Bill Ng vows to bring back the Kallang Roar

SINGAPORE – For years, Singapore football has floundered both internationally and domestically, with the Lions’ dismal performances at the recent AFF Suzuki Cup and SEA Games echoed by the struggles of the S.League and its clubs.

It is a downhill slide that Hougang United chairman Bill Ng has vowed to stem, and the businessman has pledged to revitalise the sport’s ailing fortunes if he and his team emerge victorious at the upcoming Football Association of Singapore (FAS) elections.

In an interview with TODAY, the 56-year-old revealed that he will lead a team of nine with “diverse backgrounds and training, and with proven track records in their own areas of expertise” to challenge for the FAS leadership.

WHAT NG WANTS TO DO

The elections — which have to be held by May — are expected to be called by next week. and Ng said on Wednesday (March 15): “Like many of those from my generation and the next, we believe in Singapore football and how it made us feel as a nation.

“We loved the glory days because of the success, the icons that contributed to that success, and the way we achieved that success, built the romance around the Singapore game. Quality football leads to audiences, and audiences generate the incentive for quality football — both on the pitch and financially.

“However, we are currently in a vicious cycle where we are producing neither. Ending that rut is going to be our new team’s focus, to bring back the ‘Kallang Roar’ and to give the Roar a foundation to exist for the many generations to come.”

While Ng did not reveal the members of his team, Tampines chairman Krishna Ramachandra (above, right) has confirmed with TODAY that he will be linking up with Ng for the elections.

"I think the situation is pretty dire and after what we experienced with the uncertainty around the S.League in the last few months I realized that I had to step up and help transform the football ecosystem for something as basic as its survival and viability.

"So, when I was asked to consider the team and in the context of what we are all doing, it was clear to me.

"I also believe that Bill has assembled a team that is capable of transformative and paradigm shifting changes. So if I can help in anyway, I will.

"I had been approached by several others to run in the last few months and I had declined because I had felt that the ecosystem (including the incumbents) had enough good people to make things right. But from what I have observed over the last few months, I think a radical shift in leadership is needed."

Ng, a mergers and acquisitions specialist by trade, has been credited with helping turn around the fortunes of Hougang after it ran into financial trouble in 2009.

Hougang are currently the only team in the S.League that do not rely on the annual Tote Board subsidies of some S$800,000 for their operations.

The club’s healthy financial position has seen Ng launching a number of initiatives, including the development of a new state-of-the-art football data analytics programme to help generate revenue for Hougang United.

Under Ng’s stewardship, Hougang have also been involved in several philanthropic projects over the past few years. In 2015, an S$1 million Hougang scholarship was established by Ng to support and facilitate the academic development of young non-professional footballing talents.

The club had previously also provided financial help – totalling around S$150,000 – to the late S Anthonysamy, a former Singapore winger who was paralysed from the neck down after a freak injury during a friendly in 1996, as well as to the late national gymnastics coach Zhu Xiaoping during her battle with cancer.

WHO ELSE IS RUNNING?

Current FAS provisional council president Lim Kia Tong (above, centre) is expected to head another team in the contest for the association’s top posts.

His team is set to include several members of the former FAS council such as Bernard Tan and Edwin Tong, as well as Balestier Khalsa chairman S Thavaneson.

The FAS elections are due to be held by May this year. Under the new constitution, election candidates will have to meet certain eligibility criteria before they are allowed to contest for a seat on the FAS council.

This includes the need for any FAS presidential candidate — who will contest as part of a slate of nine, including the deputy president, four vice-president and three council members — to have played an active role in association football in two of the last five years.

In addition, FAS council candidates will have to pass integrity checks before they can be cleared to stand for elections.

With the National Football League (NFL) likely to be the key battleground of this elections, because the 24 NFL clubs have voting rights, and form more than half of the 46 affiliates eligible to vote at the elections, Ng outlined his intention to improve the amateur competition and help it fulfil its role as a pipeline to the S.League.

“We will re-look into the NFL to ensure players are coming through the system to join our S.League and national teams,” said Ng. “For example, we should not impose any age limit to players, as football belongs to everyone.

“S.League clubs can and must be financially viable soon in order for Singapore to sustain a quality national team from a grassroots, bottom-up approach. Funds need to be used in the right way, with the right focus.”

The team, if elected, will also work on enhancing the level of women’s football here, and developing the role and use of sports medicine among the footballers.

“Sports medicine, a long neglected aspect, will also be jumpstarted,” he added. “After all, the new FAS management has to be ‘player-centric’ so the players will feel insured and secured to perform at their best.”

Ng is confident he and his team have what it takes to make football a success and rebuild the fraternity, and particularly the players’ confidence in its administrators.

He said: “Passion must be combined with pragmatism, grassroots must be combined with financial competence. To some, football may be a hobby. But, to others, it is a beacon of hope. Any young lad who is good enough should know that he or she can make a progressive living playing professional football.”