The Singapore Youth League (SYL) kicked off its 2025 season this weekend with over 6,000 young male and female footballers taking to fields across the island – setting a new entry in the Singapore Book of Records in the process.
A record for the “Most Number Of Simultaneous Football Kickoffs” was set on February 9, 2025 when 36 teams in the Under-8, Under-9, Under-10, Under-15 and Under-17 categories kicked off their matches at 8am across multiple venues: River Valley High School, Republic Polytechnic, St Wilfred Field, and ActiveSG stadiums, namely Bedok, Bukit Gombak, Choa Chu Kang, Clementi and Serangoon.
Adding to the excitement, recently retired national footballer Adam Swandi, former internationals Aleksandar Duric and Baihakki Khaizan joined Football Association of Singapore General Secretary Chew Chun-Liang and Sport Singapore Chief Sports Development Group Marcus Tan at Serangoon Stadium to celebrate the record-breaking morning.
The 2025 SYL season also features a new girls-only league with 18 teams across three age groups – U-10, U-12 and U-14. Running from February to November 2025, the teams will compete in a league format, playing an average of about 15 games for the season.
The new season will see 316 teams taking part in the SYL, a 58 per cent increase from last year’s inaugural SYL season. The number of age categories featured this season has also doubled from six last year to 12, providing more opportunities for young athletes to participate.
The SYL is a nationwide elite youth football competition and is an initiative under the Unleash The Roar! (UTR!) national football project – jointly run by SportSG and the Football Association of Singapore (FAS). It provides aspiring youth players a robust, competitive platform to gain match experience during their developmental years and showcase their talent.
Said Mr Marcus Tan, SportSG’s Chief, Sport Development Group, who oversees UTR!: “With the SYL expanding to 12 age groups across male and female divisions, it is now a comprehensive youth league that pits over 6,000 young footballers in weekly competitions for close to 10 months of the year.
“With teams playing an average of about 30 matches a year, the SYL is the ideal platform for us to groom the next generation of top male and female footballers.”
Said Mr Chew Chun-Liang, FAS General Secretary: “The SYL is a fantastic platform for the development of young footballers, and by virtue of that, it has become a good base for coaches in the national setup to select and develop elite youth players.
“From what we’ve already seen last season, the SYL provides more than a platform for nurturing young footballers, it is also a great platform for youth coaches, academies and even an avenue to nurture football fans.”
Football Academies looking forward to the new season
Singapore Premier League Albirex Niigata Singapore’s youth academy is looking forward to the 2025 season.
Albirex saw strong performances in 2024, with their U10 boys gaining promotion to Division One and their U12 boys clinching the Division Two title. This year, the club will also be fielding girls’ teams in all three age categories.
Said Habil Hakim, Albirex’s Academy Director: “We have both development squads and competitive squads in the SYL and it gives players the opportunity to grow. With the many matches, we have the chance to test out playing styles and player positions. We also get to test the strength of the team, players and coaches in the face of different tactics and formats.”
Like Albirex, SG7 Soccer Academic is also looking to build on a promising 2024 season.
Said Ryan Riad, owner and coach at SG7: “It was fantastic to be able to bring our players for regular weekly matches against such a huge variety of teams. It was satisfying to see the teams give their all in the game and apply what they learnt in training. They had a lot of playing time, and were all able to take away learning opportunities from their games.”
Added Habil: “When kids as young as 6-12 are involved, so too will their parents and this is a great way to promote Singapore football. They see the great setup, organisation, competition level and what SYL is there for. This will generate more interest in our sport,l which is perfect for the future of Singapore football.”
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