Lion City W

The Police Sports Association was founded in 1945 to organize football activities for the Singapore Police Force. It sent two teams to compete in the Singapore Amateur Football Association League in the 1950s and 1960s, but neither team won any trophies. Under coach Choo Seng Quee, the club won the inaugural President's Cup in 1968, then reached and lost the next two finals.

In 1985, Police SA won the National Football League.

Home United (1997–2019)

When the S.League was formed in 1996, the club was known as the Police Football Club. The following year, its name was changed to Home United to reflect the fact that the team represented not only the Singapore Police Force, but also other HomeTeam departments of the Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs such as the Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority. Home United nickname was the "Protectors" and its mascot, a dragon.

In 1999, Dutch head coach Robert Alberts guided the club to secured their first ever piece of silverware guiding them to win the 1999 S.League title. Alberts also won the Singapore Cup back-to-back winning the 2000 and 2001 edition.

In 2003, English head coach Steve Darby guided Home United in becoming the first club to achieve the S.League and Singapore Cup double where he also steer the club to won the 2005 edition of the Singapore Cup. Under Korean manager tutelage, Lee Lim-saeng who is also the longest tenure as head coach in the club history, guided Home United to win both the 2011 Singapore Cup and the 2013 Singapore Cup in his four years at the club. In 2010, Home United hosted EFL Championship club Burnley as part of their pre-season trip to Singapore.

The club had qualified to the AFC Cup for the tenth time with their best result in the 2004 AFC Cup where they reached the semi-final losing to Syrian club, Al-Jaish 6–1 on aggregate. In the 2018 AFC Cup group stage, Home United was drawn with Philippines side Ceres–Negros, Cambodia side Boeung Ket Angkor and Myanmar side Shan United with a tally of four wins, one draw and one loss seeing the Protectors qualifying to the AFC Cup knockout stage as group winners. Home United would go on to face Indonesian club, Persija Jakarta winning the two legged tie in a 6–3 aggregate where they would advanced to the zonal finals facing Ceres–Negros and eventually won 3–1 on aggregate against the Philippines side. Home United then qualified to the inter-zone play-off semi-finals of the AFC Cup facing North Korea side, April 25 where during the second leg of the tie, Home United suffered their worst ever defeat in the club history losing 9–1 at the Kim Il Sung Stadium.

Lion City Sailors (2020–present)

On 14 February 2020, the club was privatised for the first time in its history. The club was officially renamed as Lion City Sailors and its signature red colour was replaced with white and blue. The new name, Sailors, was a homage to the country's maritime heritage. Lion City Sailors were led by Aurelio Vidmar, the former Socceroos captain, from 2020. He joined after a hugely successful stint with Adelaide United, reaching the 2008 AFC Champions League final. Vidmar made a couple of stud signings including Singaporean stars Hassan Sunny, Gabriel Quak and Shahdan Sulaiman, Japanese defender Kaishu Yamazaki, as well a prolific Australian striker, Andy Pengelly.

On 21 January 2021, the club created history by smashing the Singapore Premier League transfer record with the signing of midfielder Diego Lopes from Portuguese top-flight side Rio Ave for €1.8 million on a three-year deal.

Kim Do-hoon era

With the motivation to rejuvenate the glory days, On 18 May 2021 Kim Do-hoon who led Korea Republic's Ulsan Hyundai to victory in 2020 AFC Champions League joined the Sailors on a two-and-a-half-year deal. During his first season, Kim led the Sailors to win the 2021 Singapore Premier League and the 2022 Singapore Community Shield. They also went on to qualify for their first ever AFC Champions League tournament. On 18 April 2022, the Sailors defeated the K League 1 club Daegu FC 3–0 in the 2022 AFC Champions League, their first AFC Champions League win since rebranding. They bounced back from an opening 4–1 defeat by the J1 League club Urawa Red Diamonds, before picking up four points in a goalless draw and 3–2 win over the Chinese Super League's Shandong Taishan. Sailors maiden AFC Champions League campaign ended with narrow 2–1 to Daegu in the final group stage fixture. Their tally of seven points is the best showing by a Singaporean side at the AFC Champions League.

In the 2022 Singapore Premier League match against Tampines Rovers on 24 July 2022, as the Sailors was contesting in a draw nearing to the end of the match, around the 87th minute of the match, with the score levelled at 1–1, things became heated as Tampines forward Boris Kopitović confronted Sailors defender Nur Adam Abdullah near the sideline. Other players, as well as coaches and staff from both sides got involved in the tussle. Kim Do-hoon appeared to get involved in a heated argument with Tampines assistant Fahrudin Mustafić. Pedro Henrique went on to score a header in the injury time to secure the three points for the Sailors. The Football Association of Singapore handed a three-match ban with immediate effect, with Kim being fined $2,000 and Fahrudin $3,000, for their violent conduct. In addition, both Sailors and Tampines were fined $5,000. Less than 24 hours after Kim was handed a three-match suspension and fine for violent conduct, Lion City Sailors made the shocking announcement of a "mutual agreement" to part ways with the Korean coach.

On 12 August 2022, Luka Lalić was appointed as the interim coach till the end of the 2022 season. The following day, he guided Lion City Sailors to their biggest ever victory, 1–10 away against Young Lions.