Singapore Premier League | 01/25 10:00 | 24 | Balestier Khalsa FC vs Young Lions | - | View | |
Singapore Premier League | 02/08 10:00 | 25 | Young Lions vs Tampines Rovers FC | - | View | |
Singapore Cup | 02/15 10:00 | 2 | Young Lions vs DPMM FC | - | View | |
Singapore Premier League | 02/22 10:00 | 26 | Hougang United FC vs Young Lions | - | View | |
Singapore Cup | 03/01 12:00 | 3 | Hougang United FC vs Young Lions | - | View | |
Singapore Premier League | 03/08 12:30 | 28 | Young Lions vs DPMM FC | - | View |
Total | Home | Away | |
---|---|---|---|
Matches played | 24 | 12 | 12 |
Wins | 7 | 4 | 3 |
Draws | 5 | 2 | 3 |
Losses | 12 | 6 | 6 |
Goals for | 42 | 22 | 20 |
Goals against | 64 | 34 | 30 |
Clean sheets | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Failed to score | 5 | 4 | 1 |
Young Lions Football Club, commonly known as Young Lions, is a Singaporean developmental football club that in Kallang, Singapore, which competes in the Singapore Premier League. The team is under the direct control of the Football Association of Singapore.
Young Lions are one of the few football clubs in the world that is made up of young Singaporean footballers serving their compulsory two-year national service which place an age restriction on team members while playing in a top-flight professional league. Players are on loan in from several local Singapore Premier League club every season and would spend two years with the side before returning to their previous professional club.
Young Lions plays their home matches at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Their best league finish was third, which they achieved in 2004 and 2006.
By entering the Young Lions into the S.League, the FAS hopes to expose young players to top-level competition, thus helping to prepare them for international tournaments such as the Southeast Asian Games. While the bulk of the Young Lions squad is made up of members of Singapore's national under-23 team, the club also takes in promising young foreign players (e.g. Luka Savić). However, foreign players are normally only recruited into the Young Lions squad if they could potentially change their nationality to Singaporean and be eligible to play international football for Singapore at some point in the future.
In 2023, Young Lions signed both Japanese duo Jun Kobayashi and Kan Kobayashi from Albirex Niigata (S) who became the foreign players playing for the club for the first time since signing France national, Benjamin Bertrand from Ligue 2 club, Tours in 2016. In preparation for the upcoming 2024–25 Singapore Premier League season, Young Lions signed an additional two more Japanese players, Kaisei Ogawa and Itsuki Enomoto and also signing Australian national Rashid Hayek from Western United making it the first time the club has five foreigners registered in the squad.
In 2011, the Football Association of Singapore and the Football Association of Malaysia reached an agreement that would see greater cooperation between the two nations. One of the intended avenues will see Young Lions play in the Malaysian Super League and Malaysia Cup from 2012 onwards, the first time a Singaporean team has participated in Malaysian domestic football since Singapore won the 1994 M-League and Malaysia Cup double. Although the new Singapore team will have the existing Young Lions set up at its core, the squad will be permitted up to five local players over the age of 14–16 players, as well as a number of overseas players in accordance with the quota set out by the rules of the Malaysian competitions the team will play in.
Ultimately though, a new team was created for the Malaysia league: the LionsXII, while Young Lions remained in the S.League.
Most of the Young Lions players come from the NFA (National Football Academy) and new players (from the NFA) will be promoted to the Young Lions squad every season.
The National Football Academy enters both the Singapore NFA U-17 and Singapore NFA U-18 teams into the Prime League to allow their players to gain more exposure and match experience by playing against older and more established players.