2020 Hougang United FC season explained

Club:	Hougang United
Season:	2020
Mgrtitle:	Head coach
Stadium:	Hougang Stadium
League:	S.League
Cup1:	Singapore Cup
Cup2:	League Cup
Prevseason:	2019
Nextseason:	2021
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The 2020 season is Hougang United's 23rd consecutive season in the top flight of Singapore football and in the S.League. Along with the S.League, the club will also compete in the Singapore Cup. They will also compete in the 2020 AFC Cup, a first in their history.^[1]

Squad

S.League Squad

No.	Name	Nationality	Date of Birth (Age)	Previous Club	Contract Since	Contract End
Goalkeepers
13	Ridhuan Barudin ^>30		23 March 1987	Tampines Rovers	2015	2020
18	Khairulhin Khalid		18 July 1991	LionsXII	2016	2020
31	Daniel Ong ^>30		1989 8, df=yes		2020	2020
Defenders
2	Anders Aplin		21 June 1991	Geylang International	2020	2020
3	Maksat Dzhakybaliev ^U21		2000 2, df=yes		2020	2020
5	Lionel Tan ^U23		1997 6, df=yes	SAFSA	2020
8			1990 11, df=yes	Tampines Rovers	2019	2020
11	Nazrul Nazari		1991 2, df=yes	LionsXII	2016	2021
14	Alif Iskandar ^U23		16 January 1999	NFA U18	2019	2020
17	Faiz Salleh		17 July 1992	Young Lions FC	2014	2020
19	Zac Anderson		1991 4, df=yes	Perak FA	2020	2020
20			1995 2, df=yes	Young Lions FC	2018	2021
28	Afiq Yunos		1990 12, df=yes	Trat F.C.	2019
35	Emmeric Ong		1991 1, df=yes	Warriors FC	2020
Midfielders
4	Afiq Noor		1993 12, df=yes	Tiong Bahru FC (NFL)	2019	2020
6	Anumanthan Kumar		1994 7, df=yes	Home United	2019	2020
12	Fabian Kwok ^>30		17 March 1989	Tampines Rovers	2017	2020
16	Justin Hui ^U23		1998 2, df=yes	Youth Team	2017	2020
21	Nikesh Singh Sidhu ^U23		1999 2, df=yes	Home United U19	2019	2020
22			1996 1, df=yes	Balestier Khalsa	2019	2020
24	Farhan Zulkifli ^U23		2002 11, df=yes	Home United U19	2019	2020
25	Charlie Machell		1994 10, df=yes	Svay Rieng FC	2020	2020
Strikers
7	Shahfiq Ghani		17 March 1992	Geylang International	2018	2021
10	Shawal Anuar		29 April 1991		2020	2021
23	Sahil Suhaimi		1992 7, df=yes		2020	2020
26	Daniel Martens ^U23		25 February 1999	Albirex Niigata (S)	2020	2020
32	Naufal Azman ^U23		1998 7, df=yes	Young Lions FC	2020	2020
Players who left during the season
1	Heng How Meng ^U23		14 May 1998	Tiong Bahru FC (NFL)	2019
9	Stipe Plazibat		1989 8, df=yes	NK Solin	2019	2020
15	Jordan Nicolas Vestering ^U23		25 September 2000	NFA U18	2018	2020

Tiong Bahru FC

(Chairman, Bill Ng is also the chairman for the club)

No.	Name	Nationality	Date of Birth (Age)	Previous Club	Contract Since	Contract End
Goalkeepers
Defenders
3	Syaqir Sulaiman		1986 8, df=yes		2018	2020
5			1985 2, df=yes		2017	2020
8	Zulfadli Zainal Abidin		1988 4, df=yes		2019	2020
10	Ang Zhiwei		1989 8, df=yes		2018	2020
14			1992 7, df=yes		2016	2020
26			1995 12, df=yes		2020	2020
Midfielders
12	Jonathan Tan		1995 12, df=yes		2020	2020
24	Nurhilmi Jasni		1986 12, df=yes		2019	2020
	Ryan Syaffiq		1995 3, df=yes		2019	2020
Forwards
7			1987 5, df=yes		2018	2020
9	Goh Swee Swee		1986 6, df=yes	Eunos Crescent	2018
13	Hazim Faiz		1995 9, df=yes		2017
16	Cameron Ayrton Bell		1994 4, df=yes		2019	2020

Coaching staff

Position	Name	Ref.
Head coach	Clement Teo
Assistant coach	Salim Moin
Assistant coach	Firdaus Kassim
Head of Youth (COE)	Firdaus Kassim
U17 Coach	Han Yiguang
U15 Coach	Winston Yap
Fitness coach	Syaqir Sulaiman
Goalkeeping coach	Lim Queen Cher
General Manager	Matthew Tay
Team Manager	Clement Teo
Sports Trainer	Thomas Pang
Sports Trainer	Ryan Wang
Kitman	Wan Azlan

Transfers

Pre-season transfers

In

Position	Player	Transferred From	Ref
		Sivasspor u-21	Season loan ^[2]
		Free Agent	1 year contract signed in 2020 ^[3]
		Geylang International	1 year contract signed in 2019 ^[4]
			Loan Return
		Young Lions FC	Loan Return
		Svay Rieng FC	1 year contract signed in 2019 ^[5]
			Loan Return
			Loan return ^[6]
		Warriors FC	1 year contract signed in 2019 ^[7]
		Geylang International	2 years contract signed in 2019 ^[8] ^[9]

Note 1: Syukri Bashir returned to the team after the loan and move to Tanjong Pagar United.

Note 2: Amer Hakeem was released after returning from loan.

Out

Position	Player	Transferred To	Ref
		Balestier Khalsa
		Young Lions FC
		Young Lions FC
		Trat F.C.	Season loan
		Geylang International
		Balestier Khalsa
		Suphanburi F.C.	Season loan ^[10] ^[11]
		Terengganu F.C. I	^[12]
		Geylang International
		Warriors FC
			Free

Note 1: Amer Hakeem was released after returning from loan. He moved to Geylang International in the mid-season transfer window.

Retained / Extension

Position	Player	Ref
		^[13]
		1 Year contract signed in 2019 ^[14]
		1 Year contract signed in 2019 ^[15]
		2 years contract signed in 2019 ^[16]
		2 years contract signed in 2019 ^[17]
		1 Year contract signed in 2019 ^[18]
		1 Year contract signed in 2019 ^[19]
		1 Year contract signed in 2019 ^[20]
		1 Year contract signed in 2019 ^[21]
		1 Year contract signed in 2019 ^[22]
		1 Year contract signed in 2019 ^[23]
		1 Year contract signed in 2019 ^[24]
		1 Year contract signed in 2019 ^[25]
		1 Year contract signed in 2019 ^[26]
		1 Year contract signed in 2019 ^[27]
		2 years contract signed in 2019 ^[28]
		1 Year contract signed in 2019 ^[29]

Trial

Mid-season transfer

In

Position	Player	Transferred From	Ref
		Tiong Bahru FC	^[31]
		Trat F.C.	Loan Return ^[32]
		SAFSA	NS Completed ^[33]
		Warriors FC	^[34]
		Young Lions FC	^[35]

Note 1: Afiq Yunos returned to the team after the loan and move from Trat FC was cancelled due to Covid 19.

Out

Position	Player	Transferred To	Ref
		SAFSA	NS till 2022 ^[36]
		SAFSA	NS till 2022
		Lion City Sailors F.C.	Undisclosed ^[37]
			Free ^[38]
			Free ^[39]

Friendlies

Tour of Malaysia

Team statistics

Appearances and goals

		Player	Sleague	Singapore Cup	AFC Cup	Charity Shield	Total
		Apps.	Goals	Apps.	Goals	Apps.	Goals	Apps.	Goals	Apps.	Goals
2	DF	Anders Aplin	14	2	0	0	3	0	1	0	18	2
3	DF	Maksat Dzhakybaliev	1(6)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
4	MF	Afiq Noor	9(4)	0	0	0	3	0	0(1)	0	17	0
5	DF	Lionel Tan	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
6	MF	Anumanthan Kumar	5(2)	0	0	0	1(1)	0	0	0	9	0
7	FW	Shahfiq Ghani	4(7)	1	0	0	1(2)	0	1	0	15	1
8	DF	Hafiz Sujad	9(2)	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	14	0
10	FW	Shawal Anuar	9(4)	4	0	0	1(2)	0	1	0	17	4
11	DF	Nazrul Nazari	13(1)	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	17	0
12	MF	Fabian Kwok	9(4)	0	0	0	2	0	0(1)	0	16	0
13	GK	Ridhuan Barudin	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
14	DF	Alif Iskandar	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	MF	Justin Hui	3(6)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	1
17	DF	Faiz Salleh	1(6)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	8	0
18	GK	Khairulhin Khalid	3	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	7	0
20	DF	Muhaimin Suhaimi	3(2)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	6	0
21	MF	Nikesh Singh Sidhu	8(1)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	10	0
22	MF	Mahathir Azeman	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	FW	Sahil Suhaimi	1(3)	1	0	0	3	0	0(1)	0	8	1
24	MF	Farhan Zulkifli	12(1)	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	14	1
26	FW	Daniel Martens	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
31	GK	Daniel Ong	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
32	FW	Naufal Azman	2(2)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
35	DF	Emmeric Ong	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Players who have played this season but had left the club or on loan to other club
1	GK	Heng How Meng	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	FW	Stipe Plazibat	3	5	0	0	3	4	0	0	6	9
15	DF	Jordan Vestering	3	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	5	1
19	DF	Zac Anderson	10	1	0	0	3	0	1	0	14	1
25	MF	Charlie Machell	7(1)	2	0	0	2	1	1	0	11	3

Competitions

Singapore Premier League

See main article: 2020 Singapore Premier League.

1. Web site: Tampines' win also means that Hougang United will earn a spot in the 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup .
2. Web site: Maksat Dzhakybaliev joins Cheetah on season loan.
3. Web site: Zac Anderson joins Hougang United!⁣⁣ .
4. Web site: Anders Aplin joins Hougang United!⁣⁣ .
5. Web site: Svay Rieng FC, Charlie, joins Hougang United!⁣⁣ .
6. Web site: Hougang player signed for Japanese club.
7. Web site: Sahil Suhaimi signs for Hougang Unitedon a 1-year deal with the Cheetahs!.
8. Web site: New cheetah Shawal Anuar joining from Eagles .
9. Web site: Shawal Anuar joins Hougang United!⁣⁣ .
10. Web site: Suphanburi FC signs Singaporean midfielder Zulfahmi Arifin on their ASEAN quota .
11. Web site: Zulfahmi Arifin has joined Thailand Premier League club, Suphanburi F.C. on a season long deal next year. ⁣ ⁣ .
12. Web site: Singapore Premier League POTY Faris Ramli signs for Terengganu FC in Malaysia.
13. Web site: Head Coach Clement Teo signs for another year with the Cheetahs! ⁣ .
14. Web site: Khairulhin Khalid has signed a 1-year contract extension with the Cheetahs!⁣.
15. Web site: Ridhuan Barudin, team has penned a 1-year contract extension with the Cheetahs! .
16. Web site: Singapore International, Nazrul Nazari has signed a 2-year contract extension with the club!⁣⁣.
17. Web site: Singapore International, Muhaimin Suhaimi has signed a 2-year contract extension with the club!⁣⁣.
18. Web site: Hafiz Sujad, team has penned a 1-year contract extension with the Cheetahs! .
19. Web site: Afiq Yunos, team has penned a 1-year contract extension with the Cheetahs! .
20. Web site: Jordan Nicolas Vestering, team has penned a 1-year contract extension with the Cheetahs! .
21. Web site: Faiz Salleh, team has penned a 1-year contract extension with the Cheetahs! .
22. Web site: Afiq Noor has signed a 1-year contract extension with the Cheetahs!⁣.
23. Web site: Nikesh part of the younger players in the heart of our midfield .
24. Web site: Anumanthan has signed a 1-year contract extension with the Cheetahs!⁣.
25. Web site: Fabien has signed a 1-year contract extension with the Cheetahs!⁣.
26. Web site: Justin Hui continues journey with hougang .
27. Web site: Mahathir Azeman continues journey with hougang .
28. Web site: Singapore International, Shahfiq Ghani has signed a 2-year contract extension with the club!⁣⁣.
29. Web site: Stipe Plazibat will be staying with the Cheetahs for another season .
30. Web site: Farhan Zulkifli continues journey with hougang .
31. Web site: Daniel Ong joins the Cheetahs! ⁣.
32. Web site: Afiq Yunos sees the positives despite early end to Thai stint .
33. Web site: Lionel Tan returns to Hougang United.
34. Web site: Emmeric becomes Cheetah .
35. Web site: Naufal Azman signs for Hougang United! .
36. Web site: Jordan's decision to enlist for National Service that saw his time at Hougang United come to an end rather than footballing reasons. .
37. Web site: Stipe Plazibat moving back to Bishan for 2 years contract.
38. Web site: Hougang United defender Zachary Anderson has left Hougang United. .
39. Web site: Hougang United defender Zachary Anderson has left Hougang United. .

AFC Cup

See main article: 2020 AFC Cup.

Group stage

See main article: 2020 AFC Cup group stage.

See also

• 2014 Hougang United FC season
• 2015 Hougang United FC season
• 2016 Hougang United FC season
• 2017 Hougang United FC season
• 2018 Hougang United FC season
• 2019 Hougang United FC season