Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

New beginnings for Woodlands Wellington

SINGAPORE — After sitting out the past two seasons of the S.League, Woodlands Wellington have finally begun taking its first steps towards returning to the professional fold.

Woodlands Wellington, a pioneer member of the S.League when it began in 1996, was forced to sit out the past two years due to debts. TODAY file photo

Woodlands Wellington, a pioneer member of the S.League when it began in 1996, was forced to sit out the past two years due to debts. TODAY file photo

SINGAPORE — After sitting out the past two seasons of the S.League, Woodlands Wellington have finally begun taking its first steps towards returning to the professional fold.

TODAY understands that the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) has agreed to allow the club to operate as a community-based football outfit. To facilitate this, it will appoint Member of Parliament (MP) Ong Teng Koon, who currently serves in the Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, as the Rams’ new adviser.

The previous adviser was former MP Ellen Lee, who is the president of the Singapore Table Tennis Association.

In response to TODAY’s queries on whether Ong will be the club’s new adviser, an S.League spokesperson said: “Woodlands Wellington Football Club is presently sitting out of the S.League. The club currently organises grassroots football activities, and has teams participating in both the Island Wide League (IWL) and the FAS Women’s Premier League (WPL).

“We are working with the club to appoint an adviser.”

It is believed that Ong has begun the process of identifying a new club management committee and chairman, with incumbent Gary Tan not expected to continue in the role. According to the S.League clubs’ constitution, the club adviser appoints the chairman in consultation with the S.League.

Woodlands, a pioneer member of the S.League when it began in 1996, was forced to sit out the past two years of the S.League after accumulating debts of close to S$400,000 at the end of the 2014 season.

The S.League proposed to merge the club with Hougang United, but the move failed to materialise. The past two years have seen Woodlands cease all football-related operations, although it still continued to operate its clubhouse jackpot operations to pay off its debts. It was only earlier this year that Woodlands formed teams to play in the IWL and WPL.

However, this recent development will allow Woodlands to restart their football operations, at least at the youth and grassroots level, as they begin to work their way back into the S.League.

Die-hard Woodlands fan James Lim, who previously fought against the move to merge the club with Hougang, said he hopes this means the club’s troubles are finally coming to an end.

“This is very welcome news of course, but I’ll still hold back my excitement till there’s an official announcement,” Lim, a former deputy director at the People’s Association who now works on freelance projects, told TODAY.

“It is important that the (new) members of the committee have a shared vision for the club and possess the skills to build a sustainable business organisation that is football-focused and community-based.

“For the past two years, the club has not been able to do anything football-related and their existence seemed to revolve solely around its clubhouse. But the purpose of the club’s existence should be for football and community engagement.

“In particular, I hope we’ll eventually have our own Centre of Excellence (COE) for the youths in Woodlands to train and develop.

“In time to come, I hope we can return to the S.League. That must be the aspiration, because fans in Woodlands deserve to have a top football club to call their own.”

Agreeing, R Vengadasalam, who was the club’s team manager from 1996 to 2004, added: “This first step is a good move, because for sure a club like Woodlands has to be back in the S.League.

“But there are still a few lingering doubts for me. Is there a concrete plan to help Woodlands get back into the S.League?

“Will they be able to set up a COE team, and will they receive funding from the S.League?

“These are questions that I hope the relevant authorities can answer. Of course, if given the chance, I would welcome the opportunity to go back to the club and help them out. I am after all, a football man.”

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.