Former Woodlands stars, players to play exhibition match to mark club's 22nd anniversary

SINGAPORE – Fans of Woodlands Wellington have had little to cheer about lately. 

Not only has their club been forced to miss the past three seasons of the S.League due to financial issues, their clubhouse in Prinsep Street was also one of three involve din high-profile raids by the police in April following a report of a purported attempt to obstruct the completion of audits of the S.League sit-out clubs.

But former Woodlands team manager R Vengadasalam is hoping to put a smile on the faces of the club’s long-suffering supporters this weekend.

The colourful 56-year-old, popularly known as the Mouth of the North when he was with the Rams, has forked out some S$3,000 to organise a Woodlands Wellington Masters exhibition match at the Woodlands Stadium on Sunday, where close to 100 of the Rams’ former players, staff and officials are expected to gather to mark the 22nd anniversary of the club’s existence as a professional outfit.

Former players who will feature in the match include ex-national players Dalis Supait, Zakaria Awang, club stars Mohd Mardani and Nasiruddin Sawardi and English striker Stuart Young, who will fly in from Perth, Australia for the game.

Venga hopes this event will serve as a reminder of the club’s glory days, and provide a catalyst for the club to return to the S.League in future.

“We want this to be a joyous occasion where the club’s former players and fans will come together to celebrate the club’s history and heritage,” he told TODAY. “All of us want the club to play in the S.League again, and hopefully, when people see the sort of support that this club still has at this event, it will hasten the process of our return.”

Venga, who along with several Woodlands fans including James Lim and Ben Teh successfully fought against the mooted merger of the club with Hougang United last year, added that this event would also recognise that triumph.

“I feel it’s time that we also celebrate the fact that the club was saved (from the merger),” explained Venga, who hopes to see a turnout of close to 2,000 this Sunday.

“We fought hard to keep this club because it has a strong history and is one of the founding members of the S.League.

“Now, we want to show that Woodlands should come back to its home in the north. We want to use this event to inspire the younger generation of players to play for the club when it finally returns to the S.League.” 

Kick-off to the Woodlands Wellington Masters match is at 7pm. Admission is free.