2015 S.League
# 2015 S.League

The 2015 S.League was the 20th season since the establishment of the S.League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association football clubs. The league was also known as the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League due to sponsorship reasons. Warriors FC were the defending champions.

## Changes from 2014

The league underwent a number of changes in its 20th season in order to increase its competitiveness:

* The number of clubs was reduced from 12 to 10, with the withdrawal of Tanjong Pagar United due to financial problems, and the merger of Woodlands Wellington and Hougang United.
* The league returned to a three-round format used from 2001 to 2011.
* The foreign player quota remained at five per club but incentives were given to those who signed an under-21 player.
* The passing time for the mandatory 2.4 km fitness test was lowered from 10 mins to 9 mins 45 s.

A new rule on age restrictions – a maximum of five players aged 30 and above and a minimum of three under-25 players for clubs with a 22-man squad, a maximum of four players aged 30 and above and a minimum of two under-25 players for clubs with a 20-man squad – was later reversed.

## Teams

A total of 10 teams contested the league. Tanjong Pagar United withdrew from the league due to financial problems, while Woodlands Wellington merged into Hougang United. Albirex Niigata (S), DPMM FC and Harimau Muda are invited foreign clubs from Japan, Brunei and Malaysia respectively.

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
| - | - | - |
| Albirex Niigata (S) | Jurong East Stadium | 2,700 |
| Balestier Khalsa | Toa Payoh Stadium | 3,900 |
| DPMM FC | Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium | 30,000 |
| Geylang International | Bedok Stadium | 3,900 |
| Harimau Muda B | Hang Jebat Stadium | 40,000 |
| Home United | Yishun Stadium | 3,400 |
| Hougang United | Hougang Stadium | 3,000 |
| Tampines Rovers | Jurong West Stadium | 4,200 |
| Warriors FC | Woodlands Stadium | 4,300 |
| Young Lions | Jalan Besar Stadium | 8,000 |

### Personnel and sponsoring

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

| Team | Head coach | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| - | - | - | - |
| Albirex (S) | Tatsuyuki Okuyama | Mafro Sports | Canon |
| Balestier Khalsa | Marko Kraljević | Umbro | Civic |
| DPMM FC | Steve Kean | Lotto | |
| Geylang International | Jorg Steinebrunner | Dreamatron | |
| Harimau Muda B | Razip Ismail | Nike | |
| Home United | Philippe Aw | Puma | AVEC |
| Hougang United | K. Balagumaran | Vonda | ESW |
| Tampines Rovers | V. Sundramoorthy | Mikasa | Hyundai |
| Warriors FC | Razif Onn | Joma | Warriors |
| Young Lions | Jürgen Raab | Nike | Courts |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Replaced by | Date |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Tampines Rovers | Rafi Ali | End of caretaker role | V. Sundramoorthy | 9 December 2014 |
| Home United | Lee Lim-saeng | Resigned | Philippe Aw | 15 December 2014 |
| Hougang United | Amin Nasir | Compassionate Leave | Salim Moin | 31 January 2015 |
| Young Lions | Aide Iskandar | Resigned | Jürgen Raab | 11 June 2015 |
| Warriors FC | Alex Weaver | Mutual consent | Razif Onn | 26 October 2015 |
| Hougang United | Salim Moin | Contract ended | K Balagumaran | 5 November 2015 |

### Foreigners

Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 (Prime League) | Former |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Balestier Khalsa | Emir Lotinac | Miroslav Kristic | Igor Cerina | Tarik Cmajcanin | Robert Peričić | - | - |
| DPMM FC | Brian McLean | Joe Gamble | Rafael Ramazotti | Paulo Sergio | Boris Raspudic | - | Craig Fagan |
| Young Lions | Sherif El-Masri | Jordan Webb | - | - | - | - | - |
| Geylang International | Yuki Ichikawa | Kento Fukuda | Tatsuro Inui | Bruno Castanheira | Jozef Kapláň | Nathan Brown | - |
| Home United | Song Ui-young | Sirina Camara | Ken Ilsø | Kamel Ramdani | Ambroise Begue | - | - |
| Hougang United | Kunihiro Yamashita | Atsushi Shimono | Carlos Alberto Delgado | Diego Gama de Oliveira | Vuk Sotirović | Yuki Uchiyama | Takahashi Manato Renshi Yamaguchi Shunsuke Nakatake Francisco Salvador Elá |
| Tampines Rovers | Mateo Roskam | Robert Alviž | Rodrigo Tosi | Predrag Počuča | Rodrigo Pacheco | Naeem Rahimi | Eddy Viator Fabrice Noel Srećko Mitrović |
| Warriors FC | Thomas Beattie | Marin Vidošević | Miroslav Pejić | Nicholas Velez | Kevin McCann | Karlo Ivancic | - |

* Albirex Niigata (S) and Harimau Muda B are an all-Japanese and all-Malaysian team respectively and do not hire any foreigners.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | DPMM FC | 27 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 48 | 26 | +22 | 52 | |
| 2 | Tampines Rovers | 27 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 42 | 25 | +17 | 48 | Qualification to AFC Champions League Qualifying Round 1 or AFC Cup Group Stage |
| 3 | Albirex Niigata (S) | 27 | 13 | 6 | 8 | 27 | 17 | +10 | 45 | |
| 4 | Balestier Khalsa | 27 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 39 | 35 | +4 | 44 | Qualification to AFC Cup Group Stage |
| 5 | Warriors FC | 27 | 11 | 4 | 12 | 40 | 51 | −11 | 37 | |
| 6 | Home United | 27 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 38 | 34 | +4 | 36 | |
| 7 | Harimau Muda B | 27 | 9 | 6 | 12 | 29 | 40 | −11 | 33 | |
| 8 | Geylang International | 27 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 36 | 44 | −8 | 28 | |
| 9 | Young Lions | 27 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 30 | 43 | −13 | 27 | |
| 10 | Hougang United | 27 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 28 | 42 | −14 | 21 | |

* 1 2 3 4 The three foreign clubs – Albirex Niigata (S), DPMM FC and Harimau Muda – as well as the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) under-23 team, Young Lions, are not eligible for any AFC competition spots.

## Statistics

### Top scorers

    As of match played 21 November 2015

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Rafael Ramazotti | DPMM FC | 21 |
| 2 | Fazrul Nawaz | Warriors FC | 18 |
| 3 | Miroslav Kristic | Balestier Khalsa | 16 |
| 4 | Rodrigo Tosi | Tampines Rovers | 14 |
| 5 | Mateo Roskam | Warriors FC | 13 |
| 6 | Jozef Kapláň | Geylang International | 12 |
| 6 | Paulo Sérgio | DPMM FC | 12 |
| 6 | Bruno Castanheira | Geylang International | 12 |
| 9 | Ken Ilsø | Home United | 11 |
| 10 | Robert Peričić | Balestier Khalsa | 9 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Rafael Ramazotti | DPMM FC | Harimau Muda B | 3-1 | 1 March 2015 |
| Rodrigo Tosi | Tampines Rovers | Harimau Muda B | 5-1 | 15 September 2015 |
| Bruno Castanheira | Geylang International | Young Lions | 3-2 | 4 October 2015 |
| Ken Ilsø | Home United | DPMM FC | 4-4 | 17 October 2015 |

## S-League Awards Night Winners

| Awards | Winners | Club |
| - | - | - |
| Player of the Year | Fumiya Kogure | Albirex Niigata (S) |
| Young Player of the Year | Azwan Ali | DPMM FC |
| Coach of the Year | Steve Kean | DPMM FC |
| Top Scorer Award | Rafael Ramazotti | DPMM FC |
| Fair Play Award | Geylang International |
| Referee of the Year | Jansen Foo |
