65% of Singaporeans don't support local football clubs or the national team: Study
The Yahoo Singapore Football Study, conducted by YouGov, finds that most still regard the sport highly, but few supported local teams
SINGAPORE — About 65 per cent of Singaporeans polled in a survey commissioned by Yahoo Southeast Asia currently do not support local football clubs or the Singapore national team.
This is despite 80 per cent of the 2,000 respondents believing that football is still a part of the Singapore culture, with about 40 per cent of them even believing that it plays a crucial role in shaping the city-state's identity.
The "Yahoo Singapore Football Study" survey, which was conducted by international research firm YouGov, was released on Monday (7 August) in conjunction with the launch of the second season of the football vodcast "Footballing Weekly", as it seeks to uncover unique insights on Singaporeans' perceptions towards the popular sport.
Do the general public still care about the elite Singapore football scene? Do they view Singapore professional football as a viable career? Or are they merely content with watching their favourite English Premier League teams on TV, or whenever they come for meaningless pre-season friendlies?
Such questions have led to some interesting findings from the survey.
Football viewed as vital, but support for national team is dwindling
While football has long been touted as the sport with the biggest unifying force among Singapore residents, being played by people of all races and all ages, the blunt truth is that the national team have been struggling for good results for the most part of the past decade.
While about 40 per cent of the survey respondents believe that football is a crucial part of Singapore's cultural identity, such sentiment is slowly eroding.
The survey found that while Baby Boomers (45 per cent) and Gen X (43 per cent) are standing tall as advocates of football's significance, such enthusiasm has slightly waned among Millennials (35 per cent) and Gen Z (37 per cent).
This could mean they prefer to support globally-popular and successful clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Real Madrid, catching these teams on live telecasts on TV or when they come to Singapore for pre-season tours.
In contrast, the Singapore Premier League (SPL) draws perennially small crowds. While the national team can still pull in around 10,000 to 20,000 fans, the Lions have little to celebrate about, having not won the regional tournaments for over a decade.
Nonetheless, the Yahoo survey found that 70 per cent of respondents would be encouraged to support a local football club or the national team - provided the teams can fulfil at least one of their criteria.
Here are the top three criteria which the survey identified: talented and skilled players (35 per cent), their hobby or interest (30 per cent); and a strong team spirit (28 per cent).
Unleash the Roar! project yet to convince
The current indifferent support for the national team comes amid government plans to revive the Lions' fortunes, via the Unleash the Roar! project.
The project is a wide-ranging bid to improve the pipeline of talents - from schools, grassroots academies and centres of excellence - and boost the Lions' competitive performances. While the government did not officially set a concrete target for the project to meet, it is well-known among fans that qualification for the 2034 World Cup is seen as a "soft target" to try and achieve.
Not that the fans are confident that this target can be met. The Yahoo survey found that, among those who supported local football, less than half of them - 39 per cent - believe that Singapore will be represented at the World Cup within the next 10 years.
The figure drops to only 9 per cent among those respondents who identify as non-supporters of local football. And 39 per cent of all respondents do not think that the current level of support for the development of football in Singapore is adequate for it to be successful.
The shows that the Unleash the Roar! project has yet to convince the majority of the Singapore public that it can successfully revive the Lions back to their trophy-winning days.
Same-club support among partners, spouses, families
The survey also unearthed some fun nuggets about fan support. When asked if it is important for their partner, spouse or family to support the same football team as them, nearly half of the respondents (43 per cent) believe it is not a crucial factor, while 38 per cent are neutral about the matter.
However, fans who indicated their support for the SPL have a different take: 45 per cent of them believe that their partner, spouse or family should support the same football team.
It is by far the highest percentage of fans with such strong sentiment, compared to those of other leagues such as Serie A (35 per cent), UEFA Europa League (34 per cent), Bundesliga (31 per cent), UEFA Champions League (29 per cent), La Liga (29 per cent), and English Premier League (26 per cent).
Does this mean that SPL fans are more fervent in their football support? This, and more of such survey findings will be discussed over the upcoming episodes of "Footballing Weekly". So don't forget to listen in to the vodcasts when they are released on Yahoo Southeast Asia's YouTube channel on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Follow the new EPL season with all segments of this week's "Footballing Weekly" show on YouTube. If you wish the hear the show in its entirety, visit the show's Spotify and Acast pages.
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