Marching On in Singapore
by Herman Phua
THE national flag of Singapore sports just two colours. But it is the affinity that most of the country's English football fans have had towards the brighter of these colours that has made Leeds United fans in the little island state see Red for many years.
And if members of the newly-formed Leeds United Supporters Club Singapore Branch have it their way, this unhealthy preoccupation with the three red teams of Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal will not be dominating the football spotlight much longer.
The branch, or LUSCSB, had its beginnings in April 2001 when a few long-time Leeds fans got together and decided it was finally time to proudly fly the Whites' flag in Singapore.
Many of them, led by branch chairman Gregory Phua, had already been meeting at a local pub over the past year, to cheer the team whenever Leeds United matches were telecast 'live' to Singapore. But due to the huge time difference with the UK, Greg says there were days when the Sunday game was so late that it was down to only him sitting there in the team colours, yelling his head off.
Thankfully, that's unlikely to happen again.
Over the past two weeks, the LUSCSB has gone on a recruitment drive to seek out Leeds fans in Singapore. The branch launched the membership campaign with a bang on the first day of the Premiership season.
Invitations were extended to the club's fans -- from an e-mail list that was painstakingly built up over the past year -- to don their colours for the first-ever meeting of the LUSCSB. An article titled 'Singapore Whites to Kick Of' in the official LUFC.com website also gave the branch the club's stamp of approval and helped attract fans to the launch.
The meet, held at the Lot, Stock & Barrel pub on August 18, proved to be a resounding success with a better-than-expected turnout. After all, it was a long-awaited opportunity for many fans to finally acquaint themselves with other Leeds supporters.
And while most of those at the pub have been hooked on Leeds since the golden days of Don Revie's team, it was heartening to see younger supporters like 11-year old Krystle Lim and 16-year old James Mortimer turning up to support the club.
Despite the distance, many of the Singapore fans proved to be as die-hard as those in the home city. Long-time Leeds fans like executive committee member, Chang Tou Yuen and branch treasurer, Dennis Lim even have wardrobes of the team's kits from as far back as the 1970s.
Encouraged by the warm response to the branch's first official meeting, the executive committee continued the LUSCSB membership drive with a match meet when the team played at Upton Park last Saturday. That gave a chance to many Leeds fans who had missed the branch's launch, to meet the executive committee and sign up.
LUSCSB's executive committee is now keen to build on the branch's strong start. Besides regular pub meets, there are plans for other social activities, a football team to participate in friendly matches, trips to Elland Road and a local website service.
So for those Leeds fans who have yet to touch base with the LUSCSB, now is the time to pull on your White shirt and put a stop to the Red fever that has engulfed the football scene in Singapore for far too long.
This article first appeared in the Official Leeds United Football Club website on 31st August 2001.
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