Woodlands Wellington FC

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Woodlands Wellington
Full nameWoodlands Wellington Football Club
Nickname(s)The Northern Rams
Founded1988; 37 years ago (1988) as Wellington
1996; 29 years ago (1996) as Woodlands Wellington
Dissolved2014; 11 years ago (2014)
GroundWoodlands Stadium
Capacity4,300
LeagueS.League
2014S.League, 11th of 12

Woodlands Wellington Football Club was a professional

S.League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club took part in S.League from 1996 to 2014. They are at the 4,300 seater Woodlands Stadium
, where they have played since their establishment.

Woodlands Wellington's honours include winning the inaugural

Sengkang Punggol 4–0 in the final. They also finished runners-up in the Singapore FA Cup in 1997, and also in the Singapore Cup in 2005 and 2008 and won the President's Centennial Cup in 1998, a cup competition organized by the Philippine Football Federation to celebrate the centennial of Philippine Independence by defeating Hong Kong Rangers 2–1 in the final in Bacolod
.

Their best finish in the

S-League
came in the 1996 Tiger Beer Series where they were runners-up. They have also achieved 3rd place in 1997 and 2005.

History

Wellington Football Club (1988–1996)

Woodlands Wellington was founded as Wellington Football Club in 1988 as a splinter group of

Delhi Juniors (a team of Singaporean football enthusiasts, dating back to the 1940s, that were among the pioneers of football in Singapore). The name stems from the Deptford Ground located on Wellington Road in Sembawang
where the team started playing football in 1988.

In 1991, they participated in the Sembawang Group League and National Island-Wide League, winning as champions in both competitions and setting a national record by beating Seletar Football Club by a 27-goal margin. This was one of the biggest wins the club had ever achieved, as they beat their opponents 28 – 1 at the Woodlands Stadium on 17 November 1991. Louis Amalorpavanathan scored a record 12 goals in that match.[1]

The following year, Wellington FC joined the

Division 1 (going unbeaten for 24 matches) and were runners-up in the FA Cup.[2]

Woodlands Wellington Football Club (1996–2014)

Woodlands Wellington 2012 First Team group photo

Wellington Football Club were selected as one of eight clubs to compete in the newly formed

S.League in its inaugural season in 1996, prompting the club to adopt Woodlands Stadium as their home ground and to change their name to Woodlands Wellington Football Club.[3][4]

Following their admission to the S.League, Wellington's founder,

Singapore FA in 1992. Woodlands Wellington played to capacity crowds, including their pre-season friendlies.[6]

Woodlands won the

Sembawang Rangers 4–2 in the semi-final and Hong Kong Rangers 2–1 at the Negros Occidental Sports Complex in the final in Bacolod with both goals from Razali Ahmad.[7]

While they enjoyed a relatively successful period throughout the late nineties, Woodlands finished last in the 2001 S.League season, prompting them to sign Singapore internationals Zulkarnaen Zainal, Goh Tat Chuan and A. Siva Kumar.[8] The transfers of Goh and Siva Kumar were particularly controversial as Woodlands and Jurong were well-known rivals in the league.

Woodlands Wellington made the headlines in the

Tampines coach Vorawan Chitavanich was reported as saying "I spoke to their coach just a little while ago and he said that they acted on the instructions of their club chairman."[10]

Reported withdrawal from the S. League

The starting eleven for Woodlands Wellington on 2 May 2013 against Balestier Khalsa in the 2013 S.League.

A report by

Gombak United has announced earlier that it would not be taking part in the league in 2013.[11] This sparked off a supporter-driven "Save Woodlands" awareness campaign on the same day.[12] The club held an open meeting with the supporters and press at Woodlands Stadium later that evening and quashed the report. Team manager, Matthew Tay, also said that the club was already preparing a pre-season tour of Malaysia, and that the club would be signing players and would also be aiming for a minimum 8th spot in the table this season.[13][14]

Merger with Hougang United

In November 2014, it was announced that Woodlands Wellington and Hougang United will merge for the 2015 season.[15] However, the move did not materialised.[16]

In 2016, Woodlands formed teams to play in the Island Wide League (IWL) and Women's Premier League (WPL). After two years, they restarted their football operations, at least at the youth and grassroots level, as they begin to work their way back into the S.League.[17]

In 2017, Woodlands Wellington reportedly pulled out of IWL after one season.[18]

Supporters

The supporters' club of Woodlands Wellington Football Club are known as The Black Sheep.[19] They can be seen at both home and away games dressed in the club's official colours of yellow and blue and are usually seated behind the Rams' dugout. Since its inception, The Black Sheep have been using the warcry "Never Surrender!" to rally their players on.[20][21]

Stadium

Woodlands Stadium's grass pitch

Woodlands Stadium is currently the home ground of Woodlands Wellington, and used mostly for football matches. Apart from being used for competitive matches, the pitch is also utilised by the club for their training sessions as well. The stadium capacity was upgraded to 4,300. This includes the 2,000 seater grandstand, the 1,000 seater semi-permanent stand opposite the grandstand and the 1,300 seater portable stands on each end of the pitch.

Woodlands Stadium is the only stadium in Singapore which has a MRT track overlooking the pitch.

Sponsors

Woodlands Wellington was sponsored by

Rams
from March 2013.

The team is presently outfitted by

Kappa, Diadora, Umbro, Mitre and Thai
apparel makers, Acono.

Year Kit manufacturer Main sponsors
1996–1998 Italy Lotto Japan Bandai
1999–2000 No sponsor
2001–2004
Sembcorp
2005
Kappa
2006–2008 Italy Diadora
2009–2010 England Umbro
2011 England Mitre No sponsor
2012 Thailand Acono
2013–2014 Singapore Waga Singapore ESW









Logo and mascot

  • Woodlands Wellington FC crest, 1996–2002
    Woodlands Wellington FC crest, 1996–2002
  • Woodlands Wellington's crest, 2003–2014
    Woodlands Wellington's crest, 2003–2014
  • Woodlands Wellington's Ram Mascot
    Woodlands Wellington's Ram Mascot

Colours

As Wellington Football Club, the team played in a white kit with purple and green trimmings. As soon as they were rebranded into the Woodlands Wellington Football Club in 1996, the Rams changed their home kit to all white with a narrow stripe of yellow and green down the middle.

In the ensuing years, yellow was employed as the main colour of choice for the home kit and this has become the traditional colour for the club.

Kanbawza in the 2012 Singapore Cup
on19 May 2012

Kit evolution

  • Home
1996 – 1997
Lotto
1998
Lotto
2001
Lotto
2002–2003
Lotto
2004
Lotto
2005
Kappa
2009
Umbro
2010
Umbro
2011
Mitre
2012
Acono
2013
Waga
  • Away
1996 – 1997
Lotto
1998
Lotto
1999
Lotto
2005
Kappa
2009
Umbro
2010
Umbro
2011
Mitre
2012
Acono
2013
Waga
  • Third / Special
2008*
Diadora
2009
Umbro
2012
Acono
2013
Waga

*The third kit for 2007 was used as the home kit of the 2008 season.

Continental record

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Position
1992–93 Asian Cup Winners' Cup First round
Sinthana
 1–1 4–1 2–5


Youth academy

The youth academy of Woodlands is the Centre of Excellence, which develops promising young players and grooms them for the future.

Main article:
Woodlands Wellington Centre of Excellence

Manager history

Performance in domestic competitions

Season
S.League
 Singapore Cup Singapore League Cup
Pos P W D L F A Pts
1996-1 2nd* 14 8 2 4 25 20 26
1996-2 4th 14 6 3 5 29 25 21
1997 3rd 16 11 0 5 35 29 33
1998 9th 20 4 6 10 27 41 18 Group stage
1999 9th 22 6 4 12 30 44 22 Quarter-finals
2000 10th 22 4 5 13 19 31 17 Semi-finals
2001 12th 33 5 9 19 40 64 24 Group stage
2002 5th 33 17 7 9 75 44 58 Group stage
2003 5th 33 14 4–8 7 65 47 58 Semi-finals
2004 6th 27 12 4 11 48 49 40 Preliminary
2005 3rd 27 15 5 7 57 44 50 Runners-up
2006 5th 30 13 8 9 60 45 47 Third place
2007 7th 33 10 13 10 47 52 37* Semi-finals Winners
2008 8th 33 9 8 16 36 52 35 Runners-up Preliminary
2009 15 23 48 31 Round of 16 Semi-finals
2010 12th 33 4 7 22 18 60 19 Round of 16 Runners-up
2011 12th 33 3 4 26 22 92 13 Round of 16 Preliminary
2012 13th 24 3 5 16 19 44 14 Round of 16 Group stage
2013 5th 27 10 7 10 45 47 37 Round of 16 Semi-finals
2014 11th 27 5 8 14 22 52 23 Preliminary Quarter-finals
  • The
    Singapore Armed Forces
    in the Championship playoff to clinch the S.League title.
  • 2003 saw the introduction of penalty shoot-outs if a match ended in a draw in regular time. Winners of penalty shoot-outs gained two points instead of one.
  • Woodlands Wellington deducted 6 points for abandoning a match on 5 September 2007.

Last updated on 15 May 2014

Records and statistics

Top 10 all-time appearances
Rank Player Years Club appearances
1 Singapore Yazid Yasin 2004–2008,

2013–2014

163
2 Singapore Sazali Salleh 2005–2008,

2010–2011

158
3 Singapore Goh Tat Chuan 2002–2006 138
4 Morocco Abdelhadi Laakkad 2005–2010 129
5 South KoreaMoon Soon-ho 2011–2014 108
6 Singapore Goh Swee Swee 2011–2014 105
7 Singapore Azlan Alipah 2006–2011 89
8 Singapore Agu Casmir 2002–2003,

2006

83
9 Singapore Anaz Hadee 2008–2010 69
10 Singapore Armanizam Dolah 2012–2014 67

Top 10 all-time scorers

Top 10 all-time scorers
Rank Player Club appearances Total goals
1 Singapore Agu Casmir 83 55
2 South KoreaMoon Soon-ho 108 38
3 Morocco Abdelhadi Laakkad 129 36
4 South Korea Jang Jo-yoon 64 25
5 Singapore Agu Casmir 34 17
6 Singapore Goh Swee Swee 105 10
7 England Daniel Hammond 57 9
South Korea Park Tae-won 41
9 Romania Lucian Dronca 41 6
Cameroon Essa Mvondo 28
  • Biggest Wins: 6–0 vs Gombak United (25 April 2002)
  • Heaviest Defeats: 8–1 vs
    DPMM
    (26 August 2014)
  • Youngest Goal scorers: Neil Vanu ~ 21 years 7 months 20 days old (On 31 March 2011 vs Étoile FC)
  • Oldest Goal scorers: Mohd Noor Ali ~ 35 years 3 months 21 days old (On 6 September 2010 vs Geylang United)


Honours

Type Competition Titles Seasons
Cup Singapore League Cup 1 2007

Personal awards

Domestic

  • League Top Scorer
    • Laakkad Abdelhadi
      (2006)
    • Moon Soon-Ho
      (2013)

References

  1. ^ "Seletar meets its Waterloo against Wellington – 28–1!", The Straits Times, 18 September 1991, Page 34
  2. ^ "Wellington Div 1 Champ", The Straits Times, 19 June 1995, Page 29
  3. ^ Malathi Das and Palakrishnan (1996), "S.League: the kick-off", Singapore Professional Football League Pte Ltd, p. 62
  4. ^ "Wellington fires first shot in hiring top guns", The Straits Times, 23 July 1995, Page 31
  5. ^ "Power Rangers to Woodlands' rescue", The Straits Times, 23 March 1996, Page 39
  6. ^ "Woodlands pulling in the crowds in its friendlies", The Straits Times, 16 February 1996, Page 30
  7. ^ "Philippines International Tournaments 1991–1998, President's Centennial Cup 1998". RSSSF.
  8. ^ "Midfielder Zulkarnaen joins Woodlands", Today, 5 December 2001, Page 35
  9. ^ "Woodlands pay the price for walk-out".
  10. ^ "A sad day for Singapore football". Channel NewsAsia.
  11. ^ Another S-League club to sit out?, Page 67, The New Paper, Thursday, 22 November 2012
  12. ^ "Save Woodlands Campaign". Woodlands Wellington Football Club.
  13. ^ "Woodlands to play next season". The New Paper. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014.
  14. ^ "Tay assures supporters of Rams' participation in 2013 S.League, targets top 8 finish". Woodlands Wellington Football Club.
  15. Today
    . Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  16. ^ Osman, Shamir (9 February 2016). "S.League club merger between Woodlands and Hougang falls through". The New Paper. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  17. Today
    . Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  18. ^ Osman, Shamir (28 February 2017). "FAS turns its attention to NFL". The New Paper. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  19. ^ "The Black Sheep Facebook Page".
  20. ^ "Fans of the mysteriously quiet Woodlands Wellington FC say "Never Surrender!"". Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  21. ^ "The Black Sheep - Who Are They? on SLeague.com". Archived from the original on 3 July 2017.
  22. ^ Rams close to new deal, Today – Afternoon Edition, 27 March 2001, Page 30
  23. ^ $700,000 windfall for Woodlands, The Straits Times, 12 June 2001, Page S4
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