaf Prata Place Fightzone TRUE Fitness Hougang United Clement Teo Fabian Kwok Lionel Tan (VC) Nazrul Nazari (VC) Ridhuan Barudin (VC) Warrix SportCenter by Zup Cafe Football (CF) The Arena Lion City Sailors Kim Do-hoon Hassan Sunny Shahdan Sulaiman (VC) Puma SEA Shopee Garena Tampines Rovers Gavin Lee Yasir Hanapi Daniel Bennett (VC) Syazwan Buhari (VC) Mizuno ANA Courier Express StarBalm The Black Hole Group My Protein Singapore Canadian 2 for 1 Pizza Tanjong Pagar United Hasrin Jailani Faritz Abdul Hameed Delwinder Singh (VC) Ad hoc Apparel Tokyo Century Samtrade Academy StarBalm Young Lions Philippe Aw Danish Irfan Syahrul Sazali (VC) Nike Catapult
Coaching changes Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming coach Date of appointment Young Lions Nazri Nasir Rested 15 January 2021 Pre-Season Philippe Aw 15 January 2021 Lion City Sailors Aurelio Vidmar Resigned 30 April 2021 2nd Robin Chitrakar (interim) 1 May 2021 Lion City Sailors Robin Chitrakar (interim) NA 18 May 2021 2nd Kim Do-hoon 18 May 2021
Foreign players Singapore Premier League clubs can sign a maximum of four foreign players in the 2021 season, up from three as compared to 2019. However, one of them has to be 21 years old or younger on 1 January 2021 (Or at the age of registration).
Albirex Niigata can sign up unlimited number of Singaporean players for the new season. Only 2 local player above 23 years old is allowed.
Players name in bold indicates the player was registered during the mid-season transfer window. Team Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC Player SG U-23 Player 1 U-21 Player Former Players Albirex Niigata (S) Hyrulnizam Juma'at Fairoz Hassan Ong Yu En Fikri Junaidi Nicky Singh Nathanael Chin Junki Yoshimura Sunny Tia Kenji Austin Ameer Maricar Irsyad Azarudin Hilman Norhisam Muhamad Ali Manaf Balestier Khalsa Kristijan Krajcek Šime Žužul Ensar Brunčević Shuhei Hoshino Yann Weishaupt Geylang International Matheus Moresche Barry Maguire Yuki Ichikawa Danny Kim Sylvano Comvalius Hougang United Gilberto Fortunato Maksat Dzhakybaliev Tomoyuki Doi Kaishu Yamazaki Lion City Sailors Diego Lopes Jorge Fellipe Stipe Plazibat Song Ui-young Note 2 Tampines Rovers Zehrudin Mehmedović Boris Kopitović Armin Bosnjak Kyoga Nakamura Tanjong Pagar United Luiz Júnior Blake Ricciuto Reo Nishiguchi Shodai Nishikawa
Note 1: From 2021, Albirex, a Japanese club, is allowed to sign a maximum of 2 Singaporean players above the age of 23.
Note 2: Song Ui-Young is granted Singapore citizenship on 21 August 2021.
Results League table
Fixtures and results Clubs will play each other three times for 21 matches each.
Matches 1–14
Matches 15–21
Statistics Top scorers
As of 10 October 2021
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Tomoyuki DoiHougang United192 Boris KopitovićTampines Rovers163 Šime ŽužulBalestier Khalsa15 Kiyoshiro TsuboiAlbirex Niigata (S)4 Stipe PlazibatLion City Sailors145 Gabriel QuakLion City Sailors136 Amy RechaGeylang International127 Matheus MorescheGeylang International11 Luiz JúniorTanjong Pagar United8 Ryoya TanigushiAlbirex Niigata (S)9 Reo NishiguchiTanjong Pagar United9 Kuraba KondoAlbirex Niigata (S)810 Ilhan FandiYoung Lions7 Song Ui-youngLion City Sailors
Clean sheets As at 3 October 2021 RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Takahiro KogaAlbirex Niigata (S)82 Hassan SunnyLion City Sailors53 Syazwan BuhariTampines Rovers3
Hat-tricks As of 10 October 2021
Player For Against Result Date Reference Tomoyuki Doi Hougang United Tampines Rovers 5–1 Boris Kopitović Tampines Rovers Young Lions 7–0 Diego Lopes Lion City Sailors Geylang International 8–0 Kiyoshiro Tsuboi Albirex Niigata (S) Tanjong Pagar United 6–0 Kiyoshiro Tsuboi Albirex Niigata (S) Balestier Khalsa 4–1 Šime Žužul Balestier Khalsa Tampines Rovers 5–2 Tomoyuki Doi Hougang United Tampines Rovers 7–3 Kiyoshiro Tsuboi 4 Albirex Niigata (S) Tanjong Pagar United 4–4
4 Player scored 4 goals
Penalty missed Player For Against Date Stipe Plazibat Lion City Sailors Albirex Niigata (S)
Awards
Monthly awards MonthPlayer of the MonthYoung Player of the MonthCoach of the MonthGoal of the MonthRefPlayerClubPlayerClubCoachClubPlayer vs. March Tomoyuki DoiHougang United Khairin NadimYoung Lions Clement TeoHougang United Song Ui-young vs. Tanjong Pagar (17 March 2021)April Stipe PlazibatLion City Sailors FC Kiyoshiro Tsuboi Albirex Niigata (S) Keiji ShigetomiAlbirex Niigata (S) Gabriel Quak vs. Balestier Khalsa (18 April 2021)May Boris KopitovićTampines Rovers Idraki AdnanHougang United Clement TeoHougang United Kyoga Nakamura vs. Young Lions (2/5/2021)August Šime ŽužulBalestier Khalsa Ilhan FandiYoung Lions Hasrin JailaniTanjong Pagar United Luiz Júnior vs. Albirex Niigata (S) (6/8/2021)September Jorge FellipeLion City Sailors FC Nur Adam AbdullahLion City Sailors FC Kim Do-hoonLion City Sailors FC Fabian Kwok vs. Tampines Rovers (11/9/2021)
Singapore Premier League Awards night winners
Awards Winners ClubPlayer of the Year Tomoyuki DoiHougang UnitedYoung Player of the Year Nur Adam Abdullah Lion City SailorsCoach of the Year Clement TeoHougang UnitedTop Scorer Award Tomoyuki DoiHougang UnitedGolden Glove Takahiro Koga Albirex Niigata (S)Goal of the Year Gabriel Quak vs. Balestier Khalsa (18 April 2021)Lion City SailorsFair Play Award Albirex Niigata (S)Referee of the Year Jansen Foo
AIA Team of the Year Goalkeeper Takahiro Koga (Albirex Niigata (S)) Defence Kazuki Hashioka ( Albirex Niigata (S)) Shuya Yamashita ( Albirex Niigata (S)) Jorge Fellipe (Lion City Sailors) Nur Adam Abdullah (Lion City Sailors) Midfield Kaishu Yamazaki (Hougang United) Ryoya Tanigushi ( Albirex Niigata (S)) Shahdan Sulaiman (Lion City Sailors) Attack Šime Žužul (Balestier Khalsa) Stipe Plazibat (Lion City Sailors) Tomoyuki Doi (Hougang United)
References
External links
Football Association of Singapore website Singapore Premier League website