Albirex Niigata Singapore FC

Albirex Niigata Singapore FC, abbreviated as Albirex Niigata (S), is a professional football club based in Jurong East, Singapore, which plays in the Singapore Premier League. The club is a satellite team of Albirex Niigata of Japan.[1] The club have won 5 league titles (including one unbeaten title), 4 Singapore Cup, 4 Singapore League Cup and 4 Community Shield.

Albirex Niigata (S)
Full nameAlbirex Niigata Singapore FC
Nickname(s)White Swans
Founded2004 (2004)
GroundJurong East Stadium
Capacity2,700
ChairmanDaisuke Korenaga
ManagerKazuaki Yoshinaga
LeagueSingapore Premier League
2022Singapore Premier League, 1st of 8
WebsiteClub website

History

Albirex Niigata Singapore, a satellite team of Japanese club Albirex Niigata, joined the S. League in 2004. It was in that year the Football Association of Singapore decided to invite foreign teams in the league in a bid to deal with poor attendance issues. For the first years of the club's participation in the league it has settled in the mid-table in the standings.[2]

In 2008, Daisuke Korenaga became chairman of the club who introduced reforms in the club in order to improve its standing in the league. Among these was to secure sponsorship from Japanese companies with presence in Singapore, with the club having as many as 50 sponsors and improved fan engagement by setting up a Cheer Dance School and an academy. The club then improved its league performance finishing 7th in the 2008 season, 3rd in the 2012 season and as champions in the 2016 season. The club did not lose a match in their 2018 season.[2]

Former Albirex players who have gone on to forge decent J-League careers include former League Players of the Year, Atsushi Kawata (2016) and Tomoyuki Doi (2021), while Issey Nakajima-Farran even went on to play in Major League Soccer in the United States and Ilhan Fandi who goes on to play for the Belgium 2nd division club, K.M.S.K. Deinze in Europe.

Notably, the club also implement a professional code of conduct to instill discipline, good behaviour and team spirit. This includes a ban on hair dye, a punctuality clause where players are fined if they are late for training with no valid reason, and scrubbing footballs together after training.

Affiliated clubs

The following clubs are affiliated with Albirex Niigata FC (Singapore):

Sponsors
Kit Supplier Main Sponsors
Mizuno Denka[3]
Black Clover

Stadium

Video assistant referee (VAR) technology will be used for the first time in the 2023 Singapore Premier League season and also at Jurong East Stadium.

Players

First-team squad
As of 31 Jan 2023[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF Japan JPN Ryo Takahashi
3 DF Japan JPN Keito Hariya
4 DF Japan JPN Koki Kawachi
5 DF Japan JPN Shunsaku Kishimoto
6 MF Japan JPN Asahi Yokokawa
7 MF Japan JPN Shuto Komaki
8 MF Japan JPN Kaisei Ogawa
9 MF Japan JPN Riku Fukashiro
10 FW Japan JPN Seia Kunori
11 FW Japan JPN Keito Komatsu
13 MF Japan JPN Masaya Watanabe
14 MF Japan JPN Shodai Yokoyama
17 DF Japan JPN Sho Fuwa
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 GK Singapore SGP Hassan Sunny O23
19 FW Japan JPN Tadanari Lee JPN O23
21 GK Singapore SGP Hyrulnizam Juma'at O23
22 FW Singapore SGP Nicky Melvin Singh
24 MF Singapore SGP Zamani Zamri
26 MF Singapore SGP Jarrel Ong
27 FW Singapore SGP Shakthi Vinayagavijayan
31 GK Japan JPN Yoshihiko Kobayashi
51 GK Japan JPN Kai Yamamoto
52 DF Singapore SGP Junki Kenn Yoshimura
53 MF Singapore SGP Hilman Norhisam
54 DF Singapore SGP Kenji Austin
55 GK Singapore SGP Firman Nabil

Club officials
Position Name
Head Coach Japan Kazuaki Yoshinaga[5]
Assistant Coach Japan Keiji Shigetomi

Singapore Jaswinder Singh

Fitness Coach Japan Masayuki Kato
Interpreter
Goalkeeper Coach Singapore Fadhil Salim
Sports Trainer Japan Tomoya Ueta
Team Manager Singapore Dominic Wong
Physiotherapist Singapore Karen Koh

Singapore Alison Soh

Kitman Singapore Roy Krishnan

Singapore Muhammad Taufik

Notable players

This section contains a list of former players who have either played 100 league games for the club, gone on to represent their nation, or played in the JLeague at any level.

Managers
  • Romania Bogdan Brasoveanu (2004–2010)
  • Singapore Koh Mui Tee (2011–2013)
  • Singapore Yeo Junxian (2014–2015)[8]
  • Singapore Koh Mui Tee (2016–)

Head coaches

Honours

League

Cup

Records and statistics

Top 10 all-time appearances
Rank Player Years Club appearances
1 Japan Kento Nagasaki 2013–2017 164
2 Japan Hiroyoshi Kamata 2016–2020 138
3 Japan Atsushi Shimono 2009–2012 128
4 Japan Yōsuke Nozawa 2015–2018 125
5 Japan Shuhei Hotta 2011–2014 106
6 Japan Tatsuro Inui 2010–2011

2016

 103
7 Japan Itsuki Yamada 2013–2015 100
8 Japan Kento Fujihara 2014–2016 98
9 Japan Yoshito Matsushita 2008–2011 95
10 Japan Rui Kumada 2015–2017 91

Top 10 all-time scorers
Rank Player Club appearances Total goals
1 Japan Kento Nagasaki 164 41
2 Japan Kazuki Sakamoto 65 40
3 Japan Kodai Tanaka 32 39
4 Japan Tatsuro Inui 103 32
5 Japan Atsushi Kawata 60 31
Japan Tsubasa Sano 29
7 Japan Shotaro Ihata 67 27
8 Japan Bruno Suzuki 90 25
9 Japan Hiroyoshi Kamata 138 24
10 Japan Shuhei Hoshino 26 19
  • Biggest Wins: 13-0 vs Police SA (10 July 2014)
  • Heaviest Defeats: 6-0 vs SAFFC (26 March 2009)
  • Youngest Goal scorers: Ong Yu En ~ 17 years 1 month 22 days old (On 25 November 2020 vs Young Lions)
  • Oldest Goal scorers: Tadanari Lee ~ 37 years 3 months 13 days (On 1 April 2023 vs Geylang International)
  • Youngest ever debutant: Ong Yu En ~ 17 years 15 days old (On 18 October 2020 vs Young Lions)

References
  1. "Albirex Niigata (S) - Profile". worldfootball.net. Archived from the original on 2020-06-12. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  2. Kor, Justin (27 May 2019). "How Japanese club Albirex Niigata scored big in Singapore soccer". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  3. "New Main Partner is Denka Chemicals Holdings Asia Pacific Pte Ltd!". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website.
  4. "2022 Season Squad (Updated on 7th January)". Albirex Niigata Singapore FC. 7 January 2022. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  5. "Yoshinaga Kazuaki will be coming back to Singapore as a our Technical Director".
  6. NDTV, Indo-Asian News Service (29 January 2013). "Arata Izumi becomes first foreign national to be selected for Indian football team". sports.ndtv.com. NDTV Sport. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  7. "Arata Izumi". Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  8. "White Swans appoint Yeo as Team Manager | aXross the Line". Archived from the original on 2014-02-26. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
  9. "Newspaper Article – Albirex coach leaves for Japanese women's team". Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  10. "Sugiyama's Leaving Club upon Completion of Contract". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  11. "Contract with Coach Tatsuyuki Okuyama". Albirex Niigata Singapore Official website (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  12. "Albirex Niigata Singapore アルビレックス新潟シンガポール 公式サイト » Contract with Head Coach Naoki Naruo". Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
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