{"id":279775,"date":"2025-06-07T17:34:46","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T17:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/are-lion-city-sailors-making-the-spl-a-one-horse-race\/"},"modified":"2025-06-07T17:34:46","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T17:34:46","slug":"are-lion-city-sailors-making-the-spl-a-one-horse-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775","title":{"rendered":"Are Lion City Sailors Making the SPL a “One-Horse Race”?"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\nThe 2024\/2025 Singapore Premier League<\/b> (SPL) finally came to an end with the retention of the Singapore Cup by newly-minted SPL champions Lion City Sailors<\/b> (LCS) on the last day of May.<\/p>\n
Dutchman Bart Ramselaar netted the only goal in the final of the local premier knockout competition<\/a> to see the Republic’s sole privatised club cap off their memorable campaign in emphatic fashion over their closest rivals, Tampines Rovers, at the Jalan Besar Stadium.<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
\"LCS<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LCS first XI in ACLTwo Final at Bishan Stadium<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The following day saw LCS walking away with a few accolades at the SPL Awards Night with Aleksandar Rankovi\u0107 named “Coach of the Year”.<\/div>\n

A DOMINANT SEASON CAPPED OFF IN STYLE<\/h3>\n
It was an impressive roll of honour for the club that took over the operations of Home United and revamped to its present form in 2020, and has since set a few benchmarks, including the $10 million training facilities at Mattar Road<\/a> that other SPL clubs can only dream of.<\/div>\n

So here comes the question \u2013 are the muscles on and off the field of LCS going to turn the SPL into a one-horse race?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

COMPARISONS TO PAST DOMINANCE<\/h3>\n
While the team captured the hearts of the nation back in May, when they finished runners-up in the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Champions League Two Final<\/a>, the club has yet to enjoy a consecutive league title-winning streak like Geylang International did in the early 1990s who monopolised the semi-professional FAS Premier League from 1988 to 1993.<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LCS’ Aleksandar Rankovi\u0107 named “Coach of the Year”<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

However, there are traits suggesting that things are in progress if the discrepancy between LCS and the rest of the pack keeps widening, as we have seen in the just-concluded league season.<\/div>\n

GAP WIDENING ON THE FIELD<\/h3>\n
It was not uncommon to see the Sailors chalking up big-margin wins occasionally, like 7-1 and 6-0 against Albirex Niigata (Singapore) twice at home in last June and mid-January respectively, and 8-0 and 6-0 against Young Lions during the unusually long season that lasted more than a calendar year, because of the essential transition phase to align with the AFC Club Competitions\u2019 calendar, as spelt out in the SPL media release on 12 April 2024<\/a> that detailed changes impacting the league format.<\/div>\n

FINANCIAL MUSCLE BEHIND THE SCENES<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n
\"LCS'<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LCS’ training facilities at Mattar Road<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Probably true to a certain extent, although the biggest concern right now is how to make the league a competitive one to avoid it becoming a one-horse race.<\/p>\n

MAINTAINING COMPETITIVE BALANCE<\/h3>\n

After all, no one will find it attractive to see a team thrashing their opponents week in, week out when the priority now is to see the SPL become a more robust tournament.<\/p>\n

Having a robust tournament plays a key role in grooming players to prepare them for a more intense and demanding environment, as required at the international level.\u00a0<\/p>\n

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE NEXT SEASON<\/h3>\n

With the new season merely weeks away, time should not be wasted, and work should already have started right after the Awards Night.<\/p>\n

First on that list should be the confirmation of the number of teams to be featured in the 2025\/2026 SPL season, as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

Having said all these, onus is still on everyone to play their part to see fruition to it.<\/p>\n

If not, it is pointless and a waste of time to keep having those grandstanding proposals one after another to revitalise the “dead horse”.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcca \ud835\udc01\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc1f\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc1e \ud835\udc32\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc2e \ud835\udc26\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc2f\ud835\udc1e \ud835\udc28\ud835\udc27 \ud835\udc1f\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc26 \ud835\udc21\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc1e, \ud835\udc29\ud835\udc25\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc2c\ud835\udc1e \ud835\udc2c\ud835\udc29\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc1e \ud835\udc1a \ud835\udc26\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc27\ud835\udc2e\ud835\udc2d\ud835\udc1e \ud835\udc2d\ud835\udc28 \ud835\udc2d\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc24\ud835\udc1e \ud835\udc29\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc2d \ud835\udc22\ud835\udc27 \ud835\udc2d\ud835\udc21\ud835\udc1e \ud835\udc2c\ud835\udc2e\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc2f\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc32 \u27a1\ufe0f \ud835\udc07\ud835\udc04\ud835\udc11\ud835\udc04<\/a>, \ud835\udc2d\ud835\udc21\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc27\ud835\udc24\ud835\udc2c.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2024\/2025 Singapore Premier League (SPL) finally came to an end with the retention of the Singapore Cup by newly-minted SPL champions Lion City Sailors (LCS) on the last day of May. Dutchman Bart Ramselaar netted the only goal in the final of the local premier knockout competition to see the Republic’s sole privatised club […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":279776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108762,108763,108764],"tags":[2177,5741,2167,108766,8785,26894,108765],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-279775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afc-champions-league-2","category-lion-city-sailors","category-singapore-premier-league","tag-city","tag-lion","tag-making","tag-onehorse","tag-race","tag-sailors","tag-spl"],"yoast_head":"\nAre Lion City Sailors Making the SPL a "One-Horse Race"? - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are Lion City Sailors Making the SPL a "One-Horse Race"? - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 2024\/2025 Singapore Premier League (SPL) finally came to an end with the retention of the Singapore Cup by newly-minted SPL champions Lion City Sailors (LCS) on the last day of May. Dutchman Bart Ramselaar netted the only goal in the final of the local premier knockout competition to see the Republic’s sole privatised club […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-07T17:34:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/227A694620copy.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Are Lion City Sailors Making the SPL a “One-Horse Race”?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-07T17:34:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775\"},\"wordCount\":578,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/227A694620copy.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"City\",\"Lion\",\"Making\",\"OneHorse\",\"Race\",\"Sailors\",\"SPL\"],\"articleSection\":[\"AFC Champions League 2\",\"Lion City Sailors\",\"Singapore Premier League\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775\",\"name\":\"Are Lion City Sailors Making the SPL a \\\"One-Horse Race\\\"? - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/227A694620copy.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-07T17:34:46+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/227A694620copy.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/227A694620copy.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Are Lion City Sailors Making the SPL a “One-Horse Race”?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Are Lion City Sailors Making the SPL a \"One-Horse Race\"? - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Are Lion City Sailors Making the SPL a \"One-Horse Race\"? - Som2ny Network","og_description":"The 2024\/2025 Singapore Premier League (SPL) finally came to an end with the retention of the Singapore Cup by newly-minted SPL champions Lion City Sailors (LCS) on the last day of May. Dutchman Bart Ramselaar netted the only goal in the final of the local premier knockout competition to see the Republic’s sole privatised club […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-06-07T17:34:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/227A694620copy.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Are Lion City Sailors Making the SPL a “One-Horse Race”?","datePublished":"2025-06-07T17:34:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775"},"wordCount":578,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/227A694620copy.jpg","keywords":["City","Lion","Making","OneHorse","Race","Sailors","SPL"],"articleSection":["AFC Champions League 2","Lion City Sailors","Singapore Premier League"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775","name":"Are Lion City Sailors Making the SPL a \"One-Horse Race\"? - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/227A694620copy.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-07T17:34:46+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/227A694620copy.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/227A694620copy.jpg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=279775#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Are Lion City Sailors Making the SPL a “One-Horse Race”?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=279775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/279776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=279775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=279775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=279775"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=279775"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=279775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}