Honoured by Sultan of Selangor’s Cup role, Noor Ali wants to lead Geylang to greater heights

SINGAPORE – Having played in the Sultan of Selangor’s Cup, Geylang International coach Noor Ali received a form of recognition last week when it was announced that he will be heading to the 2025 edition as coach of the Singapore Premier League (SPL) Selection team.

The 50-year-old said he felt emotional at the prospect of leading a team against a Selangor Selection side on Sept 27, adding: “I’m grateful for the opportunity and it’s nice to be recognised by the new Football Association of Singapore committee.

“Having been a former national player, an assistant coach and head coach in the local league for more than 10 years, I’ve always wanted to contribute at a higher level and be part of the national set-up.

“This will be a good stepping stone and exposure for me. It won’t be easy playing against a good team in Kuala Lumpur’s Merdeka Stadium, but we will try to put up a good performance and get the win with a mix of imports and locals who are on the fringe of the national team.”

This means the wiry winger will play just one half of the veterans’ curtain-raiser match, having scored in a 2-1 loss in 2024. He had also featured for the S.League Selection side in this annual series that started in 2001.

But first, Noor has to solve Geylang’s goalscoring woes as they face Hougang United in an SPL game at Our Tampines Hub on Sept 19.

The Eagles have yet to open accounts in the new SPL season, having drawn 0-0 with BG Tampines Rovers and lost 2-0 to Albirex Niigata.

This is in stark contrast to last season when they scored a league-high 97 goals to place third behind champions Lion City Sailors and Tampines – their best finish since coming in second in 2003.

He said: “We definitely missed Tomoyuki Doi (who joined Thailand’s BG Pathum United), and it’s not easy to replace someone who scored a record 50 goals in one season.

“Shuhei Hoshino and Riku Fukashiro are new attackers who have different styles, while our playmakers Vincent Bezecourt and Shahdan Sulaiman are half-fit. But it’s early in the season, and we know what we can rectify and get the right connection to play our attacking football.”

A household name in Singapore football after winning the 1998 Asean Championship with the Lions, as well as S.League and Singapore Cup titles with Geylang and Singapore Armed Forces FC, Noor is the longest-serving active head coach in the league.

This is his seventh straight season as Eagles coach since returning from a 10-month attachment with Japanese partner club Matsumoto Yamaga in 2018, during which he led their Under-18 B team to the Takamado Cup JFA U-18 Football League Nagano prefecture title.

Under his tutelage, players such as Shawal Anuar and Joshua Pereira blossomed to become national players while others like Rudy Khairullah and Zikos Chua received Lions call-ups, as he turned the club into a top-three team on a limited budget.

Noor, who received his Asian Football Confederation professional coaching diploma on Sept 16, said: “Geylang have trusted me in so many ways and helped me so much in my playing and coaching development, and I really want to repay them by helping them achieve major honours.”

Meanwhile, Hougang are also hoping to gel after making a raft of Thai and Japanese signings. On Sept 15, they unveiled their latest recruit, Kenyan defender Nabilai Kibunguchy.

Hougang coach Robert Eziakor felt they should have got more from the 2-1 loss to the Sailors in their season-opener on Aug 25, adding: “We are disappointed because we believe we should have taken a point.

“But that first outing gave us belief to build on for the season. We are finding our feet and are at about 70 per cent now. We are looking to be effective with the ball rather than have non-threatening possession.”

Young Lions v Balestier Khalsa (Sept 21, 7.30pm, Our Tampines Hub)

The Young Lions open their SPL campaign on the back of a disappointing Under-23 Asian Cup qualification campaign in which they lost all three games.

They will have several Brazilian imports to call on as they take on the Tigers, who lost 5-0 to the Sailors on Sept 14, but it will be interesting to see if coach Firdaus Kassim will field more locals with the SEA Games in mind.

Tanjong Pagar v Lion City Sailors (Sept 22, 7.30pm, Jurong East Stadium)

The Sailors are not at their best yet, but have still notched two wins out of two in the new season.

They have a relatively easy start to the season against teams who are in transition and have yet to settle down. It looks no different this week as they take on bottom side Tanjong Pagar, who may not be able to field their full complement of imports due to injuries.