This was actually the legacy of my bye-bye Singapore project from two years ago, when I left for Seattle. I wanted to be a tourist in Singapore. Guess it’s never too late. And it definitely worked out better, as this time round, we had quite a group, including a Brit coming along, so there was a higher level of enthusiasm for this activity.
Singapore has a professional soccer league – the S League – which has been around for about 15 years, and currently has some 13 teams. They seem to have a system whereby some professional soccer teams from the region also visit and stay for a year. So you might want to watch out for those.
Prior to leaving for Taiwan, I actually looked at the schedule, and made plans for a specific game, as I really wanted to watch it at Jalan Besar Stadium – currently one of the oldest stadiums in Singapore. Unfortunately, it was not to be. This is a word of warning for others who want to watch a game in the future – they do change game fixtures at the last minute. Like on the day itself. Never mind, thankfully I discovered it in time, and we ended up at Bishan Stadium, watching a match between the Tanjong Pagar United Football Club and the Home Team. Bishan Stadium is a short walk from Bishan station. Entrance fee was 5 bucks.
Umm … Well, it was a surprisingly good stadium, and a surprisingly good turnout. I was expecting like concrete stands with no seats, but they had proper seats, and I’m gonna say more than 1000 people showed up. I’m really not good with estimating. It was certainly a whole lot more than I expected – I was expecting us to be the only ones. They don’t allow cans and bottles into the stadium, but you can get/buy plastic cups from the vendors outside to pour your beverage into.
The first half of the game was pretty boring, but thankfully, the second half made up for it. It was 0-0 for the first half, very few attempts on the goal, and lots of kicking the ball around. But they did score one goal each within the first three minutes of the second half, and Home United won it by scoring one more goal in extra time. So, yay! It’s a pretty good day out if you have some friends to trash talk with. Just be warned the the humidity is quite a killer.
Crowd at Bishan Stadium for Tanjong Pagar United FC vs. Home United
Tanjong Pagar United FC vs. Home United at Bishan Stadium
Wanderlust 