From Wikipedia - Reading time: 16 min
| Season | 2021 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 13 March – 10 October 2021 |
| Champions | Lion City Sailors (3rd title) |
| AFC Champions League | Lion City Sailors |
| AFC Cup | Hougang United Tampines Rovers |
| Matches played | 84 |
| Goals scored | 334 (3.98 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Tomoyuki Doi (19 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Tampines Rovers 7–0 Young Lions (7 April 2021) |
| Biggest away win | Geylang International 0–8 Lion City Sailors (11 April 2021) |
| Highest scoring | Hougang United 7–3 Tampines Rovers (11 September 2021) |
| Longest winning run | 6 matches Lion City Sailors |
| Longest unbeaten run | 18 matches Lion City Sailors |
| Longest winless run | 12 matches Young Lions |
| Longest losing run | 6 matches Geylang International |
← 2020 2022 → | |
The 2021 Singapore Premier League (also known as the AIA Singapore Premier League due to sponsorship reasons) was the 4th season of the Singapore Premier League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association football clubs, since its rebranding in 2018.[1]
The champions of the 2021 Singapore Premier League, Lion City Sailors, qualified for the AFC Champions League group stage automatically. The season began on 13 March and ended on 10 October. In the first part of the season, all matches were played behind closed doors in light of the COVID-19 situation.
The following key changes were made to the rules since the 2020 season:[2]
New rules for 2021:
A total of 8 teams competed in the league. Albirex Niigata (S) from Japan was the only foreign team invited.
| Image | Team | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albirex Niigata (S) Tanjong Pagar United |
Jurong East Stadium | 2,700 | |
| Balestier Khalsa | Toa Payoh Stadium | 3,800 | |
| Hougang United | Hougang Stadium | 3,800 | |
| Lion City Sailors Young Lions |
Jalan Besar Stadium | 6,000 | |
| Tampines Rovers Geylang International |
Our Tampines Hub | 5,000 |
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Main Shirt sponsor | Other shirt sponsors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albirex Niigata (S) | Fairoz Hasan (VC) |
Mizuno | Canon | Kirin Kubota Reeracoen EnglishCentral Lensmode Gain City Nippon Medical Care Fitogether Namics Denka SMBC ACCEA Singapore JTB NSG JPLUS+ Daiho Group With You Global Creations SD Aircon | |
| Balestier Khalsa | Adidas | Jeep | Weston Corporation Project Vaults StarBalm PSB Academy | ||
| Geylang International | FBT | Epson[7] | Aris Studio 23 Joydom Engineering My Protein Singapore Steel Industries Springleaf Prata Place Fightzone TRUE Fitness | ||
| Hougang United | Warrix | SportCenter by Zup Cafe Football (CF) The Arena | |||
| Lion City Sailors | Puma | SEA[9] | Shopee Garena | ||
| Tampines Rovers | Mizuno | ANA Courier Express [11] | StarBalm The Black Hole Group My Protein Singapore Canadian 2 for 1 Pizza | ||
| Tanjong Pagar United | Ad hoc Apparel | Tokyo Century | Samtrade Academy StarBalm | ||
| Young Lions | Nike | Catapult |
| Team | Outgoing Head Coach | Manner of Departure | Date of Vacancy | Position in table | Incoming Head Coach | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young Lions | Rested | 15 January 2021 | Pre-Season | 15 January 2021 | ||
| Lion City Sailors | Resigned [13] | 30 April 2021 | 2nd | 1 May 2021 | ||
| Lion City Sailors | NA | 18 May 2021 | 2nd | 18 May 2021 |
Singapore Premier League clubs can sign a maximum of four foreign players in the 2021 season, up from three as compared to 2019.[16] However, one of them has to be 21 years old or younger on 1 January 2021 (Or at the age of registration).
Albirex Niigata can sign up unlimited number of Singaporean players for the new season. Only 2 local player above 23 years old is allowed.[17]
Players name in bold indicates the player was registered during the mid-season transfer window.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | AFC Player | SG U-23 Player 1 U-21 Player |
Former Players |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albirex Niigata (S) | ||||||
| Balestier Khalsa | ||||||
| Geylang International | ||||||
| Hougang United | ||||||
| Lion City Sailors | Note 2 | |||||
| Tampines Rovers | ||||||
| Tanjong Pagar United |
Note 1: From 2021, Albirex, a Japanese club, is allowed to sign a maximum of 2 Singaporean players above the age of 23.
Note 2: Song Ui-Young is granted Singapore citizenship on 21 August 2021. [50]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lion City Sailors | 21 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 59 | 21 | +38 | 48 | Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Albirex Niigata (S)[a] | 21 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 50 | 19 | +31 | 46 | |
| 3 | Hougang United | 21 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 48 | 40 | +8 | 34 | Qualification for AFC Cup group stage |
| 4 | Tampines Rovers | 21 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 48 | 51 | −3 | 27 | |
| 5 | Tanjong Pagar United | 21 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 36 | 49 | −13 | 22 | |
| 6 | Geylang International | 21 | 6 | 2 | 13 | 33 | 52 | −19 | 20 | |
| 7 | Balestier Khalsa | 21 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 34 | 52 | −18 | 19 | |
| 8 | Young Lions[a] | 21 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 26 | 50 | −24 | 16 |
Clubs will play each other three times for 21 matches each.
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Albirex Niigata (S) | 8 | |
| 2 | Lion City Sailors | 5 | |
| 3 | Tampines Rovers | 3 |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hougang United | Tampines Rovers | 5–1 | 3 April 2021 | [51] | |
| Tampines Rovers | Young Lions | 7–0 | 7 April 2021 | [51] | |
| Lion City Sailors | Geylang International | 8–0 | 11 April 2021 | [51] | |
| Albirex Niigata (S) | Tanjong Pagar United | 6–0 | 17 April 2021 | [51] | |
| Albirex Niigata (S) | Balestier Khalsa | 4–1 | 25 April 2021 | [51] | |
| Balestier Khalsa | Tampines Rovers | 5–2 | 19 August 2021 | [51] | |
| Hougang United | Tampines Rovers | 7–3 | 11 September 2021 | [51] | |
| Albirex Niigata (S) | Tanjong Pagar United | 4–4 | 10 October 2021 | [51] |
4 Player scored 4 goals
| Player | For | Against | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lion City Sailors | Albirex Niigata (S) | 7 April 2021 |
| Month | Player of the Month | Young Player of the Month | Coach of the Month | Goal of the Month | Ref | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Club | Player | Club | Coach | Club | Player vs. | ||
| March | Hougang United | Young Lions | Hougang United | vs. Tanjong Pagar (17 March 2021) |
[52] | |||
| April | Lion City Sailors FC | Albirex Niigata (S) | Albirex Niigata (S) | vs. Balestier Khalsa (18 April 2021) |
[53] | |||
| May | Tampines Rovers | Hougang United | Hougang United | vs. Young Lions (2/5/2021) |
[54] | |||
| August | Balestier Khalsa | Young Lions | Tanjong Pagar United | vs. Albirex Niigata (S) (6/8/2021) |
[55] | |||
| September | Lion City Sailors FC | Lion City Sailors FC | Lion City Sailors FC | vs. Tampines Rovers (11/9/2021) |
[56] | |||
| Awards | Winners | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Player of the Year | Hougang United | |
| Young Player of the Year | Lion City Sailors | |
| Coach of the Year | Hougang United | |
| Top Scorer Award | Hougang United | |
| Golden Glove | ||
| Goal of the Year | vs. Balestier Khalsa (18 April 2021) |
Lion City Sailors |
| Fair Play Award | ||
| Referee of the Year | — | |
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