Lion City Sailors FC
Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as The Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional football club based in Bishan, Singapore. It competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. The club has won three league titles, a record 6 Singapore Cups and 2 Community Shields.

LCS is one of the most successful football clubs in Singapore, with its club owner being Forrest Li, who also owns Sea Limited.

History
The Police Sports Association was founded in 1945 to organize football activities for the Singapore Police Force. It sent two teams to compete in the Singapore Amateur Football Association League in the 1950s and 1960s, but neither team won any trophies. Under coach Choo Seng Quee, the club won the inaugural President's Cup in 1968, then reached and lost the next two finals.

Home United (1997–2019) 
When the S.League was formed in 1996, the club was known as the Police Football Club. The following year, its name was changed to Home United to reflect the fact that the team represented not only the Singapore Police Force, but also other HomeTeam departments of the Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs such as the Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

The team's nickname was the "Protectors" and its mascot, a dragon. The team's home ground is Bishan Stadium.

Home United was two-time S.League winners and holders of a record six Singapore Cup trophies. It was the first club to achieve the S.League and Singapore Cup double in 2003.

The club had qualified to the AFC Cup for the tenth time with their best result in the 2004 AFC Cup where they reached the semi-final.

Lion City Sailors (2020–present) 
On 14 February 2020, the club was privatised for the first time in its history, when Singaporean billionaire Forrest Li announcing that he had purchased a 100% stake in the club. The club was officially renamed as Lion City Sailors Football Club and its signature red colour was replaced with white and blue. LCS' main aim following its rebranding was to boost professionalism in Singaporean football, with becoming a Southeast Asian super club its long-term goal. The new name, Sailors, was a homage to the country's maritime heritage.

On 21 January 2021, the club created history by smashing the Singapore Premier League transfer-fee record with the signing of midfielder Diego Lopes from Portuguese top-flight side Rio Ave for 1.8 million euros on a three-year deal.

On 18 May 2021, Kim Do-Hoon, who led Korea Republic's Ulsan Hyundai to victory in 2020 AFC Champions League, joined the Sailors on a two-and-a-half year deal. During his first season, he led the Sailors to win the 2021 Singapore Premier League title and the 2022 Singapore Community Shield. Lion City Sailors went on to qualify for their first ever AFC Champions League tournament in the club history.

On 18 April 2022, the club defeated K League 1 club Daegu FC 3–0 in the 2022 AFC Champions League, their first AFC Champions League win since their rebranding. Kim Do-Hoon side had bounced back from an opening 4–1 defeat by J1 League club Urawa Reds to beat Daegu 3-0 before picking up four points in a goalless draw and 3–2 win over Chinese Super League's Shandong Taishan. Sailors maiden AFC Champions League campaign ended with narrow 2–1 to Daegu in the final group stage fixture. Their tally of seven points is the best showing by a Singapore side at the AFC Champions League.

On 26 July 2023, the club played their first match in their history at the Singapore National Stadium against Tottenham Hotspur in a friendly match in which Shawal Anuar scored first which give Lion City Sailors the lead against the English giants which they hold up for the first 45 minute but fell to a 5-1 thrashing defeat following poor defensive and communication errors. 

The Sailors embarked on their second consecutive AFC Champions League appearances ahead of their 2023-24 campaign together with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Bangkok United and Kitchee SC which will see a returned of the home and away fixtures. The club will host most of the AFC Champions League group stage games at the Jalan Besar Stadium as its match the requirements standard of the tournament and also being rated as a FIFA 2 Star Recommended Turf. It will also see the first time the AFC Champions League group stage games is being hosted in Singapore since 2010.

Lion City Sailors Football Academy
In February 2013, Home United opened and operated a football academy, Home United Youth Football Academy (HYFA). HYFA comprises ten futsal courts, two full-size football pitches, an events plaza, staff offices, meeting rooms and a Sports Performance Centre.

In June 2020, the launch of the new Lion City Sailors Football Academy was announced, along with further plans on youth development and its investments. It was given a one-star rating by the Asian Football Confederation.

On 24 April 2021, the Lion City Sailors announced the construction of a new training facility along Mattar Road that will be the home to the Sailors and as well as the club academy's scholars and trainees. The facility will, when completed, become Singapore's first fully-integrated football training centre.

On 29 July 2022, LCS officially opened its new S$10 million training centre. Spanning 28,000 square meters, the training centre features five football pitches, one hybrid 11-a-side pitch, one artificial turf 11-a-side pitch, and three 7-a-side pitches. Besides the football pitches, the centre will also feature a fully equipped gym, physiotherapy rooms, a video analytics room, team locker rooms, a recreation room, as well as study rooms for academy trainees.

Players

Squad

U23

U23 
 
 

U23

U23

U23

Under-21s and Academy 

U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21

U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21
U21

On loan

U21 (to Young Lions)
U23 (National Service until 2023)
U21 (National Service until 2024)
U21 (National Service until 2024)
U21 (National Service until 2024)
U21 (National Service until 2024)
U21 (National Service until 2024)
U21 (National Service until 2025)
U21 (National Service until 2025, to Young Lions)
 (to Geylang International)
 (to Geylang International)

Club officials

Management

Stadium 

Bishan Stadium served as the home ground of Lion City Sailors.  It was the home base for the football club (initially known as Home United) from its inception all the way to 2020.  Bishan Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located is a relatively modern stadium compared to others in Singapore which also has a seating capacity of 6,254. The COVID-19 pandemic would cause a truncated season and following the conclusion of the 2020 Singapore Premier League season, the Bishan Stadium pitch was closed for play as it underwent a returfing exercise and the football pitch would be relaid in time for the 2022 AFF Championship, causing the club to seek a temporary move to Jalan Besar Stadium for the time being. After two long years and two Singapore Premier League seasons, Lion City Sailors head back to the newly installed Natural turf, Bishan Stadium for the 2023 Singapore Premier League season onwards fitted with Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology which will be feature for the first time in Singapore league history.

Sponsors

Affiliated clubs 

  Borussia Dortmund (2021–present)

Lion City Sailors and eight-time Bundesliga champions, Borussia Dortmund sign partnership focused on youth development and knowledge sharing. The commitment will see a series of youth development programmes, coaching, educational and professional exchanges as well as football training camps in Germany. This partnership between BVB and LCS will harness the growing commitment to build a strong infrastructure for Singapore's youth football development and overall support the growth in areas of sports science, sports medicine, analytics and talent scouting. The partnership will see an annual training camp in Dortmund for the LCS Football Academy's elite team, with an additional training stint pencilled in for selected footballers from the academy's scholarship programme.

  Feyenoord (2022–present)

The Lion City Sailors and 16-time Eredivisie champions, Feyenoord Rotterdam have forged a 3-year partnership focused on youth development and education. The commitment will see a series of youth development programmes, coaching, educational and professional exchanges as well as football training camps in the Netherlands, with Sailors supporting Feyenoord's brand exposure in Singapore.

Performance

Performance by coach 
The following table provides a summary of the coach appointed by the club. 
Statistics correct as of 13 Aug 2023

Performance by Competition

Singapore Premier League 
The following table provides a summary of the result by season. 
Statistics correct as of 21 Oct 2022

AFC Competition 
The following table provides a summary of the result by season. 
Statistics correct as of 21 Oct 2022

Honours 
League
 Singapore Premier League
 Champions (3): 1999, 2003, 2021
 Runners up (8):  2002, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2018, 2022, 2023
 National Football League Division One
 Winners (1): 1985

Cup
 Singapore Cup: (record)
 Champions (6): 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2013
 Runners up (3): 2004, 2014, 2015
  Singapore Community Shield 
 Champions (2): 2019, 2022
 Runners up (3): 2008, 2012, 2014
 President's Cup
 Champions (1): 1980
 FAS Challenge Cup
 Champions (1): 1968

Reserves
 Prime League: (record)
 Champions (8): 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2016, 2017
 Singapore FA Cup
 Champions (3): 2013, 2015, 2016

Records and statistics

Top 10 all-time appearances

Top 10 all-time scorers 

 Biggest Wins: 1-10 vs Young Lions (13 August 2022)
 Heaviest Defeats: 9-1 vs 4.25 SC (28 August 2018)
 Youngest Goal scorers: Irfan Fandi ~ 19 years 2 months 2 days old (On 15 October 2016 vs Balestier Khalsa)
 Oldest Goal scorers: Shahril Ishak ~ 36 years 10 months 12 days (On 5 December 2020 vs Balestier Khalsa)
 Youngest ever debutant: Nathan Mao ~ 15 years and 5 days old (On 31 March 2023 vs Tampines Rovers)

References

External links
 Official club website
 Singapore Premier League website page on Lion City Sailors FC
 

Football clubs in Singapore
Association football clubs established in 2020
Lion City Sailors FC
2020 establishments in Singapore
Singapore Premier League clubs
Police association football clubs in Singapore