Balestier Central FC
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| Full name | Balestier Khalsa Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Tigers |
| Founded | 1898 |
| Ground | Toa Payoh Stadium |
| Capacity | 3,896 |
| Chairman | Thavaneson Selvaratnam |
| Head Coach | Marko Kraljević |
| League | S.League |
| 2016 | 8th |
| Website | Club home page |
Balestier Khalsa Football Club is a professional football club which plays in Singapore's S.League. The club's logo depicts a Tiger, the nickname of the club, on top of a pair of Kirpan. The logo is made up of key elements from the two clubs it was merged from. The Tiger is the mascot of the Balestier half of the merged entity while the kirpan is a religious dagger worn by members of the Sikh faith, who were a major backer of half of the merged entity through the Clementi club.
Tracing their origins all the way back to 1898, the club was formed as Fathul Karib and based in Farrer Park. One of the highlights over the following half century, before the side was renamed Balestier United Recreation Club in the 1970s, was providing nine players to the Singapore side which competed in the 1958 Asian Games, losing 2-1 to both continental heavyweights South Korea and Israel.
The club's name was changed to Balestier United Recreation Club in April 1975, when it joined the inaugural National Football League. The team captured the Singapore Cup in 1958 and 1992. The club played in the Singapore Premier League (the forerunner to the S.League) from 1988 to 1995. The club became the first club in Singapore to bring in foreign players when they signed two Yugoslavian players, Josko Spanjic and Boris Lucic, for the 1989 season.
In 1996, Balestier United Recreational Club became a founder member of the S.League and changed its name to Balestier Central FC.
Clementi Khalsa FC was formed as a club to represent Singapore's Sikh community and joined the S.League in 1999. Prior to the merger with Balestier Central, the club was based in the Clementi area of Singapore and played its home games at the Clementi Stadium.
The club is an amalgamation of Balestier Central Football Club and Clementi Khalsa Football Club who merged at the end of the 2002 S.League season. Due to its link with Clementi Khalsa, the club is very popular amongst Singapore’s Sikh community.
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