Jalan Besar Stadium - History

History

The original stadium was opened on Boxing Day, 1929 and is considered to be the birthplace of Singapore football. Malaya Cup matches were played at the stadium from 1932 to 1966, and Malaysia Cup matches from 1967 to 1973.

During the Japanese Occupation, the stadium was one of the Sook Ching mass screening sites. During the war, the stadium remained opened and was also used as a language centre to teach the Japanese language.

The stadium was also host to many major events in Singapore's history, such as being the venue for the first Singapore Youth Festival in 1955, the first Singapore Armed Forces Day in 1969, and the 1984 National Day Parade.

The original stadium was closed in December 1999 for rebuilding. The new stadium was opened in June 2003 with a seating capacity of 6,000. Interestingly, the position of the pitch has been retained in the exact position as the previous stadium.

In 2006, under the FIFA GOAL plan, the stadium's pitch was relaid with Fifa 1 Star Recommended turf, an artificial turf. The cost of relaying the pitch cost $1 million was funded by the FIFA Goal Programme and FIFA Financial Assistance Plan. In 2008, the stadium's pitch was relaid again at the cost of US$400,000, with Fifa 2 Star Recommended artificial turf, a better quality artificial turf. The cost of re-turfing was borne entirely by Fifa, under Fifa's second Goal Project.

The stadium also hosts S.League games that are shown 'Live' on Starhub cable television every Thursday.

On 24 July 2010, it was used as the venue of a friendly match between Burnley F.C. and Singapore Selection side.

During the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics held in Singapore, the stadium was the designated venue for both the boys' and girls' football tournament.