 | |||
| Full name | Hougang United Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Cheetahs | ||
| Short name | HGFC | ||
| Founded | 1998; 27 years ago (1998) asMarine Castle United 2011; 14 years ago (2011) asHougang United | ||
| Ground | Hougang Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 3,800 | ||
| Chairman | Bill Ng | ||
| Head coach | Pannarai Pansiri | ||
| League | Singapore Premier League | ||
| 2024–25 | Singapore Premier League, 7th of 9 | ||
| Website | www | ||
 Current season | |||
Hougang United Football Club is a professionalfootball club based inHougang,Singapore. The club competes in theSingapore Premier League, the top tier ofSingaporean football. Founded in 1998 as Marine Castle United, the club changed its name to Hougang United in 2011. Nicknamed the Cheetahs,Hougang United has played its home games atHougang Stadium since its formation.
Currently, the club is playing its home games at theJalan Besar Stadium, as theHougang Stadium is undergoing renovation.
The club was founded asMarine Castle United Football Club, which was formed byNewcastle United fans in the Marine Parade area in 1998. Upon successful entry into the S.League in 1998, the club struggled in its early foray in the first few years, finishing in the bottom two for the next four seasons. The club's chairman was Dilwant Singh who became the club manager and head coach of the prime league team throughout his time at the club. Marine Castle then changed its name toSengkang Marine Football Club in 2002 and the Dilwant was succeeded by David Rowe in which Dilwant became the assistant head coach. Sengkang Marine then went on to finish in 8th position consecutively, its highest-ever finish in its short history.
Financial difficulties then forced Sengkang Marine out of the S.League in 2004, andPaya Lebar-Punggol Football Club took its place in 2005, finishing the season as a wooden spoonist. The two clubs then merged their resources from 2006 to 2010 to formSengkang Punggol Football Club, finishing no higher than 10th.
On 1 January 2011, the chairman of Sengkang Punggol Football Club, Mr. Bill Ng, announced the changes that began the rewriting of another chapter of the football club. With improved financial status and a change in name to the presentHougang United Football Club, there has been renewed optimism among the Hougang fan base around the club's home stadium since its inception,Hougang Stadium.[1] The club also had its fair share ofmarquee players in the earlier days such asMichael Currie, who formerly played forQueens Park Rangers). Conversely,Grant Holt began his early career at the club, before going on to play for upper-division clubs in England, such asNottingham Forest andNorwich City in theEnglish Premier League.
In November 2014, it was announced that Hougang United andWoodlands Wellington will merge for the 2015 season.[2]
Hougang United made theirAFC Cup debut in the2020 AFC Cup but due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the tournament got cancelled thus only winning one match against Laos side,Lao Toyota 1–3 at theNew Laos National Stadium inVientiane. The Cheetahs also qualified for the2022 AFC Cup group stage where they play all their match in a centralised venue at theThống Nhất Stadium in Vietnam which saw Hougang United finishing 2nd out of 4th place winning 4–3 against Cambodian side,Phnom Penh Crown and defeating Laos side,Young Elephants 1–3 before suffering a heavy defeat to Vietnamese club,Viettel 5–2.
On 19 November 2022, under the lead of caretaker managerFirdaus Kassim, Hougang United defeated defending champions,Tampines Rovers 3–2 in the2022 Singapore Cup final in whichKristijan Krajček scored a hat-trick to secure The Cheetahs their first-ever silverware.[3]
The club also finished 5th in theSingapore Premier League in the same season which meant they failed to qualify for any continental competitions but due to their Singapore Cup win, they snatched anAFC Cup spot from fellowSingapore Premier League club,Geylang International.[4] Hougang United started off their2023–24 AFC Cup campaign with a trip toKota Kinabalu facingSabah on 21 September 2023 where they played their first fixtures in a heavy downpour which they suffered a 3–1 away loss however in the next match againstHaiphong at theJalan Besar Stadium, Hougang United bounced back from 1–0 down asĐorđe Maksimović scored a brace in the last 10 minute in the game to settled for a 2–1 victory as the Cheetahs collected the 3 points. Hougang United went on to have a great run in the2023 Singapore Cup where they reached the final but were unable to retain their cup.
| Period | Kit manufacturer |
|---|---|
| 2011 |  Mitre |
| 2012 |  Acono |
| 2013 |  Waga |
| 2014 |  Macron |
| 2015–2018 | Vonda |
| 2019–2022 | Warrix |
| 2023 | Ari |
| 2024–present |  Kelme |
| 2025–present | Volt |
| Season | Main Sponsors |
|---|---|
| 2015–2016 | ESW Manage |
| 2017–2020 | ESW Manage |
| 2020–2021 | Northstar Group |
| 2022–2024 | The Physio Circle[5] |
| 2025-2026 | SuperCharge |
On 22 November 2014, Hougang United announced a partnership with Global Football Academy for the2015 S.League season.[6] On 16 November 2021, Hougang United announced the signing of the main sponsorship with The Physio Circle for 3 years starting from 2022 to 2024.
On 19 October 2022, Hougang United announced the signing of sponsorship with Advance Capital Partners Pte Ltd for its women's team competing in the FAS Women's Premier League.
The Hougang United Scholarship was launched in May 2015. The scholarship aims to support and facilitate the academic development of young non-professional footballing talents.[7]
The Cheetah's home ground is based at theHougang Stadium. The stadium has a capacity of 3,800 people. They were the tenant at the stadium from 1998 until 2023 before moving out to theJalan Besar Stadium temporarily for the season due to renovation works. The club was once the sole club to play in a stadium in the north-eastern part of Singapore but since the implementation of VAR for the2023 Singapore Premier League season, the club has been forced to move to the Jalan Besar Stadium as their new home stadium for the time being.[8]
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The club uniquely has an enthusiastic supporters' club known as the Hougang HOOLS (Hougang Only One Love), which was established in 2010.[9]
There is also a fan website representing the Hougang support as a whole:https://www.hougangunitedfans.com/ The site features a blog, forum, players roster and a list of content creators who also bleed Hougang.
The hashtag #1H1H (Satu Hati Satu Hougang) or (One Heart One Hougang) was made popular by the supporters and had been featured on the 2023 Jersey.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| General manager | Preecha Prachanun |
| Team manager | Prat Malarat |
| Head coach | Pannarai Pansiri |
| Sports Trainer | Thomas Pang |
| Physiotherapist | Muhammad Alif Bin Jamal |
| Equipment Officer | Wan Azlan |
| U-17 coach | Hamid Reza Raeiskarimi |
| U-15 coach | Mohamad Hairil Bin Amin |
| U-13 coach | Walid Lounis |
| Name | Period | Silverware |
|---|---|---|
| As Marine Castle United | ||
 Alan Vest | (1 January–30 July 2001) | |
| As Sengkang Marine | ||
| Trevor Morgan | (1 August 2001 – 30 July 2003) | |
| Abdullah Noor | (1 August–31 December 2003) | |
| As Paya Lebar Punggol | ||
 Chow Kwai Lam | (1 January–4 June 2005) | |
 Qi Yubo | (12 June–31 December 2005) | |
| As Sengkang Punggol | ||
| Trevor Morgan | (10 January 2006 – 19 September 2007) | |
 Saswadimata Dasuki | (20 September 2007 – 21 July 2008) | |
 Mirko Grabovac(caretaker) | (29 July–5 October 2008) | |
| Swandi Ahmad(interim) | (6 October–31 December 2008) | |
 Jörg Steinebrunner | (1 January–24 June 2009) | |
| As Hougang United | ||
| Aide Iskandar(interim) | (25 June–31 December 2009) | |
| Aide Iskandar | (1 January 2010 – 31 December 2011) | |
| Nenad Bacina | (1 December 2011 – 30 November 2012) | |
| Johana Johari(interim) | (30 November–31 December 2012) | |
| Alex Weaver | (1 January–31 March 2013) | |
| Johana Johari(interim) | (April 2013–August 2013) | |
| Amin Nasir | (21 August 2013 – 31 December 2014) | |
| Salim Moin | (1 January–30 October 2015) | |
| K. Balagumaran | (1 November 2015 – 30 November 2016) | |
| Philippe Aw | (January 2017–June 2018) | |
| Clement Teo | (June 2017–20 November 2022) | |
| Firdaus Kassim | (20 November 2022–17 April 2023) | 2022 Singapore Cup |
| Marko Kraljević | (17 April 2023–24 December 2024) | 2023 Singapore Cup runner-ups |
 Robert Eziakor(interim) | 24 December 2024–27 October 2025 | |
| Pannarai Pansiri | 27 October 2025–present | |
| Season | Name Changed | League | Pos. | P | W | D | L | GS | GA | Pts | Singapore Cup | League Cup | AFC Champions League | FIFA Club World Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Marine Castle United | S.League | 11th | 20 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 19 | 44 | 9 | Group stage | Not qualified | ||
| 1999 | 12th | 22 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 21 | 56 | 12 | Round of 16 | |||||
| 2000 | 11th | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 45 | 16 | Round of 16 | |||||
| 2001 | 11th | 33 | 7 | 6 | 20 | 35 | 71 | 27 | Group stage | |||||
| 2002 | Sengkang Marine | 8th | 33 | 11 | 6 | 16 | 62 | 84 | 39 | Semi-finals | ||||
| 2003 | 8th | 33 | 7 | 8–1 | 17 | 32 | 66 | 38 | Group stage | |||||
| 2004 | ||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Paya Lebar Punggol | S.League | 10th | 27 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 23 | 78 | 4 | Preliminary | Not qualified | Not qualified | |
| 2006 | Sengkang Punggol | 11th | 30 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 32 | 72 | 18 | Quarter-finals | ||||
| 2007 | 11th | 33 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 39 | 69 | 25 | Quarter-finals | Runners-up | ||||
| 2008 | 11th | 33 | 3 | 10 | 20 | 13 | 54 | 19 | Round of 16 | Preliminary | ||||
| 2009 | 10th | 30 | 5 | 6 | 19 | 26 | 58 | 21 | Round of 16 | Group stage | ||||
| 2010 | 11th | 33 | 7 | 6 | 20 | 24 | 48 | 27 | Round of 16 | Semi-finals | ||||
| 2011 | Hougang United | 7th | 33 | 15 | 3 | 15 | 55 | 63 | 43* | Semi-finals | Runners-up | |||
| 2012 | 8th | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 31 | 33 | 29 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | ||||
| 2013 | 10th | 27 | 9 | 3 | 15 | 37 | 40 | 30 | Quarter-finals | Group stage | ||||
| 2014 | 7th | 27 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 49 | 42 | 42 | Preliminary | Semi-finals | ||||
| 2015 | 10th | 27 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 21 | Preliminary | Semi-finals | ||||
| 2016 | 6th | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 35 | 39 | 32 | Preliminary | Group stage | ||||
| 2017 | 6th | 24 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 24 | 31 | 30 | Semi-finals | Group stage | ||||
| 2018 | Singapore Premier League | 9th | 24 | 2 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 44 | 12 | Quarter finals | ||||
| 2019 | 3rd | 24 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 58 | 45 | 43 | Group stage | |||||
| 2020 | 6th | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 24 | 15 | ||||||
| 2021 | 3rd | 21 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 48 | 40 | 34 | ||||||
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | AFC Cup | Group F |  Lao Toyota | Cancelled | 3–1 | 3rd out of 4 |
 Hồ Chí Minh City | 2–3 | Cancelled | ||||
 Yangon United | Cancelled | 0–1 | ||||
| 2022 | Group I |  Phnom Penh Crown | 4–3 | 2nd out of 4 | ||
| Young Elephants | 3–1 | |||||
| Viettel | 2–5 | |||||
| 2023–24 | Group H | Sabah | 1–4 | 1–3 | 4th out of 4 | |
| Hải Phòng | 2–1 | 0–4 | ||||
 PSM Makassar | 1–3 | 1–3 |
Cup
Stipe Plazibat (2020)Clement Teo (2021)Nazrul Nazari (2019)Faris Ramli (2019)Kaishu Yamazaki (2021)Tomoyuki Doi (2021)As of 3 May 2025.
| Rank | Player | Years | Club appearances |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nazrul Nazari | 2016–present | 208 |
| 2 | Lau Meng Meng | 2009–2015 | 174 |
| 3 | Nurhilmi Jasni | 2012–2018 | 165 |
| 4 | Faizal Amir | 2010–2016 | 146 |
| 5 | Fadhil Salim | 2010–2014 | 142 |
| 6 | Azhar Sairudin | 2011–2014, 2017 | 138 |
| 7 | Fairoz Hasan | 2013–2017, 2023 | 137 |
| 8 | Sobrie Mazelan | 2008–2014 | 135 |
| 9 | Fazli Jaffar | 2011–2014, 2015 | 130 |
| 10 |  Mamadou Diallo | 2008–2013 | 126 |
| Rank | Player | Club appearances | Total goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stipe Plazibat | 57 | 34 |
 Jordan Webb | 88 | ||
| 3 | Mamadou Diallo | 126 | 28 |
| 4 | Dejan Račić | 28 | 23 |
 Pedro Bortoluzo | 30 | ||
| Geison Moura | 32 | ||
| 6 | Diego Gama | 63 | 22 |
| 7 | Kristijan Krajček | 56 | 21 |
| Shawal Anuar | 68 | ||
| 10 | Tomoyuki Doi | 21 | 19 |
| Nurhilmi Jasni | 165 |
Scott O'DonellGrant HoltMichael CurrieJason WhiteJordan WebbMamadou DialloTomoyuki DoiPedro BortoluzoAndré MoritzKristijan Krajček
