By Les Tan
Noh Alam Shah (in red) in action during the Asian Cup qualifying game against Jordan in February 2009. (Photo © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports file photo)
National football striker and captain Noh Alam Shah has signed a one-year deal to play for Arema Malang in the Indonesian Super League. Precious Emuejeraye, Baihakki Khaizan and Fahrudin Mustafic are also reportedly interested in moving to Indonesian clubs.
A rule change in the Indonesian Super League now allows their clubs to hire five imports, two of whom must come from Asian Football Confederation countries.
So what does it mean for the S.League? Nothing much, really.
The S.League crowds are small to begin with. In fact, that is a reason Alam Shah cites for leaving, according to a Channel NewsAsia story (National captain Noh Alam Shah slams local football). He is apparently excited about playing in front of crowds numbering 30,000.
“It feels horrible playing in front of a poor crowd, and at some stadium, there is almost no crowd at all. I believe we are still a footballing nation, but even when we are in centralised training with the national team, the players often wonder if the fans will turn up to watch us,” Alam Shah is quoted as saying in the Today newspaper (Alam Shah cites low fan base, poor officiating and lack of star quality for leaving; Today, September 11, 2009)
Some football industry figures have also questioned the level of footballing standards in the Indonesian Super League.
“The level of football is about the same if not lower there,” ex-Singapore striker V. Sundramoorthy was quoted as saying in another report (Will more take the bait?, Today, September 10).
But that’s not the point, is it? Football, or any sport, thrives on rivalries, on conflicting passions.
That, unfortunately, is in short supply in the S.League. While the organisational standard of the S.League has given it a top-10 rank in Asia, fans aren’t responding to that accolade.
In the end, some of the mentioned players may not leave the security of a well-run S.League for the uncertain jungle of Indonesian football. It will take a streak of adventurism to play in that league.
Noh Alam Shah always goes into his challenges without fear. He will now need to show the same courage in Indonesia.
All the best to him.
REDpoll
Loading ...
indonesian league level is better than singapore league level. go alam sham. take ur opportunity chances.
Jusf for information, Noh Alam Shah and Ridhuan Muhammad had been gift Arema Indonesia Champion. And the last match is 84.000 people in stadium. This is the biggest number in sporter in the Indonesian Super League.
Just to add… I prefer to look at the bright side of this development as well. Just imagine, when has Singapore ever claimed to have ‘international team training challenges’ because so many of our players now play overseas? This is only something the top national teams get to ‘enjoy’!
Clearly, having all of them playing in the S-league, and the convenience of putting the national squad together for training before matches has not resulted in a huge jump in our performances.
Having more of our players learn how to adapt to different playing styles in other leagues can only be good for us. Singapore local soccer tends to be a bit too uni-dimensional – not helped also by the fact that we play the likes of Thailand, Malaysia, etc. year in year out.
I doubt bringing back the Malaysian cup will help, singapore fan’s nowadays has lost their belief for the national team and the football they play.
Bringing back the Malaysian cup won’t make them believe in the football the national team play, it already say’s alot when your own national striker don’t believe in the national league.
Concentrate on bringing back the level of belief and improving the standard of play, the S-league is just not cutting it.
Alam Shah is right about the local football scene. It’s every footballer’s frustration in the local league and everyone who’s playing the league knows tat.. Well, reason is becos the FAS has control the budget for the Sleague club,and oso there’s no companies supporting the league and sponsoring it. And also the FAS and the government is oso not daring enough to pump in MORE $$$ into the league. On top of that, even the schs are not encouraging not just football but every sports to all the youth enough..it’s also the mindset of the public thinking that sports is not sufficient enough to earn a living, but look at Europe and U.S.. they take this their sports as their profession and went on to further their career… It’s just the matter of time sooner or later a footballer express their anger on their own professional league…
bring back the malaysia cup
I am happy for Noh Alam Shah, because he has proven that he is at a level where a club from another country will notice him. Next up is to prove that he can perform overseas.
I think if we have more footballers playing overseas, it can only be good for our national team.
As for the Sleague, I really don’t think losing Alam Shah will be a “blow”. The problems faced by the league is one of a classic catch-22. No money – hence no quality players – hence no fan support – hence no money.
The league desperately needs an influx of cash from some sponsors or the government. Get the clubs to go out and sign better foreign players. Inject new interest into the league. It can be done – it just needs effort and time.
@thecatman – I agree. Any hint of rivalry/differences stem from maybe political differences like whether a certain party governs your GRC that sorta thing. If 2 constituencies are under the same governing party, then what difference is there to spark any sense of ‘club-rivalry’ when the promotion of ‘harmony/order’ has been the hard-selling nation building block.
And yet thats where the tension desirable for sports spectatorship is rooted in for a local league. Though I faintly remember my childhood days living in Queenstown, I was secretly pleased I “got to” support Tiong Bahru – but a lot of it has to do with the fact that Steven Tan was my favourite national player – it was just after the glorious Malaysia Cup hey-days.
I guess it all points back to the overall development of football within the nation – the intangible link between the success of the national team and the local league? And especially since the differences needed to spark clubs/consituencies-rivalry is far from apparent, then it’d go down to individual differences and preferences.
Noh Alam Shah should be crowned the Sportsman of the Year for daring to speak the truth about the S-League, and revealing it for the poor quality tournament that it really is.
I salute him for his courage in daring to put it all on the line, and I really hope something good (like a better S-League) comes out of all this.
Cheers to Alam Shah.
Regards
Singapore Sports Fan
Speaking of rivalries, another one just went out the door with NAS’ departure. Who can forget the constant conflicts with national teammate Daniel Bennett?
If there are any rivalries in the S.League, it would be SAFFC and Tampines Rovers. NAS don’t seem to be able to stay on the pitch when these two play.
No more NAS, no more SAFFC- Tampines rivalry?
I don’t think it’s necessarily down to our culture being too ‘orderly’, etc., although it does affect our behaviour when watching sports.
More simply, there’s simply no real rivalry to speak off when watching the S-league. You may live in Sengkang or Bedok or Woodlands, but our differences are really non-existent if any. So how to hurl abuse or feel competitive against another team?
Most rivalries in established teams and leagues in other countries are based on some historical, socio-cultural or political roots (Barcelona vs Real Madrid is but one good example). We are probably too egalitarian and too small a society to expect the same.
In a way, the challenge here is a very different one from other leagues. It’s easy for Noh Alam Shah to speak fondly of the Indonesian leagues, but it’s simply because there are economic, cultural and geographical disparities that have given rise to the 30,000 crowds. Even the J-league is starting to have problems sustaining crowds of 10,000+. And that’s a country with far better footballers, far better teams that are located geographically further apart.
And, honestly, 3000-4000 watching training sessions regularly? Of course it’s great for the footballer. But that can happen only if you are Barca / Man U / or one of maybe 5-10 top European teams. Otherwise, you are probably in a country or city where you have many people with time on their hands (no disrespect to Indonesian fans… I wish I can do the same as a fan too…). You don’t even get that with the likes of Everton, Man City, Spurs, etc. unless they are on tour.
I think our footballers’ frustrations are valid, but I do think we need some objectivity here. The S-League is far from anywhere, but there are some realities that make it what it is.
If we are expecting or hoping to see a league where we have 5 or more weekly games drawing in 10000 every game, forget it. It will never happen. Anyone who thinks it’s possible is being delusional.
The S-League is far from anywhere in terms of standards, but let’s not blame them for realities they cannot fix.
Good article and point of view Les. If the S-League is not improving the standard now, then see more of our talents being poached by clubs in this region.
Nobody cares if you are endorsed Top 10 in Asia by AFC. People judge by what they see.
Vietnam is spending on their league too. Who can light up the S-League now? Only Khairul Amri, Hariss Harun and Hassan Sunny remains our only hope.
Individuals will hurl abuse in a crowd of 30,000. Here, the individual is in hundreds. I am sure NAS can hear it loud and clear.
All the best NAS. Now, hope this will wake up both local fans and clubs.
Without these national players playing in the S.League, the quality of the league will definitely drop to new lows. Quite disappointing really.
Maybe even lesser crowds will come to watch the league now that these stars are gone. It might even lead to the closure of the league?!
Well at the same time, this move will open the doors for more young players to prove themselves.
As individuals it is of course beneficial for them. It might lead to the improvement of the national squad as well. However, will their positions in the national team be affected by this move? Wouldn’t it be harder to track their progress?
Overall, the league suffers but definitely a good move for the players.
Definitely true – “Football, or any sport, thrives on rivalries, on conflicting passions…fans aren’t responding to that accolade.” Its easy to feel unappreciated as a national athlete!
I think the ‘problem’ lies with how the ‘social norm’ in sports spectatorship in Singapore is relatively ‘passive’ such that any slight hint of rowdiness is readily deem as deviant/undesirable?
While Alam Shah (or any other local players) may really enjoy the 30,000 crowd, I hope they are aware of the mental torture they can be put through with the verbal abuses hurled from the vocal crowd!
In my experience watching ‘live’ sports events in Indonesia, has often sent chills down my spine – and I’m not suggesting that the sporting culture in Indonesia is less ‘refined’ or ‘uncivilised’.
But there is a heavy emphasis on ‘order’ in the Singapore culture – perhaps influenced by the Chinese culture. The line between having passionate/lively spectatorship and rowdiness is very fine.