Playing to the sound of silence: Dwindling fan interest has S-League bosses pulling out their hair

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SINGAPORE - In the Jalan Besar headquarters of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), the toll of the proverbial alarm bells has started to get louder.

What was a gentle peal has surely now grown into an irrepressible clang.

Average attendances in the S-League have continued on their downward spiral, from around 5,000 per match in the early years to an all-new low this year in a clear signal of dangerous times ahead.

In response to queries from Today, the FAS revealed that numbers have continued to fall from what was a poor 2010, where the average attendance was 1,094 with ticket sales figures standing at 177.

The numbers this season have dipped to 957 and 162 respectively, a fact that is of grave concern, considering the year has seen high drama on and off the pitch at stadiums across the island, where football standards have arguably improved, and the title race proving to be an engaging contest with a four-horse race looking to go down to the wire.

Home United (56 points) hold a slender two-point lead over Tampines Rovers, with Albirex Niigata and SAFFC in close pursuit on 53.

"There were several disruptions to the league this year, and the breaks seem to have caused fans to disengage almost completely from the S-League," said Gombak United chairman John Yap, of the enforced pause due to the national team's World Cup qualifying campaign and the Presidential Election.

"It's really baffling considering that the competition has gotten tighter with no runaway leader in the league," he added.

The re-entry of a Singapore side into the Malaysian Super League next year, following an agreement between FAS and their Malaysian counterparts earlier this year, is expected to steal some of the thunder from the S-League.

And this year's paltry numbers are indeed disturbing, in light of challenges ahead.

Said SAFFC coach Richard Bok: "I'm puzzled that some games see only about 500 fans in the stands. Instead of seeing crowds increasing because of our performance in the World Cup qualifiers, they seem to have dropped.

"This is especially worrying if you look at what will happen next year."

Outside the top four in the S-League, teams like Hougang United, Balestier Khalsa and the ever-improving Tanjong Pagar United have proven that they, too, can compete with the big guns with upsets sprung every so often.

But it is the neck-and-neck race to the finish that Tampines' evergreen hitman Aleksandar Duric believes may draw fans back to stadiums yet.

"It's a long season, so you can't say that the quality of football is always there, but now with only eight or nine games to the end, anything can happen. The top four teams will want to win every single one of their matches, and it will be exciting for sure.

"I hope to see more people coming to games," he said.

The alarm bells continue to clang at Jalan Besar and indeed at all the country's stadiums, but Duric could still afford a cheeky comment.

Chuckling, he said: "Maybe the fans won't come because they already know the league will end with Tampines on top, above Home, SAFFC and Albirex."