Singapore football needs a serious, radical overhaul

I refer to the letter “2017 Asean Super League a leap forward for Singapore football” (Dec 3).

We have not benefited from forming an “elite” team to participate in Malaysian competitions, and taking part in the proposed ASEAN Super League (ASL), with the same group of “elite players”, will not be a leap forward for Singapore football.

What has changed for the better since taking part in the Malaysian Super League (MSL)? The S.League is in tatters, not enough players are rising through the ranks and we have terrible stadiums. The national team is worse off now than when the LionsXII was formed and participation in the MSL was announced.

Is the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) genuinely interested in the development of Singapore football? Should it even be running its own clubs such as the LionsXII, instead of concentrating on the national team? As a governing body, it is the prerogative of the FAS to be a neutral entity.

The presence of the LionsXII and the Courts Young Lions club teams, with their players getting regularly called up to the national team regardless of their league positions, has created resentment on the ground, from players and supporters alike.

Now that we have Malaysian competition out of the way, we should look at how we can redesign our local football infrastructure from the ground up.

We must rethink and rework how professional football clubs here are managed, from youth development to supporter engagement to affairs concerning the senior squad.

We should be modelling our clubs after Champions League-calibre clubs from Japan, South Korea and Thailand. To be able to compete consistently at continental level is what we should be aiming for as a league.

The S.League may not survive much longer in its current form, but that does not mean we must dismiss the idea of having a local league of our own. After all, the English First Division was the top flight in English football for more than 100 years before the formation of the Premier League in 1992. We are only 20 years in. In the pursuit of greatness, we can exercise more patience.