Gombak United FC
 | |||
| Full name | Gombak United Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Bulls | ||
| Founded | 1960 (as Redhill Rangers FC) 1998 (as Gombak United) | ||
| Ground | Bukit Gombak Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 3,000 | ||
| Chairman | John Yap | ||
| League | S.League | ||
| 2012 | S.League, 9th of 13 | ||
|
| |||
Gombak United Football Club was a professional football club based in Bukit Gombak, Singapore that last competed in the top tier of the Singapore football league system. The club took part in the S.League from 1998 to 2002, and from 2006 to 2012. During the early years of the S. League, Gombak United played their home games at Bukit Gombak Stadium. They have won the Singapore League Cup once.
History
Gombak United made their S-League debut in 1998 after securing a 10-year deal worth S$5 million with Shakey’s Pizza.[1] Prior to joining the S.League, the club was known as Redhill Rangers FC. The club than changed its name to Gombak United in 1998.[2]
From 1998 to 2002, the club played their S.League home games at the Bukit Gombak Stadium before pulling out of the S.League at the end of the 2002 season due to financial difficulties.[2][1]
Gombak United returns to the S.League in 2006 and moved their home games to Jurong West Stadium.[2] They pulled out for the second time before the 2013 season due red flags in their financial projections.[1]
In December 2015, the club officially wrote to the FAS for permission to return to the S.League in 2017.[3]
In 2016, Gombak United was one of the three ex-S.League clubs being told to cease profit-generating operations and vacate stadium clubhouses.[3] The revenue generated from the clubhouses is meant to help sustain football operations, and in that way contributes to the development of the sport in Singapore.[3] The Bulls kickstarted their Centre of Excellence (COE) in 2016 with two youth teams, which are funded through profits from clubhouse operations.[3] The clubhouse was moved from Gombak Stadium[3] to Kitchener Road.[4]
At the end of 2017, Chairman John Yap applied to the Football Association of Singapore to return to the Singapore Premier League, but the application was not successful.
There were speculations that the club may return to Singapore Premier League in 2020.[5] However, John Yap mentioned that he had not been approached by the FAS to prepare the club for a return.[6] The party seeking to lead the club forward decided to put the plans on ice.[6]
2008 Singapore League Cup winners
En route to the League cup final, Gombak United beat cup favourites [Lion City Sailors FC|Home United]] in the quarter-final and Young Lions in the semi-final. They faced Korean Super Reds in the final where O. J. Obatola scored a 90' min goal to secure the team’s first piece of silverware in their history
Seasons
| Season | S.League | Singapore Cup | Singapore League Cup | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |||
| 1998 | 10 | 20 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 25 | 52 | 13 | Group stage | |
| 1999 | 5 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 35 | 35 | 32 | Quarter-finals | |
| 2000 | 5 | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 33 | 26 | 37 | Quarter-finals | |
| 2001 | 10 | 33 | 8 | 4 | 21 | 36 | 72 | 28 | Group stage | |
| 2002 | 12 | 33 | 2 | 6 | 25 | 33 | 83 | 12 | Group stage | |
| 2003 | ||||||||||
| 2004 | ||||||||||
| 2005 | ||||||||||
| 2006 | 8 | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 48 | 54 | 32 | Round of 16 | |
| 2007 | 4 | 33 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 54 | 40 | 48 | Quarter-finals | 2nd Runners-up |
| 2008 | 5 | 33 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 47 | 39 | 54 | Round of 16 | Winners |
| 2009 | 3 | 30 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 52 | 32 | 53 | Round of 16 | Quarter-finals |
| 2010 | 6 | 33 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 33 | 25 | 46 | Round of 16 | Semi-finals |
| 2011 | 6 | 33 | 14 | 6 | 13 | 43 | 41 | 48 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals |
| 2012 | 9 | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 23 | 29 | 29 | 2nd Runners-up | Quarter-finals |
| 2013 | ||||||||||
| 2014 | ||||||||||
- 2003 saw the introduction of penalty shoot-outs if a match ended in a draw in regular time. Winners of penalty shoot-outs gained two points instead of one.
- Gombak United sat out the S.League from 2003 to 2005, and for a second spell from 2013.
Last updated on 25 February 2014
Managers
.svg.png)
David O'Connor (1999)
Moey Yoke Ham (Jan 2000 – Aug 2001)
Ivan Raznevich (Jan – Feb 2002)
Jimmy Pearson (May – Aug 2002)
Salim Moin (Jan 2006 – Dec 2007)- Swandi Ahmad (Jan – Jul 8, 2007)[7]
- A. Shasi Kumar (interim) (Jul – Jan 2009)
- Darren Stewart (Jan – Dec 11, 2009)
- K. Balagumaran (Jan – Dec 13, 2012)
Honours
Domestic
- Singapore League Cup
- Winners (1): 2008
Records and statistics
Top 10 all-time appearances
| Rank | Player | Years | Club appearances |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bah Mamadou
|
2001–2002
2008–2010 |
160 |
| 2 | Ruhaizad Ismail
|
2006–2011 | 158 |
| 3 | Jaslee Hatta
|
2006–2011 | 153 |
| 4 |  Obadin Aikhena
|
2006–2007
2010–2012 |
125 |
| 5 | O. J. Obatola
|
2006–2009 | 117 |
| 6 | Jeremy Chiang
|
2008–2012 | 102 |
| 7 | Agu Casmir
|
2007
2008–2010 |
83 |
| 8 | Zaiful Nizam
|
2006–2012 | 81 |
| 9 | Ridhwan Jamaludin
|
2008–2012 | 89 |
| 10 | Hamqaamal Shah
|
2009–2012 | 78 |
Top 10 all-time scorers
| Rank | Player | Club appearances | Total goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | O. J. Obatola
|
117 | 62 |
| 2 | Agu Casmir
|
83 | 34 |
| 3 | Fazrul Nawaz
|
46 | 25 |
| 4 |  Jang Jo-yoon
|
60 | 16 |
| 5 | Ruhaizad Ismail
|
158 | 13 |
| 6 | Alfred Emuejeraye
|
18 | 11 |
| 7 | Obadin Aikhena
|
125 | 10 |
| Jung Hee-bong
|
47 | ||
| 9 | Kingsley Njoku
|
27 | 8 |
| 10 |  Julien Durand
|
29 | 7 |
- Biggest Wins: 6–1 vs Super Reds (On 6 June 2007)
- Heaviest Defeats: 9–3 vs Home United (On 18 July 1998)
- Youngest Goal scorers: Fareez Farhan ~ 16 years 10 months 27 days old (On 25 June 2011 vs SAFFC)
- Oldest Goal scorers: Mustaqim Manzur ~ 30 years 9 months days old (On 28 October 2012 vs Loyola)
- Youngest ever debutant: Fareez Farhan ~ 16 years 8 months 13 days old (On 11 April 2011 vs Albirex Niigata Singapore)
Awards
Singapore Premier League
- Young Player of the Year
- Gabriel Obatola (2010)
- Coach of the Year
- Alan Wong (1998)
- John Yap (2000)
Others
- People's Choice Award
- Gabriel Obatola (2009)
References
- ^ a b c Ian De Cotta (8 Nov 2012). "Gombak's precautionary exit". todayonline.com. Retrieved 11 Sep 2025.
- ^ a b c Chan, Emil (9 Dec 2023). "7 football clubs in Singapore that faded into history". CNA. Retrieved 11 Sep 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Shamir Osman (23 May 2016). "Three ex-S.League clubs told to vacate stadium clubhouses". The New Paper. Retrieved 11 Sep 2025.
- ^ Wang, Meng Meng (20 Jul 2017). "Football: Fraternity welcome tighter regulations for clubhouse jackpot operations". The Straits Times. Retrieved 11 Sep 2025.
- ^ Sazali Abdul Aziz (23 Dec 2019). "Football: Gombak United primed for SPL return after 7 years, but long-time chairman John Yap in the dark". The Straits Times. Retrieved 11 Sep 2025.
- ^ a b Sazali Abdul Aziz (11 Jan 2020). "Football: Sit-out club Tanjong Pagar United targeting return to Singapore Premier League". The Straits Times. Retrieved 11 Sep 2025.
- ^ "Singapore: Swandi Ahmad Dismissed By Gombak – Goal.com". goal.com. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
External links
- S.League profile on Gombak United FC Archived 2008-02-18 at the Wayback Machine