The 1998 S.League was the third season of the S.League, the top professional football league in Singapore. Teams played each other once both home and away, in a 20-match season.
 | |
| Season | 1998 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Singapore Armed Forces 2nd S.League title |
| Asian Club Championship | Singapore Armed Forces |
| Matches played | 110 |
| Goals scored | 368 (3.35 per match) |
| Top goalscorer |  Stuart Young (22) |
| Biggest home win | Home United 9-3 Gombak United (18 July 1998) |
| Biggest away win | Gombak United 1-6 Home United (20 May 1998) |
| Highest scoring | Home United 9-3 Gombak United (18 July 1998) |
← 1997 1999 → | |
The 1998 S.League was won by Singapore Armed Forces, their second consecutive title.
Teams
editJurong left Bukit Gombak Stadium upon completion of their new home ground Jurong East Stadium. Home United also relocated, leaving Jalan Besar Stadium to move into Bishan Stadium. Two new teams entered into the competition – Gombak United (who took the place of Jurong playing at Bukit Gombak Stadium) and Marine Castle United who made Hougang Stadium their home – taking the number of participating teams to eleven. Tiong Bahru United were renamed Tanjong Pagar United for the 1998 season.
| Team | Stadium | Capacity | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balestier Central | Toa Payoh Stadium | 3,900 | Toa Payoh |
| Gombak United | Bukit Gombak Stadium | 3,000 | Bukit Batok |
| Geylang United | Bedok Stadium | 3,900 | Bedok |
| Jurong | Jurong East Stadium | 2,700 | Jurong East |
| Home United | Bishan Stadium | 4,000 | Bishan |
| Marine Castle United | Hougang Stadium | 3,000 | Hougang |
| Singapore Armed Forces | Jurong Stadium | 6,000 | Jurong |
| Sembawang Rangers | Yishun Stadium | 3,400 | Yishun |
| Tampines Rovers | Tampines Stadium | 3,600 | Tampines |
| Tanjong Pagar United | Queenstown Stadium | 3,800 | Queenstown |
| Woodlands Wellington | Woodlands Stadium | 4,300 | Woodlands |
Foreign players
editEach club is allowed to have up to a maximum of 5 foreign players.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balestier Central |  Darren Stewart
|
 Fabio Da Silva
|
 Marko Kraljević
|
Goran Paulić
|
None |
| Geylang International |  Jang Jung
|
Kevin Hunt
|
Max Nicholson
|
 Simamo Basile
|
Lewono Joseph
|
| Gombak United |  Chris Jackson
|
None | None | None | None |
| Home United | Sergio Cliveland
|
Craig John Gaunt
|
Egmar Gonçalves
|
 Zsolt Bucs
|
Stuart Young
|
| Jurong FC | Bojan Hodak
|
None | None | None | None |
| Marine Castle | Scott O'Donell
|
 Bernard Aryee
|
None | None | None |
| SAFFC | Mirko Grabovac
|
None | Vinko Marača
|
Jure Ereš
|
None |
| Sembawang Rangers |  Tawan Sripan
|
Joselito Da Silva
|
None |  Milomir Šešlija
|
None |
| Tampines Rovers |  Bogdan Brasoveanu
|
 Nathaniel Klay Naplah
|
Zlatko Vidan
|
Gheorghe Marian
|
None |
| Tanjong Pagar United | Vlado Bozinovski
|
 Majid Motlagh
|
 Jörg Steinebrunner
|
Dragan Talajić
|
 Nicodeme Boucher
|
| Woodlands | None | None | None | None | None |
League table
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Singapore Armed Forces | 20 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 46 | 17 | +29 | 46 | Qualification to Asian Club Championship first round |
| 2 | Tanjong Pagar United | 20 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 39 | 15 | +24 | 46 | |
| 3 | Geylang United | 20 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 32 | 18 | +14 | 38 | |
| 4 | Balestier Central | 20 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 47 | 43 | +4 | 31 | |
| 5 | Jurong FC | 20 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 32 | 33 | −1 | 31 | |
| 6 | Tampines Rovers | 20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 41 | 40 | +1 | 29 | |
| 7 | Home United | 20 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 42 | 28 | +14 | 28 | |
| 8 | Sembawang Rangers | 20 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 18 | 37 | −19 | 19 | |
| 9 | Woodlands Wellington | 20 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 27 | 41 | −14 | 18 | |
| 10 | Gombak United | 20 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 25 | 52 | −27 | 13 | |
| 11 | Marine Castle United | 20 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 19 | 44 | −25 | 9 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
Singapore Armed Forces qualified to compete in the 1999–2000 Asian Club Championship. This was their second appearance in continental competition. The club met with more success than in their first appearance, defeating Royal Dolphins of the Cambodian League 11–3 on aggregate in the East Asian first round. They were defeated in the second round by Sinthana of the Thai Premier League, going down 3–2 on aggregate.
Top scorers
edit| Rank | Name | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stuart Young |
Home United | 22 |
| 2 | Bogdan Brasoveanu |
Tampines Rovers | 20 |
| 3 | Goran Paulić |
Balestier Central | 19 |
| 4 | Egmar Goncalves |
Home United | 16 |