Lion City Sailors aim for unbeaten record after clinching Singapore Premier League title 

SINGAPORE – The buoyant Lion City Sailors have changed tack to chart a new course – mere minutes after sealing back-to-back Singapore Premier League titles for the first time with a 0-0 draw against BG Tampines Rovers on May 3.

With two games left in the season, the Sailors are aiming to emulate the 2018 Albirex Niigata side as the only teams to have won the SPL unbeaten.

In 19 matches this season, the Sailors have won 16 and drawn thrice. They will face Albirex on May 10 in their last home game before the season-ending clash with the Stags on May 17.

That aim is what drives Sailors’ coach Jesus Casas, who expressed his happiness for the club, fans and players for winning the title at Our Tampines Hub.

“It (ending the season unbeaten) is another challenge for us,” said Casas. “In sport, you always need a target and this is an important target for us to obtain.”

Looking further ahead, the Spaniard added: “The main target is always to achieve something important in Asian competitions. We will try to win the league again next year, but we have a lot of energy to want to try and get good results in Asian competitions next season.”

The Sailors entered the top-of-the-table clash on May 3 knowing that a point would be enough to seal the league title, after Tampines suffered a 2-1 defeat by Albirex earlier in the week.

And they did the job by keeping Tampines at bay in the cagey affair, with chances at a premium for either side, to maintain an eight-point gap over the Stags.

After the final whistle, celebrations went into full swing, as the Sailors formed a group hug on the pitch before breaking into a collective jig and joining in the festivities with their fans.

The Sailors, SPL’s only privatised side, have now won their third league title since they were formed in 2020.

Australian centre-back Bailey Wright, one of their standout players of the season – he has contributed five goals and played a key role in 11 out of 12 clean sheets – said the title came as “relief”.

Wright, 33, said: “It is a real sense of relief. Credit to everyone involved in the club, the players, the staff, everyone from top to bottom.

“Credit to Tampines as well. Throughout the season, in the Asian competitions and in the league, they’ve been a really good side, and I think they showed that again today.

“So credit to them for making it difficult for us all this way. But we knew we were good enough. We knew we’d get there from what we do every day in training.

“These are the moments you remember in your career. So it’s special to share it with so many great people.”

Although the clash featured no goals, it suited the Sailors, who have now completed consecutive domestic doubles, having clinched the Singapore Cup in January.

However, their successes pale in comparison to the highs of 2025.

Then, they also made an unprecedented run to the AFC Champions League Two (ACL2) final, where they were beaten 2-1 by Emirati side Sharjah FC at the Bishan Stadium.

The new campaign had begun in seemingly ominous fashion, when the Sailors were thumped 4-1 by Tampines in the Community Shield last August.

While they picked up their form domestically to start the SPL strongly, there were poor results on the foreign front, which featured group-stage exits in the Asean Club Championship and the ACL2.

It led to the departure of Serbian coach Aleksandar Rankovic on Feb 6, less than a month after the Singapore Cup triumph over the Stags.

Former Iraq national coach Casas was then appointed to the post on a two-year deal on Feb 23.

The Spanish tactician went on to oversee an unbeaten run during his tenure, winning six and drawing two of his eight league matches in charge.

But the reality is that the Sailors were never truly under threat from the Stags, who have been busy navigating choppy waters of their own.

Interim coach William Phang, Tampines’ general manager and goalkeeper coach, was put in charge of the team on April 15, following the departure of Japanese tactician Katsuhito Kinoshi less than two weeks after he was officially appointed on April 3.

Kinoshi’s brief tenure was blighted by a fine imposed on the club by the Football Association of Singapore and an investigation by the Ministry of Manpower.

Phang is the fifth coach to take charge of Tampines this season.

Akbar Nawas, who was appointed before the season, was removed just three matches into the campaign.

It was then announced that former Lion Noh Rahman would lead the side until the end of the campaign.

But on Feb 14, Noh left and Robert Eziakor was installed as interim coach, before he was replaced by Kinoshi.

Tampines will now need to focus on ensuring they finish the season in second spot, which will come with an ACL2 play-off berth.

Third-placed Albirex, who face the Young Lions in their game-in-hand at the Jurong East Stadium on May 4, are just five points behind the Stags (43 points).

Phang said: “We will treat the next two matches as Cup finals and we will look to end the season strong.”

Analysis

With the disparity in resources, it was always difficult to envision the rest of the league stopping the Sailors, who feature several Singapore national team regulars and the league’s best foreigners.

Before six-time champions Albirex transitioned into a fully local outfit for the 2024 season, they had claimed three titles from 2020 to 2023, providing the Sailors with their most consistent domestic challenge.

A second straight domestic double spells danger for the competitiveness of the league but should serve as a wake-up call for the chasing pack, including the Stags.