Fans step forth to promote the S-League

Source

SINGAPORE - With much attention lavished on the LionsXII team that will start their campaign in Malaysia in a little less than two weeks, a group of local football fans have decided to bring the focus back to the Republic's own professional football competition, the S-League.

Declaring Sunday, Jan 1, as "Don't Forget Your S-League Day", members of fan group Lions All The Way (LATW) are hoping to gather up to 30 people at Somerset MRT to help raise the awareness of local professional football.

Supporters of the cause have been urged to turn up in their LATW shirts or jerseys of local clubs and the national team, where they will fan out to distribute flyers containing information about the S-League to the Orchard Road crowd.

Founder of LATW, Arief Aditya, said he wants the public to know that the quality of football in the S-League is as good as that in the Malaysia Super League, and hopes football fans will give local football a chance.

A second year sociology undergraduate at UniSIM, 22-year-old Arief felt compelled to do his part to give the S-League a boost after seeing the media hype surrounding the LionsXII's upcoming participation in Malaysian competitions.

"Make no mistake, we also support the LionsXII but we were beginning to wonder if local football is still a priority?" said Arief.

"If so much coverage can be given to one team playing in a foreign league, why couldn't we have the same for our own S-League, which is not only our own product but has been the nursery for the very players in the LionsXII team?"

The 2011 season - the 16th for the S-League - had been one of the most exciting in recent years with a handful of teams jousting for the title and Tampines Rovers eventually pipping Home United for the crown.

The 2012 season is scheduled for a February kick-off, and Brunei's DPMM FC are said to be joining Malaysia's Harimau Muda in an expanded 14-team league, although these details have yet to be officially confirmed.

"We are excited about the coming season if all the rumoured changes are true, and the insertion of the two teams will surely raise the standard of football in the S-League," said Arief.

"Apart from the new season's fixture list, we also hope the S-League's new chief executive officer will be announced soon as we look forward to him coming up with new ideas on how to reinvigorate the league," he added.

"As long as we are able to convince one extra person to make the effort to attend an S-League match in 2012, we would consider our campaign a success," said Arief.

Intending to keep "Don't Forget Your S-League Day" as a fan-driven initiative, Arief hopes this would spur Singapore's football administrators into doing more to promote local football.

The campaign has also caught the attention of former Etoile FC chairman Johan Gouttefangeas who posted the event's Web link on his Facebook page, urging all his friends to "please support this great initiative from our S-League lovers".