Manchester United, Real Madrid on fans’ wish list for S’pore Football Festival

SINGAPORE – Touted as a week-long football extravaganza, the Singapore Festival of Football – which hosted English Premier League giants Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, Championship side Leicester City and German champions Bayern Munich – has had a mixed reception from fans.

While the final match

between Liverpool and Bayern Munich

on Wednesday was played in front of a crowd of 49,983 at the National Stadium, the first two matches filled less than half of the venue at Kallang.

Tottenham’s 5-1 victory over the Lion City Sailors

– the Singapore Premier League side replaced AS Roma after the Italian club pulled out – a week ago was watched by 25,095 fans, while Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Leicester on Sunday had 28,597 supporters in attendance.

Some fans attributed the poor turnout in the first two games to the prices of the tickets, which ranged from $99 for the bronze category to $899 for VIP lounge tickets.

Tottenham fan Doug Irvine, 49, felt that the prices should have been revised after Roma withdrew.

The aircraft engineer said: “I still want to see the team and, I will be very honest, I was disappointed that we weren’t given a part refund or something.

“I obviously don’t want a full refund because I still want to see the team. But now knowing it’s not Roma and it’s Lion City Sailors and then there were other organisations giving them away for free.”

While Singapore has hosted some of the world’s top football clubs under the International Champions Cup (ICC) – which was part of a four-year contract inked in 2017 – the 2023 football festival was the largest with five teams.

The first edition of the ICC featured only three teams – Bayern, Chelsea and Inter Milan. Over the years, crowd numbers have fluctuated – from 23,095 for Arsenal’s match against Atletico Madrid in 2018 to 52,897 for

Manchester United’s game against Inter a years later.

While the Liverpool-Bayern game had a big turnout, some fans like Tristan Chia, who paid $99 for a ticket to watch the Reds’ match against Leicester, felt let down by the experience.

The 23-year-old student said: “I don’t think the ticket was worth it. I wouldn’t have come if my friends hadn’t asked me to go.

“I mainly go to these events for the atmosphere and it’s quite sad that only half the stadium was filled.”

But there were also fans who had a good time at the National Stadium.

Healthcare worker Andy Chua, 38, felt that the $149 he paid for his ticket to the Liverpool-Leicester game was worth it.

He said on Sunday: “I’m a big Liverpool fan and I didn’t get the chance to catch them last year, so I definitely felt like I had to this year. I’m quite surprised that it’s not a full house, but I guess most people will be attending the Bayern Munich game instead.

“I’m hoping we get to see them play some bigger clubs, like Manchester United or Real Madrid if they ever come back.”

Liverpool fan Matthew Chang also splashed the cash to watch his favourite team – he spent $99 for Sunday’s match and bought a $249 ticket for Wednesday’s fixture.

The 23-year-old student felt it was worth the expense, adding: “There are more star players on show and the competition is higher.”

Wednesday’s fixture also attracted many foreign fans, like Indian nationals Abhilash Wadegaonkar, 26, and Anjan Wadegaonkar, 27, who flew in from India to watch Liverpool in-person for the first time.

Forty supporters from the official Indonesian Bayern Munich fan club also travelled to Singapore to back their team.

“Not everyone could make it because it’s expensive but we’re sharing the euphoria by sending videos and photos back home,” said the fan club’s president Devira Emilia, 31.

The software engineer estimated that the cost of travelling to Singapore to watch the game, inclusive of the $149 ticket – three times the cost of the one they bought in 2017 – was seven million rupiah ($617).

In 2017, when Bayern were last in Singapore for the ICC, tickets were priced from $40.

Nonetheless, Devira had no qualms about making the trip. She said: “It’s definitely worth it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Organisers TEG Group’s managing director of Asia, Timothy Ho, said there were “lots of positives to be taken” from the event, with over 130,000 people attending the three matches and two open training sessions.

He noted that there was “strong support from the region” with fans from China, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia also coming for the exhibition matches.

Ho added: “We are always looking to bring live sporting and entertainment events to Singapore.

“The format of the event and the clubs for next year is dependent on the clubs’ pre-season plans.”