SINGAPORE — Long after the matchday crowd had dispersed at the Jurong East Stadium one Saturday evening, Lion City Sailors supporter Eddy Hirono remained in the stands with a microphone in hand, chatting affably with the club’s midfielder and goal-scorer that evening Hami Syahin.
SINGAPORE — Long after the matchday crowd had dispersed at the Jurong East Stadium one Saturday evening, Lion City Sailors supporter Eddy Hirono remained in the stands holding a microphone to interview the club’s midfielder and goal-scorer.
“I grew up in an age where we would go to Soccernet for news, and there's all kinds of bits and pieces of news around for us to digest and sink our teeth into. But in our era there’s a lot of short form content — and for me that wasn't enough,” said Mr Hirono. FAS has not responded to TODAY's queries about its efforts to grow interest in the SPL. But the visible signs of empty spectator stands do not faze a sizeable group of young fans, who turn up at every match to show support for their teams and go to great lengths to drum up interest.
“If you see the age profile , most of them are younger than myself,” said Mr Hirono, who has been following the SPL since 2016. He began watching local football after the LionsXII's four-year participation in the Malaysian Super League. There, he vlogs about matchday experiences at prominent SPL games. Mr Gan, who works in a commercial field of the sporting industry, is also a frequent spectator at SPL games.
While physical audiences at live matches may be shrinking, viewership online appears to be headed in the opposite direction, based on official statistics from the FAS. Their efforts are also winning over some younger fans, like 12-year-old Jansen Pang and 15-year-old Jack Johnson. The duo run Instagram accounts dedicated to their favourite teams Tanjong Pagar United and Balestier Khalsa respectively.
He said the shouts and gasps from the spectators add to the atmosphere. “You can see more things if you come to the stadium to watch rather than watching on TV,” said the Primary 6 student from Greenridge Primary School. The accessibility in which local players and fans can interact works in the league’s favour, said Mr Rhysh Roshan Rai, an ex-football player who now does commentary and punditry for the SPL.
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