Gombak United FC
Gombak United Football Club was a professional football club based in Bukit Gombak, Singapore that last competed in the top tier of the 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. 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.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.
Gombak United returns to the S.League in 2006 and moved their home games to Jurong West Stadium. They pulled out for the second time before the 2013 season due red flags in their financial projections.
In December 2015, the club officially wrote to the FAS for permission to return to the S.League in 2017.
In 2016, Gombak United was one of the three ex-S.League clubs being told to cease profit-generating operations and vacate stadium clubhouses. 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. The Bulls kickstarted their Centre of Excellence in 2016 with two youth teams, which are funded through profits from clubhouse operations. The clubhouse was moved from Gombak Stadium to Kitchener Road.
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. However, John Yap mentioned that he had not been approached by the FAS to prepare the club for a return. The party seeking to lead the club forward decided to put the plans on ice.
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 historySeasons
- 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.
Managers
- David O'Connor
- Moey Yoke Ham
- Ivan Raznevich
- Jimmy Pearson
- Salim Moin
- Swandi Ahmad
- A. Shasi Kumar
- Darren Stewart
- K. Balagumaran
Honours
Domestic
Singapore League Cup- * Winners : 2008
Records and statistics
Top 10 all-time scorers
Biggest Wins: 6–1 vs Super Reds Heaviest Defeats: 9–3 vs Home United Youngest Goal scorers: Fareez Farhan ~ 16 years 10 months 27 days old Oldest Goal scorers: Mustaqim Manzur ~ 30 years 9 months days old Youngest ever debutant: Fareez Farhan ~ '''16 years 8 months 13 days old'''Awards
Singapore Premier League
Young Player of the Year- * Gabriel Obatola Coach of the Year
- * Alan Wong
- * John Yap