History
Marine Castle United Football Club, one of Sengkang Punggol's predecessor clubs, was formed as in 1981 by residents of Marine Parade, with the initial aim of playing in 7-a-side tournaments, which were very popular at the time. The club's name arose after Newcastle United FC of England visited Singapore in 1981. With all the team's members being residents of Marine Parade fans of Newcastle United, they decided to name their club Marine Castle United FC.
Marine Castle United FC was registered with the Singapore Registry of Society on the 19 October 1981. In 1982, a four-year youth development programme was drawn up, aiming to develop and produce the club's players from 1986 onwards. This plan proved to be a success as many players were selected to represent Singapore in various youth tournaments.
Marine Castle's achievements at senior level had not been too impressive in the years leading to S.League's formation in 1995. The club applied to be one of the eight teams that would participate in the inaugural S.League, but was not selected by the Football Association of Singapore. Over the next two years, the club attempted to show skeptics that they had what it took to join Singapore's top league. They reached FA Cup semi-finals in 1995, become the National Football League's group champions in 1996, and were runners-up National Football League Division 1 in 1997.
Following this, Marine Castle United successfully applied to join the S.League in 1998. They became the eleventh team to join the S.League, together with Gombak United FC. However Marine Castle did not initially enjoy much S.League success. They finished bottom of the league in their first two seasons. In 2000 and 2001, they climbed up one spot to finished eleventh out of twelve teams, above Balestier Central FC and Woodlands Wellington FC respectively.
In 2002, Marine Castle FC changed its name to Sengkang Marine Football Club. The S.League wanted clubs to be closer to their heartlands and community. Marine Castle had been playing its S.League home games at the Hougang Stadium, and the change in name was made with the aim of reaching out more to fans in the nearby Sengkang area. That year, the team's performances on the pitch improved, and they finished the S.League season in eighth place, their highest ever finish.
In 2003, Sengkang Marine finished the league season in eighth place again, but was then forced to bow out of the league due to financial difficulties. Both Sengkang Marine and Jurong FC left the league after the 2003 season despite mid-table finishes as they could no longer afford to participate.
In 2005, Paya Lebar Punggol Football Club joined the S.League and finished tenth in its debut season. (Prior to joining the S.League, the team was previously a grassroots club known as Paya Lebar Kovan Football Club). Like Sengkang Marine FC before them, Paya Lebar Punggol FC played its S.League home games at the Hougang Stadium.
In 2006, Paya Lebar Punggol FC and Sengkang Marine FC decide to collaborate their resources and merge to form a club named Sengkang Punggol Football Club to play in the S.League. The newly-merged club finished in eleventh place in the 2006 S.League season.
In 2011, the club rebranded themselves as Hougang United Football Club in order to identify themselves with the neighbourhood their stadium (Hougang Stadium) is located (Hougang New Town). The club's home stadium, Hougang Stadium, is also the home stadium for its predecessors, Paya Lebar Punggol FC and Sengkang Marine FC.
Read more about this topic: Hougang United FC
Other articles related to "history":
... believed that gambling in some form or another has been seen in almost every society in history ... France and Elizabethan England, much of history is filled with stories of entertainment based on games of chance ... In American history, early gambling establishments were known as saloons ...
... The breakup of Al-Andalus into the competing taifa kingdoms helped the long embattled Iberian Christian kingdoms gain the initiative ... The capture of the strategically central city of Toledo in 1085 marked a significant shift in the balance of power in favour of the Christian kingdoms ...
... History of Charles XII, King of Sweden (1731) The Age of Louis XIV (1751) The Age of Louis XV (1746–1752) Annals of the Empire – Charlemagne, A.D ... II (1754) Essay on the Manners of Nations (or 'Universal History') (1756) History of the Russian Empire Under Peter the Great (Vol ... II 1763) History of the Parliament of Paris (1769) ...
... The history of computing is longer than the history of computing hardware and modern computing technology and includes the history of methods intended for pen and paper or ...
... The Skeptical School of early Chinese history, started by Gu Jiegang in the 1920s, was the first group of scholars within China to seriously question the traditional ... early Chinese history is a tale told and retold for generations, during which new elements were added to the front end" ...
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“To a surprising extent the war-lords in shining armour, the apostles of the martial virtues, tend not to die fighting when the time comes. History is full of ignominious getaways by the great and famous.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)
“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more”
—John Adams (1735–1826)
“The history of the world is none other than the progress of the consciousness of freedom.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)