2023 Singapore Premier League

The 2023 Singapore Premier League (also known as the AIA Singapore Premier League due to sponsorship reasons) was the 6th season of the Singapore Premier League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for football clubs, since its rebranding in 2018.

Season2023

ChampionsAlbirex Niigata (S)

Matches88

Goals346 (3.93 per match)

Quick facts Season, Champions ...

Singapore Premier League
Match between DPMM and Hougang United
Season	2023
Champions	Albirex Niigata (S)
Matches	88
Goals	346 (3.93 per match)
Top goalscorer	Maxime Lestienne (25 goals)
Highest attendance	2,497 Albirex Niigata (S) 3–1 Lion City Sailors (16 July 2023)
Average attendance	752
← 2022 2024–25 →

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Format

The following key changes were made to the rules for the 2023 season:

Young Lions will be allowed to register between 20 and 40 players, three of whom may be foreign or overaged Singaporean players.
Young Lions and Hougang United to play their home games at Jalan Besar Stadium while Lion City Sailors and Balestier Khalsa will play at Bishan Stadium. Other stadiums used are: (1) Our Tampines Hub (Tampines Rovers and Geylang International), (2) Jurong East Stadium (Albirex Niigata and Tanjong Pagar United), and (3) Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium (DPMM). DPMM will play their 1st three home matches in Jalan Besar Stadium as their home ground is undergoing renovation.
Brunei DPMM are required to have a minimum of one Under-23 player of Bruneian nationality fielded during the entire first half of a match.
All clubs may include a maximum of five players from its COE Under-21 team in its match-day squad.
VAR technology will feature for the first time in Singapore league history.

1st transfer window: 1 January to 19 March
2nd transfer window: 1 to 28 June

Teams

A total of 9 teams competed in the league. Albirex Niigata (S) was an invited foreign club from Japan, while DPMM FC was an invited foreign club from Brunei.

Stadiums and locations

DPMM FC

Singapore

Location of 2023 Singapore Premier League teams

Albirex (S)
Tanjong Pagar

Lion City Sailors
Balestier Khalsa

Tampines Rovers
Geylang International

Young
Lions
Hougang Utd

Locations of the 2023 Singapore Premier League teams from Singapore

More information Image, Team ...

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Albirex Niigata (S) Tanjong Pagar United	Jurong East Stadium	2,700
Lion City Sailors Balestier Khalsa	Bishan Stadium	6,254
Young Lions Hougang United DPMM FC	Jalan Besar Stadium	6,000
Tampines Rovers Geylang International	Our Tampines Hub Jalan Besar Stadium (Btw 12-20 Apr 2023)	5,100

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Personnel, kit and sponsoring

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

More information Team, Head coach ...

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Main Shirt sponsor	Other shirt sponsors
Albirex Niigata (S)	Kazuaki Yoshinaga^[1]	Asahi Yokokawa	Mizuno	Denka^[2]	Lensmode Kubota Reeracoen Kirin EnglishCentral Gain City Dpro Logistics Namics One Asia Lawyers JPLUS+ Daiho Group JTB NSG Sanpoutei Ramen SMBC ACCEA Singapore PR Times Nippon Medical Care HIT Singapore With You Global Creations SD Aircon At Twenty Salonpas Crown Line SETA Technologies Salonpas Soken Medical Dr. Stretch Miura IGPI Thomson Jap Family Clinic Akinori Singapore Black Clover Pocari Sweat SingaLife
Balestier Khalsa	Peter de Roo	Ho Wai Loon	Adidas	Jeep	Weston Corporation Project Vaults PSB Academy TopGrid Pest Dr. Stretch StarBalm Boys' Town YouthReach
DPMM	Adrian Pennock	Wardun Yussof	Pitch		Brunei Shell Marketing Mitsubishi Corporation Baiduri Bank DST You C1000 BGI BEGAWAN ATHLETE Waznah
Geylang International	Mohd Noor Ali^[3]	Joshua Pereira	FBT	Rolos by Constructor ^[4]	Epson^[5]^[6] Broadway Dr. Stretch Extra Ordinary People Optimum Nutrition TRUE Fitness
Hougang United	Marko Kraljević (Interim)	Zulfahmi Arifin	Ari	The Physio Circle^[7]	Cafe Football (CF) The Arena SpeedFitness Advance Capital StarBalm My Protein Singapore
Lion City Sailors	Aleksandar Ranković^[8]	Hariss Harun	Puma	SEA^[9]	Shopee Garena Optimum Nutrition GXA Bank
Tampines Rovers	Gavin Lee^[10]	Yasir Hanapi	Mizuno	ANA Courier Express ^[11]	Rookbook Ryudben Sports Blackhole Group Vintage Studio Battlewin My Protein Singapore Bauerfeind Sports JSSL FC Canadian 2 for 1 pizza StarBalm Fit Together Black Clover
Tanjong Pagar United	Hasrin Jailani	Shakir Hamzah	FBT	Tokyo Century	Samtrade Academy Hyundai StarBalm The Rehab Lab
Young Lions	Nazri Nasir^[12]	Harhys Stewart	Nike		Catapult

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a. Jacob Mahler was club captain at Young Lions until 19 May 2023, when it was announced he signed for Madura United. Harhys Stewart is now serving as the de facto captain.

Coaching changes

More information Team, Outgoing Head Coach ...

Team	Outgoing Head Coach	Manner of Departure	Date of Vacancy	Position in table	Incoming Head Coach	Date of appointment
Balestier Khalsa	Peter de Roo (interim)	Appointed to permanent role				30 November 2022 ^[13]
Hougang United	Firdaus Kassim (interim)	Appointed to permanent role				15 January 2023 ^[14]
Young Lions	Nazri Nasir	Stepped down	16 December 2022 ^[15]	Pre-season	Philippe Aw	17 December 2022 ^[12]
Lion City Sailors	Luka Lalic (interim)	End of Interim	20 December 2022 ^[16]	Pre-season	Risto Vidaković	20 December 2022 ^[17]
Hougang United	Firdaus Kassim	Redesignated as Youth Coach	17 April 2023 ^[18]	9th	Marko Kraljević (interim)	17 April 2023 ^[18]
Young Lions	Philippe Aw	Leave of Absence	18 May 2023 ^[19]	9th	Fadzuhasny Juraimi Koichiro Iizuka (Interim)	18 May 2023 ^[20]
Lion City Sailors	Risto Vidaković	Sacked	19 June 2023 ^[21]	3rd	Pablo Muñiz Daan van Oudheusden (interim)	19 June 2023 ^[22]
Lion City Sailors	Pablo Muñiz Daan van Oudheusden (interim)	End of Interim	28 June 2023 ^[23]	3rd	Aleksandar Ranković	28 June 2023 ^[8]
Young Lions	Fadzuhasny Juraimi Koichiro Iizuka (Interim)	End of Interim	13 July 2023 ^[20]	9th	Nazri Nasir	13 July 2023 ^[24]

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Foreign players

Singapore Premier League clubs could sign a maximum of four foreign players in the 2023 season.^[25] However, one of them had to be an AFC player.

Player name in bold indicates the player was registered during the mid-season transfer window.

More information Club, Player 1 ...

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	AFC Player	U21 Player	Former Players Unregistered Players
Balestier Khalsa	Alen Kozar^[26]	Shuhei Hoshino^[27]	Ryoya Tanigushi^[28]	Masahiro Sugita^[29]	Max McCoy Curtis Gray Alexandre Bertholon	Conor MacKay
DPMM FC	Andrey Varankow^[30]	Ángel Martínez^[30]	Kristijan Naumovski^[31]	Farshad Noor^[31]		Akmal Tursunbaev^[30] Josip Balić^[30]
Geylang International	Vincent Bezecourt^[32]	Takahiro Tezuka^[27]	Rio Sakuma^[27]	Yushi Yamaya^[33]	Zach Whitehouse
Hougang United	Kristijan Krajcek^[34]	Đorđe Maksimović	Naoki Kuriyama^[35]	Kazuma Takayama^[36]		Brian Ferreira
Lion City Sailors	Diego Lopes^[37]	Maxime Lestienne^[38]	Richairo Zivkovic ^[39]	Bailey Wright ^[40]	Nils Vandersmissen Joshua Little Aryan Bahadur Chhetri	Obren Kljajic^[41] Pedro Henrique^[42] Kodai Tanaka^[43]^[44] Súper^[45] Bernie Ibini-Isei^[46]
Tampines Rovers	Boris Kopitović^[27]	Miloš Zlatković^[47]	Shuya Yamashita^[48]	Kyoga Nakamura^[49]
Tanjong Pagar United	Pedro Dias^[50]	Mirko Šugić^[51]	Marin Mudražija^[52]	Blake Ricciuto^[53]	George Thomas Charlie Traynor

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Albirex Niigata can sign an unlimited number of Singaporean players for this season. Only 2 local players above 23 years old are allowed.^[54]

More information Club, SG Overaged Player 1 ...

Club	SG Overaged Player 1	SG Overaged Player 2	SG Player 1	SG Player 2	SG Player 3	Former Players
Albirex Niigata (S)	Hassan Sunny^[55]	Hyrulnizam Juma'at ^[56]	Zamani Zamri^[57]	Shakthi Vinayagavijayan^[58]	Junki Kenn Yoshimura^[58]	Nicky Melvin Singh^[59]
	SG Player 4	SG Player 5	SG Player 6	SG Player 7	SG Player 8	Former Players
	Jarrel Ong Jia Wei^[60]	Kenji Austin^[61]	Hilman Norhisam^[62]	Firman Nabil^[63]

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Young Lions can register a total of three foreign or overaged Singaporean players.

More information Club, Player 1 ...

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Former Players Unregistered Players
Young Lions	Kan Kobayashi^[64]^[65]	Jun Kobayashi^[66]	Amiruldin Asraf

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Results

League table

More information Pos, Team ...

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Albirex Niigata (S)^[a] (C)	24	20	2	2	86	20	+66	62
2	Lion City Sailors (Q)	24	17	3	4	79	39	+40	54	Qualification for 2024-25 AFC Champions League Two Group Stage & ASEAN Club Championship
3	Tampines Rovers (Q)	24	14	6	4	47	32	+15	48	Qualification for 2024-25 AFC Champions League Two Group Stage
4	Balestier Khalsa	24	12	0	12	60	71	−11	36
5	Geylang International	24	10	3	11	41	52	−11	33
6	Hougang United	24	9	2	13	37	57	−20	29
7	Brunei DPMM^[a]	24	6	5	13	39	43	−4	23
8	Tanjong Pagar United	24	6	3	15	39	62	−23	21
9	Young Lions^[a]	24	1	2	21	24	76	−52	5

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Source: Singapore Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of wins
(C) Champions; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated
Notes:

[a]
Three clubs – Albirex Niigata (S), DPMM FC and the FAS under-23 team Young Lions, are ineligible for any AFC competition spots.

Fixtures and results

More information Home \ Away, ALB ...

Matches 1–16

Home \ Away	ALB	BAL	GEY	HOU	LCS	TAM	TPU	YLI	DPM
Albirex Niigata		6–2	3–0	2–0	4–0	0–1	4–0	3–0	2–0
Balestier Khalsa	1–6		2–3	2–3	4–5	1–3	4–3	3–1	3–2
Geylang International	1–6	3–0		2–1	1–2	1–1	2–3	4–2	2–0
Hougang United	0–5	1–3	3–2		0–5	1–1	1–2	3–0	0–3
Lion City Sailors	3–2	3–0	3–0	3–0		1–1	3–1	4–1	3–1
Tampines Rovers	1–1	2–3	1–1	2–0	4–3		3–0	1–0	2–0
Tanjong Pagar United	0–2	2–4	2–0	1–3	1–7	0–2		2–1	1–1
Young Lions	2–4	1–3	0–2	2–1	1–1	0–3	3–4		2–2
DPMM FC	0–2	3–4	1–3	2–3	3–3	0–1	2–1	6–0

Updated to match(es) played on 20 August 2023. Source: spl.sg
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Matches 17-24

Home \ Away	ALB	BAL	GEY	HOU	LCS	TAM	TPU	YLI	DPM
Albirex Niigata (S)				5–0	3–1	6–3		5–0
Balestier Khalsa	1–5			1–3		1–3		4–2
Geylang International	1–6	2–6		0–2				3–0
Hougang United					2–8	0–1	3–3		1–0
Lion City Sailors		5–2	3–1				3–2		1–3
Tampines Rovers			2–3		2–5		2–1		2–2
Tanjong Pagar United	2–3	2–3	2–2					3–2
Young Lions				2–6	0–4	2–3			0–2
DPMM FC	1–1	2–3	1–2				2–1

Updated to match(es) played on 20 August 2023. Source: spl.sg
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

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Statistics

More information Rank, Player ...

Top scorers

As of 16 Sept 2023

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Maxime Lestienne	Lion City Sailors	25
2	Ryoya Tanigushi	Balestier Khalsa	23
3	Seia Kunori	Albirex Niigata (S)	21
4	Boris Kopitović	Tampines Rovers	17
5	Keito Komatsu	Albirex Niigata (S)	13
6	Hakeme Yazid Said	Brunei DPMM	12
7	Tadanari Lee	Albirex Niigata (S)	11
7	Shuhei Hoshino	Balestier Khalsa	11
8	Yushi Yamaya	Geylang International	10
	Abdul Rasaq	Lion City Sailors
	Shawal Anuar	Lion City Sailors
9	Andrey Varankow	Brunei DPMM	9
	Kristijan Krajcek	Hougang United
	Faris Ramli	Tampines Rovers
	Marin Mudražija	Tanjong Pagar United
10	Riku Fukashiro	Albirex Niigata (S)	8
10	Shuto Komaki	Albirex Niigata (S)	8

Top assists

As at 16 Sept 2023

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Maxime Lestienne	Lion City Sailors	21
2	Diego Lopes	Lion City Sailors	13
3	Shuhei Hoshino	Balestier Khalsa	12
4	Shuto Komaki	Albirex Niigata (S)	10
4	Seia Kunori	Albirex Niigata (S)	10
5	Joel Chew	Tampines Rovers	9
5	Kristijan Krajcek	Hougang United	9
6	Shodai Yokokawa	Albirex Niigata (S)	8
6	Asahi Yokokawa	Albirex Niigata (S)	8
7	Yushi Yamaya	Geylang International	7
7	Adam Swandi	Lion City Sailors	7
8	Tadanari Lee	Albirex Niigata (S)	6
8	Riku Fukashiro	Albirex Niigata (S)	6
9	Ryoya Tanigushi	Balestier Khalsa	5
	Ho Wai Loon	Balestier Khalsa
	Daniel Goh	Balestier Khalsa
	Hakeme Yazid Said	Brunei DPMM
	Takahiro Tezuka	Geylang International
	Kan Kobayashi	Young Lions FC

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More information Player, For ...

Own goal

As at 13 Aug 2023

Player	For	Against	Date
Lionel Tan	Lion City Sailors	Albirex Niigata (S)	9 Mar 23
Ho Wai Loon	Balestier Khalsa	DPMM	10 Mar 23
Hirzi Zulfaqar	DPMM	Tanjong Pagar United	14 Mar 23
Glenn Kweh	Tampines Rovers	Lion City Sailors	31 Mar 23
Jun Kobayashi	Young Lions FC	Tanjong Pagar United	6 Jun 23
Kan Kobayashi		Lion City Sailors	10 Jun 23
Harhys Stewart		Albirex Niigata (S)	1 Jul 23
Joshua Pereira	Geylang International	Balestier Khalsa	12 Aug 23
Richairo Zivkovic	Lion City Sailors	Hougang United	13 Aug 23

Hat-tricks

As at 4 Aug 2023

Player	For	Against	Result (Date)
Ryoya Tanigushi	Balestier Khalsa	DPMM	4–3 (10 Mar 23) ^[67]
Seia Kunori	Albirex Niigata (S)	Balestier Khalsa	6–1 (5 Apr 23) ^[68]
Andrey Voronkov	DPMM	Lion City Sailors	3–3 (13 May 23) ^[69]
Amy Recha	Hougang United	DPMM	3–2 (7 Jun 23) ^[70]
Maxime Lestienne	Lion City Sailors	Young Lions	4–0 (7 Jul 23) ^[71]
Keito Komatsu	Albirex Niigata (S)	Young Lions	5–0 (22 Jul 23) ^[72]
Seia Kunori ⁴	Albirex Niigata (S)	Geylang International	6–1 (3 Aug 23) ^[73]
Maxime Lestienne	Lion City Sailors	Tampines Rovers	5-2 (4 Aug 23) ^[74]

Note ⁴ Player scored 4 goals

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More information Rank, Player ...

Clean sheets

As at 16 Sept 2023

Rank	Player	Club	Clean Sheets
1	Hassan Sunny	Albirex Niigata (S)	9
2	Syazwan Buhari	Tampines Rovers	8
3	Zharfan Rohaizad	Lion City Sailors	5
4	Hafiz Ahmad	Geylang International	3
4	Zaiful Nizam	Hougang United	3
5	Kai Yamamoto	Albirex Niigata (S)	1
	Hyrulnizam Juma'at	Albirex Niigata (S)
	Haimie Abdullah Nyaring	DPMM
	Kristijan Naumovski	DPMM
	Rudy Khairullah	Geylang International
	Ridhuan Barudin	Tampines Rovers
	Kenji Syed Rusydi	Tanjong Pagar United

Penalty missed

As at 15 Sept 2023

Player	For	Against	Date
Mirko Šugić	Tanjong Pagar United	Lion City Sailors	24 Feb 23
Diego Lopes	Lion City Sailors	Geylang International	15 Mar 23
Andrey Voronkov	DPMM	Tampines Rovers	20 Apr 23
Andrey Voronkov	DPMM	Tanjong Pagar United	7 May 23
Seia Kunori	Albirex Niigata (S)	DPMM	11 Jun 23
Yushi Yamaya	Geylang International	DPMM	28 Jun 23
Kan Kobayashi	Young Lions FC	Albirex Niigata (S)	1 Jul 23
Maxime Lestienne	Lion City Sailors	DPMM	11 Jul 23
Ryoya Tanigushi	Balestier Khalsa	DPMM	16 Jul 23
Seia Kunori	Albirex Niigata	Tampines Rovers	28 Jul 23
Hakeme Yazid Said	DPMM	Geylang International	28 Jul 23
Richairo Zivkovic	Lion City Sailors	Balestier Khalsa	31 Jul 23
Ryoya Tanigushi	Balestier Khalsa	Lion City Sailors	31 Jul 23
Syukri Bashir	Tanjong Pagar United	Young Lions FC	5 Aug 23
Amiruldin Asraf	Young Lions FC	Tanjong Pagar United	5 Aug 23
Ryoya Tanigushi	Balestier Khalsa	Tampines Rovers	15 Sept 23

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More information Referee, Match ...

Referee's record

As at 16 Sept 2023

Referee	Match
Jansen Foo	15	78	11
Farhan Mohd	16	61	4
Ahmad A'qashah	14	50	3
Clarence Leow	12	41	3
Muhammad Taqi	10	42	2
Hilmi Faud	11	37	7
Andrea Verolino	12	36	2
Taufik Thana	11	31	1
Syarqawi Buhari	6	25	3

Team's discipline

As at 16 Sept 2023

Team
Brunei DPMM	59	5
Tanjong Pagar United	56	6
Geylang International	50	7
Hougang United	50	2
Tampines Rovers	42	4
Young Lions	42	4
Lion City Sailors	37	3
Balestier Khalsa	33	2
Albirex Niigata (S)	31	2

Player's discipline

As at 6 Jul 2023

Player	Team
Danish Irfan	Geylang International	0	0	2
Yura Indera	DPMM	4	1	1
Tajeli Salamat	Tanjong Pagar United	7	1	0
Hanif Hamir	DPMM	6	1	0
Nazrul Nazari	Hougang United	6	0	0
Milos Zlatkovic	Tampines Rovers	6	0	0
Marin Mudražija	Tanjong Pagar United	6	0	0
Jared Gallagher	Young Lions FC	6	0	0
Ángel Martínez	DPMM	3	0	1

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Awards

Monthly awards

More information Month, Player of the Month ...

Month	Player of the Month		Young Player of the Month		Coach of the Month		Goal of the Month	Ref
Month	Player	Club	Player	Club	Coach	Club	Player vs.	Ref
February / March	Faris Ramli	Tampines Rovers	Seia Kunori	Albirex Niigata (S)	Gavin Lee	Tampines Rovers	Andrey Varankow vs. Tanjong Pagar United (14/3/2023)
April / May	Maxime Lestienne	Lion City Sailors	Abdul Rasaq	Lion City Sailors	Peter de Roo	Balestier Khalsa	Abdul Rasaq vs. Albirex Niigata (S) (21/5/2023)
June	Maxime Lestienne	Lion City Sailors	Hakeme Yazid Said	DPMM FC	Kazuaki Yoshinaga	Albirex Niigata (S)	Shakir Hamzah vs. Young Lions FC (6/6/2023)
July	Keito Komatsu	Albirex Niigata (S)	Hakeme Yazid Said	DPMM FC	Kazuaki Yoshinaga	Albirex Niigata (S)	Ryoya Tanigushi vs. Young Lions FC (12/7/2023)

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Singapore Premier League Awards night winners

^[75]

More information Awards, Winners ...

Awards	Winners	Club
Player of the Year	Maxime Lestienne	Lion City Sailors
Young Player of the Year	Seia Kunori	Albirex Niigata (S)
Coach of the Year	Kazuaki Yoshinaga	Albirex Niigata (S)
Top Scorer Award	Maxime Lestienne	Lion City Sailors
Golden Gloves	Syazwan Buhari	Tampines Rovers
Goal of the Year	Khairul Amri vs. Hougang United (6/4/2023)	Tanjong Pagar United
Fair Play Award	Albirex Niigata (S)
Referee of the Year	Andrea Verolino

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More information AIA Team of the Year ...

AIA Team of the Year
Goalkeeper	Syazwan Buhari (Tampines Rovers)
Defence	Koki Kawachi (Albirex Niigata (S))		Asahi Yokokawa (Albirex Niigata (S))		Miloš Zlatković (Tampines Rovers)
Midfield	Kyoga Nakamura (Tampines Rovers)	Ryoya Taniguchi (Balestier Khalsa)		Diego Lopes (Lion City Sailors)		Maxime Lestienne (Lion City Sailors)
Attack	Seia Kunori (Albirex Niigata (S))		Hakeme Yazid (DPMM FC)		Shawal Anuar (Lion City Sailors)

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2023 Singapore Premier League

Format

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Personnel, kit and sponsoring

Coaching changes

Foreign players

Results

League table

Fixtures and results

Matches 1–16

Matches 17-24

Statistics

Top scorers

Top assists

Own goal

Hat-tricks

Clean sheets

Penalty missed

Referee's record

Team's discipline

Player's discipline

Awards

Monthly awards

Singapore Premier League Awards night winners

References

External links

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks