Blessed with a free and open regulation size football pitch within the estate, several teams were formed from ad-hoc to almost semi-pro status. In those days it was all amateur football but then our estate teams had managed to make a name for themselves winning national and constituency competitions.
Unfortunately for me, football was not in my blood and my only contacts with it was as an evening spectator when all the 'small boys' would gather around the field to watch and pick balls that roll to our sidelines.
But I can recall the Union Carbide team who had their regular training on the pitch after work.
My dad worked at Union Carbide and thus I came to meet people like Quah Kim Choon (one of the Quah family) and Mahat Ambu, Singapore's centre-forward at that time. These two big names were enough to draw crowds to watch their training.
I am at a loss with the number of teams formed or even the team names they call themselves by, so if anyone remembers, please drop me a line in the comments below.
Aswan, whose family lived beside the football pitch, had just sent me 2 photos of some teams that played back in the 60s.
In the first photo, I can identify Glen Hogan in the striped jersey. This would then date the photo to the mid-60s. If you can identify anyone else, please share with us here.
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| Thanks to Udin Anwar for identifying all the footballers. This team was called the ASAS FOOTBALL CLUB. |
Links to other articles about our estate footballers:
I can only recognise one footballer in the first photo. He is Mr. Lee Bah Chee who is on the extreme right in the first row. As a teenager in the mid 60's I used to marvel at his thunderous shots at goal. He used to stay at one of the units in the Artisian quarters which just a just a stones throw from the football field I used to be a frequent visitor to his home as his son Anthony was a close buddy and class mate of mine.
ReplyDeleteThis football field also served as a venue for the annual sports meet of the our beloved primary school . And in the mid fifties the residents association at that time used to screen films at the field.