Geylang

Formation

Formally founded by Colin Ng in 1973 during a dinner gathering with Arshad Khamis, Gulam Mohamed and Omar Ashiblie, Ng planned to build a successful club in Singapore. They were soon known as International Contract Specialists Football Club (ICS) and played their first friendly match against Rollel, a Singapore Business Houses Football League (SBHFL) Division One league club on 15 November 1973 with a 2–0 win.

They made their season debut in 1974, walking away with 2 titles – FAS Division Three League & President's Cup with no losses. They had several top players including Arshad Khamis, Dollah Kassim, Gulam Mohamed, Samad Allapitchay, Kamal Mohd Nor and Robert Sim.

Name change and early success

For the 1975 season, in line with the plans of the Football Association of Singapore to streamline the FAS League and have teams based on geographical identity for the new National Football League, ICS changed its name to Geylang Internationals, as their home ground was based at Geylang Field, Lorong 12. They were placed in Division One and won it that year, adding another title in 1976. Their back to back victories was made sweeter by winning the 1976 President's Cup.

Revival

A relegation in 1981 prompted the arrival of a new management committee that guided the club back to the top division in 1983. In 1984, club president Kasim Chik financed the club and businessman Patrick Ang, who joined in 1986, managed to secure sponsors for them. Despite being relegated that year, they returned to Division 1 of the National Football League the following season.

In 1988, the FAS started a semi-professional league competition called the FAS Premier League as the top tier of the Singapore football league structure. The club's name had remained unchanged until 1987.. Before the start of the FA Premier League, the "s" was dropped and the name became Geylang International.

Geylang International dominated all eight years of the FAS Premier League, winning six consecutive titles from 1988 to 1993 before finishing third in 1994 and second in 1995. Every game would see their home ground packed to the brim as fans clamoured to catch a game of the Eagles’ skilful players. Subsequently, due to the huge fan following which numbered in the thousands, all their games had to be played either in Jalan Besar Stadium or National Stadium.

The success behind winning the FAS Premier League was also aided by the players they had. Notably players such as Malek Awab, Razali Saad, Dollah Kassim, Samad Allapitchay and Robert Sim all contributed to the success of the team. These were players who would also go on to represent the country. It might not be known widely by many but they even managed to attract one of the biggest European stars of that era to turn up in their club's colours. French forward and legend, Michel Platini visited Singapore to attend a football clinic conducted by them and played half a game for the Eagles to highlight the club's attraction.

Joining the S. League

When the FAS formed the fully professional S. League in 1996, Geylang International changed their name to Geylang United Football Club. They were one of the eight teams in the inaugural season of the S.League in 1996. They won the first stage (the Tiger Beer Series) of the league season and finished fifth in the second stage (the Pioneer Series). They won the league after defeating SAFFC (the Pioneer Series champions) 2–1 in the Championship Play-off. They completed the season with another trophy, beating the same team on penalties, 4–2, in the Singapore FA Cup. As the team was full of international stars, led by 1998 Iranian World Cup head coach Jalal Talebi, players such as Fandi Ahmad, Kadir Yahaya, David Lee, Hamid Reza Estili, Mohammad Khakpour, and Chris Riley, Vincent Subramaniam (Head Coach for SAFFC) identified them as the Manchester United of Singapore. As league champions, they qualified for the 1997–98 Asian Club Championship but were eliminated after losing 8–2 on aggregate by Japanese side Kashima Antlers in the first round.

The 1997 season was a disappointing season for them. They failed to defend the S.League title, finishing fifth. The Eagles also failed to defend the FA Cup, after losing to SAFFC in the finals. They did not win any silverware till 2001, when they won their second league title by a close margin. Both forwards, Aleksandar Đurić and Brian Bothwell scored 57 goals for the team. It was the best performing S.League season for the team; scoring 84 goals and conceding 28 goals. Just days after winning the league title, they suffered their worst defeat in history; losing 8–0 to Home United in the Singapore Cup finals. As league champions, they were guaranteed a slot in the qualifying round of the 2002–03 AFC Champions League but were eliminated after losing to Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua 5–1 on aggregate in the second round.

AFC Cup debut

The 2002 season saw Geylang United finish third in both the S.League and Singapore Cup. They came close to winning their third S.League title and first Singapore Cup in 2003, only to finish runners-up to Home United for both competitions. As runners-up, they qualified to play in the AFC Cup 2004 due to Home United's double. Their debut in the AFC Cup 2004 was an impressive one. Despite losing their opening match, they managed to stay unbeaten for their next five games in the group stage. They went on to qualify for the quarter-finals, beating Malaysian club Perak FA before losing to Syrian side Al-Wahda in the semi-final.

Geylang United won their first Singapore Cup in 2009, beating Thailand side Bangkok Glass 1–0 at the Jalan Besar Stadium. The win ensured them a place in the 2010 AFC Cup where they were placed in Group H alongside Vietnam SHB Da Nang, Thailand club Port and Hong Kong side Tai Po. However, they failed to qualify for the knockout stages, finishing 3rd in the group stages with four draws and two losses.