I rarely watch S-League and am not a supporter of local football. My reasons is simple: I don't think the local football standards are high enough to be entertaining. Some might argue that there is a need for local support in order for the league to grow and improve its standards. But for me, all that matters is the quality of football. And besides, the teams that make up S-League nowadays don't make a lot of sense to me. Etoile FC? Beijing Guoan Talent? Young Lions?
I'm not sure how viable is the supporters base for each of these teams. I'm guessing the French expats for Etoile, the Chinese expats and foreign workers for Beijing, and anyone who loves national soccer team to support Young Lions. And of course the various areas to support the location-based teams.
So I have a new proposition to revamp the teams! Though most likely not original in idea, it is worth a mention.
*drumroll...*
Let's use the Singapore Electoral map as a basis to organise the local teams!
The GRCs have a voter population base of between 92k to 184k (more if you include the 2 million odd PRs and foreigners) while the SMCs have a combined voter population of 214k. Therefore, each GRC can form a football team named after their GRC name. Jalan Besah GRC will become Jalan Besah FC. And the SMC can combine to form 2 teams! The supporters base for each team will be close enough to be fair to every team.
With the 14 GRCs and SMCs forming 2 teams, we will have a total of 16 teams to play in the new S-League. The respective Town Councils can then invest in their local teams with their excess money or budget to provide local sporting entertainment and to promote sports in the heartlands, instead of wasting it investing in Minibonds and DBS High Notes.
Town Councils with loads of money can bankroll their clubs just like Chelsea and Man City to bring in foreign talents and aim for a Treble: League Title, Singapore Cup and Singapore League Cup. Then get the best all-star team, naturalise all the foreigners, and aim for Asian Cup!
A possible downside to this idea is that the new teams may face insolvency due to the redrawing of electoral boundaries every 5 years. For example, what if Hougang SMC and Potong Pasir SMC are swallowed up into Aljunied GRC? That will create havoc for the 2 SMC-based teams now that they have less funding.
What do you think of this crazy idea?
I'm not sure how viable is the supporters base for each of these teams. I'm guessing the French expats for Etoile, the Chinese expats and foreign workers for Beijing, and anyone who loves national soccer team to support Young Lions. And of course the various areas to support the location-based teams.
So I have a new proposition to revamp the teams! Though most likely not original in idea, it is worth a mention.
*drumroll...*
Let's use the Singapore Electoral map as a basis to organise the local teams!
The GRCs have a voter population base of between 92k to 184k (more if you include the 2 million odd PRs and foreigners) while the SMCs have a combined voter population of 214k. Therefore, each GRC can form a football team named after their GRC name. Jalan Besah GRC will become Jalan Besah FC. And the SMC can combine to form 2 teams! The supporters base for each team will be close enough to be fair to every team.
With the 14 GRCs and SMCs forming 2 teams, we will have a total of 16 teams to play in the new S-League. The respective Town Councils can then invest in their local teams with their excess money or budget to provide local sporting entertainment and to promote sports in the heartlands, instead of wasting it investing in Minibonds and DBS High Notes.
Town Councils with loads of money can bankroll their clubs just like Chelsea and Man City to bring in foreign talents and aim for a Treble: League Title, Singapore Cup and Singapore League Cup. Then get the best all-star team, naturalise all the foreigners, and aim for Asian Cup!
A possible downside to this idea is that the new teams may face insolvency due to the redrawing of electoral boundaries every 5 years. For example, what if Hougang SMC and Potong Pasir SMC are swallowed up into Aljunied GRC? That will create havoc for the 2 SMC-based teams now that they have less funding.
What do you think of this crazy idea?
