Geylang United FC

Football club infobox
clubname = Geylang United FC


fullname = Geylang United Football Club
nickname = The Eagles
founded = 1973
ground = Bedok Stadium
Bedok, Singapore
capacity = 4,000
chairman = Patrick Ang
mgrtitle = 1st Team Coach
manager = flagicon|Slovakia Jozef Herel
league = S.League
season =
position =
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=_thinwhitesides|pattern_ra1=|leftarm1=008000|body1=008000|rightarm1=008000|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=008000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=_thinwhitesides|pattern_ra2=|leftarm2=000080|body2=000080|rightarm2=000080|shorts2=000080|socks2=000080

Geylang United Football Club is a professional football club from Singapore, currently playing in the S.League. The club is based in Bedok and their home ground is Bedok Stadium. Their mascot is an eagle, and hence the team is also known as "the Eagles".

History

The club was founded initially under the name International Contract Specialists in 1973. It changed its name to Geylang International in 1975, and then to Geylang United in 1996.

Prior to the formation of the S.League, the club played in Singapore's National Football League (from 1975-1987) and Premier League (from 1988-1995). They were the dominant team in Singapore during this period, winning nine Premier League titles. The club set a Singapore Football record by winning 6 Premier League titles in a row between 1988 and 1993. The league and Singapore Cup double was also achieved in both 1990 and 1991.

The club were founder members of the S.League in 1996, and captured the inaugural championship title that year. In its inaugural season, the S.League competition was split into two series. In each series, the eight teams in the league played each other home and away, and the table-topping teams from each of the two series then met each other in a season-ending play-off match to determine the champions. Captained by Singapore's most famous soccer star Fandi Ahmad, Geylang won the first series. The second series was won by Singapore Armed Forces Football Club (SAFFC). Geylang beat SAFFC 2-1 in the season-ending play-off match to be crowned the first S.League champions, with Mohammad Khakpour scoring one of the best free kicks to be seen in the S.League in that match. One week later, the Eagles completed the double by beating SAFFC again, this time on penalties, in the Singapore FA Cup final.

The club captured the S.League title for a second time in 2001 under South Korean coach Jang Jung, the defensive wall of Lionel Lewis, Hasrin Jailani, Winston Yap, Zulkarnaen Zainal, winger Noor Ali, key midfielder Billy Bone plus star strikers Aleksandar Duric and Brian Bothwell.

Geylang finished 6th in the 2007 S-League Season.

Record

.League Record

* 2007 - 6th place
* 2006 - 10th place
* 2005 - 8th place
* 2004 - 7th place
* 2003 - Runners-up
* 2002 - 3rd place
* 2001 - Champions
* 2000 - 3rd place
* 1999 - 4th place
* 1998 - 3rd place
* 1997 - 5th place
* 1996 - Champions ("Series 1:" 1st place; "Series 2:" 5th place; beat the Singapore Armed Forces Football Club 2-1 in the championship final)

Pre-S.League championship titles

* Premier League: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 & 1993
* National Football League: 1975, 1976 & 1977

Cup wins

* Singapore FA Cup: 1996
* President's Cup: 1976, 1978, 1990, 1991 & 1995

ingapore Cup Record

* 2008 - First Round
* 2007 - First Round
* 2006 - First Round
* 2005 - First Round
* 2004 - Semi-finals
* 2003 - Runners-up
* 2002 - 3rd place
* 2001 - Runners-up
* 2000 - 3rd place
* 1999 - Quarter-finals
* 1998 - First Round
* 1997 - Runners-up

ingapore League Cup Record

* 2008 - First Round
* 2007 - Did not take part

Performance in AFC Competitions

* AFC Champions League: 1 appearance::2002-03: Qualifying East - 3rd Round
* Asian Club Championship: 4 appearances::1989: Qualifying Stage::1990: Qualifying Stage::1991: Qualifying Stage::1998: First Round
*AFC Cup: 1 appearance::2004: Semi-Finals
* Asian Cup Winners Cup: 2 appearances::1990/91: First Round::1991/92: First Round

ponsors

* Main Sponsor: Five Star Tours
* Kit Supplier: Diadora

Current squad

"As of February 1, 2008

Nationality given from place of birthFs player|no=5|nat=SIN|name=Aide Iskandar|pos=DF (Captain)Fs player|no=27|nat=SIN|name=Nazri Sabri|pos=GK "(Prime League)"

Confirmed 2008 transfers

In

Out

Technical Staff (Football Division)

*flagicon|SIN Asst General Manager/Team Manager: Lim Tong Hai
*flagicon|Slovakia Head Coach: Jozef Herel
*flagicon|SIN Assistant Coach: D.Tokijan
*flagicon|SIN Goalkeeping Coach: Koh Chuan Hwee
*flagicon|SIN Sports Trainer: Thomas Pang Yok Boon
*flagicon|SIN Kitman: Abdul Halim

Famous Former Players/Coaches

*flagicon|Croatia Zlatko Vidan (1988-1996)
*flagicon|Iran Hamid Estili (1996)
*flagicon|Iran Mohammad Khakpour (1996)
*flagicon|Iran Jalal Talebi (1996) Coach
*flagicon|New Zealand Alan Vest (1999-2000) Coach
*flagicon|New Zealand Douglas Moore (1998) Coach (sport)Coach
*flagicon|Singapore Fandi Ahmad (1988-1993, 1996)
*flagicon|Singapore Lim Tong Hai (Player:2002-2004, Coach:2005-2007, Current Team Manager)
*flagicon|Singapore David Lee (1996-1997)
*flagicon|Singapore Kadir Yahaya (1996-2002)
*flagicon|Singapore Indra Sahdan Daud(1997-2000)
*flagicon|Singapore Aleksandar Duric (2001-2004)
*flagicon|Singapore Ahmad Latiff (1997-1998)
*flagicon|Singapore John Wilkinson (2001-2003)
*flagicon|Singapore Lionel Lewis (2001-2003)
*flagicon|South Korea Jang Jung (Player: 1997)(Coach 1998-2002)

Notable Former Players

*flagicon|AUS Brendon Santalab (2003)- 22 app 23 goals
*flagicon|AUS Brian Bothwell (2000-2001)
*flagicon|AUS Warren Spink (1997)
*flagicon|ENG Max Nicholson (footballer) (1998)
*flagicon|ENG Billy Bone (1998-2001)
*flagicon|England Daniel Hill (footballer) (2004)
*flagicon|Germany Lutz Pfannenstiel (1999-2000)
*flagicon|Ireland Wayne O'Sullivan (2004-05)
*flagicon|New Zealand Jason Batty (1999)
*flagicon|Scotland Stewart Petrie (2004)
*flagicon|Singapore Jerry Bartholomeusz (1999-2001)
*flagicon|Singapore Hasrin Jailani (1998-2002)
*flagicon|Singapore Shahril Jantan (1998-2002)
*flagicon|Singapore Zulkarnaen Zainal (1996-2002)
*flagicon|Singapore Mohd Rafi Ali (1998)
*flagicon|Singapore Winston Yap (1998-2002)
*flagicon|Singapore Malek Awab (1988-1993)
*flagicon|Singapore K. Kannan (1988-1993)
*flagicon|Singapore Razali Saad (1988-1996)
*flagicon|Singapore Jefri Rahmat (1988-1993)
*flagicon|Singapore D. Tokijan (Player 1988-1993)(Current First Team Assistant Coach)
*flagicon|Singapore Borhan Abu Samah (1988-1993)
*flagicon|Singapore Syed Faruk (1988-1996)

External links

* [http://www.gufc.org.sg Official club website]
* [http://www.sleague.com/Web/main.aspx?ID=f85886fa-c05b-45ce-ab4e-b1cc4787bf69 S.League website page on Geylang United FC]