2024–25 Hougang United FC season

Hougang United
2023 season
Chairman	Bill Ng
Head coach	Firdaus Kassim
Stadium	Jalan Besar Stadium
Home colours	Away colours

The 2024–25 season is Hougang United's 27th consecutive season in the top flight of Singapore football and in the Singapore Premier League and the Singapore Cup..

The women team will participate in the Women League. ^[1]

Season Overview

Hougang United's 2023 season was a wild ride. Hopes soared after their 2022 Singapore Cup triumph, but early SPL stumbles, including winning only one of their first seven matches, quickly dimmed title aspirations. However, a coaching change proved pivotal, and the Cheetahs roared back in the cup, reaching the final before falling to Lion City Sailors.

For 2024, they will undergo a revamp with a new squad featuring retained stalwarts like Zaiful Nizam, Nazrul Nazari, Anders Aplin, Shahdan Sulaiman and the soon-to-be-naturalized Kristijan Krajcek. Hougang United is poised to pounce in the upcoming season.

Underperformed players like Amy Recha, Japanese duo defenders are all released.

Squad

Singapore Premier League

No.	Name	Date of Birth (Age)	Previous Club	Contract Since	Contract End
Goalkeepers
19	Zaiful Nizam ^O30	(1987-07-24) 24 July 1987	Geylang International	2023	2025
	Kenji Syed Rusydi	(1998-07-12) 12 July 1998	Tanjong Pagar United	2024	2025
Defenders
2	Anders Aplin ^O30	(1991-06-21) 21 June 1991	Geylang International	2020	2025
3	Jordan Nicolas Vestering	(2000-09-25) 25 September 2000	NFA U18	2018	2025
4	Nazrul Nazari ^O30	(1991-02-11) 11 February 1991	LionsXII	2016	2025
	Danish Irfan	(1999-03-10) 10 March 1999	Geylang International	2024	2025
	Sahffee Jubpre ^U23	(2001-03-31) 31 March 2001	Young Lions FC	2024	2025
Midfielders
8	Shahdan Sulaiman ^O30	(1988-05-09) 9 May 1988	Lion City Sailors	2023	2025
10	Kristijan Krajcek	(1993-10-01) 1 October 1993	Balestier Khalsa	2022	2025
14	Umar Ramle	(1996-05-02) 2 May 1996	Geylang International	2023	2025
16	Ajay Robson ^U23	(2003-12-06) 6 December 2003	Youth Team	2023	2023
	Nikesh Singh Sidhu	(1999-02-24) 24 February 1999	Home United U19	2019	2025
Strikers
9	Fairoz Hassan ^O30	(1988-11-26) 26 November 1988	Albirex Niigata (S)	2023	2023
11	Hazzuwan Halim	(1994-02-02) 2 February 1994	Geylang International	2023	2025
Players who left for NS during the season
25	Aizil Yazid ^U23	(2004-12-24) 24 December 2004	Albirex Niigata (S)	2021	2026
55	Farhan Zulkifli ^U23	(2002-11-10) 10 November 2002	Home United U19	2019	2025
Players who left during the season

U21 Squad

No.	Name	Date of Birth (Age)	Previous Club	Contract Since	Contract End
Goalkeepers
53	Keith Chung Wen Jie ^U21	(2004-11-20) 20 November 2004	Tanjong Pagar United U21	2023
61	Isaac Jonathan Hean-Oon Lee ^U21	(2006-03-17) 17 March 2006	Hougang United U17	2023
Defenders
51	Nicholas Jordan ^U21		Hougang United U17	2023	2023
52	Harriz Danial ^U21		Hougang United U17	2022	2023
54	Spencer ^U21			2023	2023
55	Rauf Sanizal ^U21	(2006-11-07) 7 November 2006	Hougang United U17	2022	2023
56	Wong Ngang Haang ^U21		Hougang United U17	2023	2023
57	Mustajab ^U21			2023	2023
59	Brant Tan Jun Rong ^U21		Lion City Sailors U21	2023	2023
68	Iryan Fandi ^U21	(2006-08-09) 9 August 2006	Hougang United U17	2022	2023
74	Nasrul Pujiyono ^U21	(2002-08-07) 7 August 2002	Geylang International U21	2023	2023
Midfielders
60	Raimi Ishraq ^U21	(2003-04-03) 3 April 2003	Hougang United U17	2023	2023
62	Timothy ^U21			2023	2023
63	Hariysh Krishnakumar ^U21	(2002-10-23) 23 October 2002	Balestier Khalsa	2023	2023
64	Ayan ^U21			2023	2023
65	Putera Danish ^U21		Singapore Sports School	2022	2023
66	Shahreez Basheer ^U21	(2005-05-08) 8 May 2005	Hougang United U17	2022	2023
67	Hairil ^U21			2023	2023
70	Ashvin Vela ^U21			2023	2023
71	Syed Adel Alsree ^U21	(2002-07-12) 12 July 2002	Lion City Sailors U21	2023	2023
76	Snir Shalev ^U21			2023	2023
77	Afzal Halim ^U21			2023	2023
Strikers
58	Louka Vaissierre Tan Jun Cheng ^U21	(2005-06-13) 13 June 2005	Hougang United U17	2023	2023
72	Dylan Choo Chi Tao ^U21	(2004-05-15) 15 May 2004	Tanjong Pagar United U17	2022	2023
73	Shafeeq Ameer ^U21		Project Vaults SC

Women's Squad

No.	Name	Date of Birth (Age)	Previous Club	Contract Since	Contract End
Goalkeepers
1	Olivia Lee Jia Min
23	Belle Jaffar		Balestier Khalsa (W)	2023	2023
28	Azreanna Azlan	(2005-08-24) 24 August 2005		2023	2023
Defenders
2	Rosnani Azman	(1997-05-22) 22 May 1997	Kibi International	2023	2023
3	Angelyn Pang Yen Ping	(1991-04-13) 13 April 1991	Tiong Bahru FC (W)	2023	2023
4	Nurul Asyiqin		Tiong Bahru FC (W)	2023	2023
5	Jacklyn Lee Pei Xian		Tiong Bahru FC (W)	2023	2023
6	Claire Merrow-Smith			2023	2023
12	Carey Lee Shi Min			2023	2023
14	Leo Huang		Tiong Bahru FC (W)	2023	2023
17	Victoria Lee Chun Hui		Tiong Bahru FC (W)	2023	2023
19	Clara Wong Si Lin			2023	2023
20	Rena Ang En Ting		Tiong Bahru FC (W)	2023	2023
Midfielders
7	Deborah Chin Ngeet Ling	(1988-04-21) 21 April 1988	Tiong Bahru FC (W)	2023	2023
11	Winette Lim Siu	(1999-05-20) 20 May 1999	Tiong Bahru FC (W)	2023	2023
18	Nurul Ardian Baharrudin
21	Rochelle Chan Wan Wen	(1995-08-21) 21 August 1995	Tiong Bahru FC (W)	2023	2023
22	Genevieve Lee Min			2023	2023
27	Riddle Reneelyn Sison		Tiong Bahru FC (W)	2023	2023
Strikers
8	Raudhah Kamis	(1999-03-04) 4 March 1999	Tiong Bahru FC (W)	2023	2023
9	Levyn Wong Si Min			2023	2023
10	Rachel Chan Ye Ling	(2004-08-25) 25 August 2004	Tiong Bahru FC (W)	2023	2023
15	Siti Wan Nabilah	(1993-05-15) 15 May 1993	Tiong Bahru FC (W)	2023	2023
16	Nicole Lim Yan Xiu	(2002-04-10) 10 April 2002	Lion City Sailors (W)	2023	2023
25	Clara Lau Shi Hui	(1997-09-23) 23 September 1997	Tiong Bahru FC (W)	2023	2023
Players who left mid-season
23	Erlinawaty Dewi		Balestier Khalsa (W)	2023	2023

Coaching staff

^[2]

Position	Name	Ref.
General Manager	Matthew Tay
Team Manager	Robert Eziakor
Head Coach (Men)	Marko Kraljević (Interim)
Head Coach (Women)	G.Sivaraj
Assistant Coach & Head of Youth (COE) & U21 Coach	Robert Eziakor
Goalkeeping Coach	Scott Starr
U17 Coach	Yuki Fujimoto Tan Puay Guan
U15 Coach	Firdaus Mohamed
Strength & Monitoring Coach	Syaqir Sulaiman
Sports Trainer	Thomas Pang
Physiotherapist	Ain Hassan Daniel Tan Shoban Rahul
Equipment Team	Richard Lim Wan Azlan Bin Wan Adanan

Transfers

In

Pre-season

Position	Player	Transferred From	Team	Ref
GK	Kenji Syed Rusydi	Tanjong Pagar United	First Team	Free
DF	Danish Irfan	Tampines Rovers	First Team	Free

Loan Return

Pre-season

Position	Player	Transferred From	Team	Ref
GK	Heng How Meng	SAFSA	U21	End of NS ^{[lower-alpha 1]}
DF	Sahffee Jubpre	SAFSA	U21	End of NS
MF	Nikesh Singh Sidhu	SAFSA	U21	End of NS
MF	Harhys Stewart	Young Lions FC	U21	End of loan ^{[lower-alpha 2]}
FW	Syafi’ie Redzuan	Young Lions FC	First Team	End of loan ^{[lower-alpha 3]}

↑ Heng How Meng released after end of contract.
↑ Harhys Stewart released after end of contract.
↑ Syafi’ie Redzuan released after end of contract.

Loan In

Pre-season

Position	Player	Transferred To / From	Team	Ref

Out

Pre-season

Position	Player	Transferred To	Team	Ref
GK	Zainol Gulam	Albirex Niigata (S)	First Team	Free ^[3] ^[4]
DF	Kazuma Takayama	Retired	First Team	Free ^[5] ^[6]
DF	Naoki Kuriyama		First Team	Free ^[7] ^[8]
DF	Abdil Qaiyyim Mutalib		First Team	Free ^[9]
MF	Amir Zailani		First Team	Free ^[10]
MF	Irwan Shah	Retired	First Team	N.A. ^[11]
MF	Idraki Adnan	Albirex Niigata (S)	First Team	Free ^[12] ^[13]
FW	Amy Recha	Albirex Niigata (S)	First Team	Free ^[14]
FW	Sahil Suhaimi	Balestier Khalsa	First Team	Free ^[15]
FW	Gabriel Quak	Geylang International	First Team	Free
FW	Đorđe Maksimović		First Team	Free ^[16]

Mid-season

Position	Player	Transferred To	Team	Ref

Loan out

Pre-season

Position	Player	Transferred To	Ref
GK	Aizil Yazid	SAFSA	NS till Jan 2025 ^[17]^[18]
MF	Farhan Zulkifli	SAFSA	NS till Jan 2025
MF	Hafizzuan Riduan	SAFSA	NS till Jan 2025
MF	Woo Chun Wei	SAFSA	NS till Jan 2025

Retained / Extension

Position	Player	Ref
GK	Zaiful Nizam	1.5 years contract from Jan 2024 till Jun 2025 ^[19]
DF	Jordan Nicolas Vestering	1.5 years contract from Jan 2024 till Jun 2025 ^[20]
DF	Anders Aplin	1.5 years contract from Jan 2024 till Jun 2025 ^[21]
DF	Nazrul Nazari	1.5 years contract from Jan 2024 till Jun 2025 ^[22]
MF	Shahdan Sulaiman	1.5 years contract from Jan 2024 till Jun 2025 ^[23]
MF	Umar Ramle	1.5 years contract from Jan 2024 till Jun 2025 ^[24]
MF	Kristijan Krajcek	1.5 years contract from Jan 2024 till Jun 2025 ^[25]
FW	Hazzuwan Halim	1.5 years contract from Jan 2024 till Jun 2025 ^[26]

Friendly

Pre-season

Win Draw Loss

First Team

Notes

Team statistics

Appearances and goals

As of 26 Nov 2023

No.	Pos.	Player	SPL		Singapore Cup		Total
No.	Pos.	Player	Apps.	Goals	Apps.	Goals	Apps.	Goals
2	DF	Anders Aplin	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	DF	Jordan Vestering	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players who have played this season but had left the club or on loan to other club

Competitions

Overview

Results summary (SPL)


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Singapore Premier League

Win Draw Loss

Pos	Team	Qualification or relegation
1	Albirex Niigata (S)	Qualification for 2025–26 AFC Champions League 2 Group Stage
2	Balestier Khalsa
3	Brunei DPMM^{[lower-alpha 1]}
4	Hougang United
5	Geylang International
6	Lion City Sailors
7	BG Tampines Rovers
8	Tanjong Pagar United
9	Young Lions^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Source: Singapore Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of wins
Notes:

1 2 Two clubs – DPMM FC and the FAS under-23 team Young Lions, are ineligible for any AFC competition spots.

Singapore Cup

2024–25 Singapore Cup

Competition (U21)

Win Draw Loss

League table

Pos	Team	Qualification or relegation
1	Albirex Niigata (S) U19	Group A
2	Balestier Khalsa U21
3	Geylang International U21
4	Hougang United U21
5	Lion City Sailors U21	Group B
6	Tampines Rovers U21
7	Tanjong Pagar United U21 (C)
8	Young Lions B
9	SAFSA

Updated to match(es) played on 3 April 2021. Source: Singapore Premier League
(C) Champions

Competition (U17)

Win Draw Loss

League table

Pos	Team	Qualification or relegation
1	Geylang International U17 (C)	League champions
2	Balestier Khalsa U17
3	Lion City Sailors U17
4	Tampines Rovers U17
5	Hougang United U17
6	Albirex Niigata (S) U17
7	Tanjong Pagar United U17
8	Woodlands Lions U17

Updated to match(es) played on 3 April 2021. Source: Singapore Premier League
(C) Champions

Competition (U15)

Win Draw Loss

League table

Pos	Team	Qualification or relegation
1	Singapore Sports School (C)	League champions
2	Lion City Sailors U15
3	Active SG
4	Geylang International U15
5	Tampines Rovers U15
6	Balestier Khalsa U15
7	Tanjong Pagar United U15
8	Albirex Niigata (S) U15
9	Hougang United U15

Updated to match(es) played on 3 April 2021. Source: Singapore Premier League
(C) Champions

Notes

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[3] Heng How Meng released after end of contract.

[4] Harhys Stewart released after end of contract.

[5] Syafi’ie Redzuan released after end of contract.

[table_note_YLI0.15509923135634-30] 1 2 Two clubs – DPMM FC and the FAS under-23 team Young Lions, are ineligible for any AFC competition spots.

[1] "Deloitte Women's Premier League returns with 10 clubs, kicks off on 18th March".

[2] "Hougang United Football Club".

[6] "Thank you , Zainol 🩵".

[7] "Zainol Gulam is coming to Albirex Niigata FC Singapore for 2024 season!".

[8] "Hougang United Football Club on Instagram: "𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭⁣ ⁣ Kazuma Takayama joins Hougang United! 🇯🇵⁣ ⁣ The 26-year-old defender has previously played for J1, J2 and J3 League clubs, Omiya Ardija FC (2016-2021) and Kataller Toyama FC (2022).⁣ ⁣ The 1.80m tall centre-back will form part of the Cheetahs' defensive block in the upcoming campaign.⁣ ⁣ Welcome to the club, Kazuma!⁣ ⁣ #HGFC #1H1H #WelcomeKazuma"". Instagram.

[9] "ありがとう , Kazuma 🧡".

[10] "Hougang United Football Club on Instagram: "𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭⁣ ⁣ Naoki Kuriyama is our third foreign player at the club! 🎌⁣ ⁣ The 32-year-old Japanese defender helmed from J2 and J3 League club, Montedio Yamagata FC (2016-2021) and Ehime FC (2022), with a total of 161 appearances.⁣ ⁣ Naoki will form part of the defensive line for the upcoming season.⁣ ⁣ Welcome to the club, Naoki!⁣ ⁣ #HGFC #1H1H #WelcomeNaoki"". Instagram.

[11] "ありがとう , Kuriyama 🧡".

[12] "Thank you , Abdil 🧡".

[13] "Thank you , Amir Zalani 🧡".

[14] "Thank you , Irwan Shah 🧡".

[15] "Thank you , Idraki Adnan 🧡".

[16] "Idraki Adnan is coming to Albirex Niigata FC Singapore for 2024 season!".

[17] "Thank you , Amy Recha 🧡".

[18] "Thank you , Sahil".

[19] "Thank you , Djorde Maksimovic 🧡".

[20] "Welcome to the club Adam Reefdy, Aizil Yazid, Ameen Sabri, Andrew Aw, Aqil Yazid and Danial Iliya. 🦁". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 24 April 2023.

[21] "Aizil Yazid will be enlisted for the national service in the coming weeks.⁣". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 1 May 2023.

[22] "Zaiful Nizam will continue with us next season".

[23] "Jordan Vestering will continue with us next season. ✍️🧡".

[24] "Anders Aplin , Kristijan Krajcek & Umar Ramle will continue with us in the 2024 season ✍️🧡".

[25] "Nazrul Nazari will continue with us in the 2024 season ✍️🧡".

[26] "Shahdan Sulaiman will continue with us next season. ✍️🧡".

[27] "Anders Aplin , Kristijan Krajcek & Umar Ramle will continue with us in the 2024 season ✍️🧡".

[28] "Anders Aplin , Kristijan Krajcek & Umar Ramle will continue with us in the 2024 season ✍️🧡".

[29] "Hazzuwan Halim will continue with us next season. ✍️🧡".

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Hougang United FC
Club	Players History All articles
Stadium	Jalan Besar Stadium
Managers	Morgan (2002–03) Chow K.L. (2004–05) Morgan (2006–07) Saswadimata (2008) Grabovac (2008) Swandi (2008) Steinebrunner (2009) Aide (2009–11) Baćina (2011–12) Johana (2012) Weaver (2012–13) Johana (2013) Amin (2013–14) Salim (2015) Balagumaran (2015–16) Philippe (2017–18) Clement (2018–present)
Current squad	2 Aplin 4 Nazrul 5 Lionel 7 Shahfiq 11 Afiq 14 Krajček 16 Faiz 19 Amy 20 Muhaimin 21 Nazhiim 23 Sahil 24 Amir 31 Zainol 32 Vestering 37 Zulfahmi 55 Farhan 68 Iryan
Seasons	1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Season Overview

Squad

Singapore Premier League

U21 Squad

Women's Squad

Coaching staff

Transfers

In

Loan Return

Loan In

Out

Loan out

Retained / Extension

Friendly

Pre-season

Team statistics

Appearances and goals

Competitions

Overview

Singapore Premier League

Singapore Cup

Competition (U21)

Competition (U17)

Competition (U15)

See also

Notes

References