Jalan Besar Stadium set to be fitted with natural grass pitch

BG Tampines Rovers' Joel Chew (in black) being tackled by Lion City Sailors' Song Ui-young as Bailey Wright looks on during the Singapore Cup final at Jalan Besar Stadium on May 31. The Sailors won 1-0. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR

SINGAPORE – The Jalan Besar Stadium’s artificial turf will be removed to make way for a natural grass surface to meet the latest requirements set out by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The Straits Times understands that work to returf the pitch is scheduled to commence in August and will be completed by January 2026.

The 6,000-capacity venue, which originally had a grass surface, was first fitted with an artificial pitch in 2005.

The change comes after the AFC banned the use of fully artificial pitches in its major national team and club competitions.

In a June 11 memo to member associations, Asian football’s governing body said the decision is in line with efforts to improve the quality of play, following feedback that the standard of pitches – in particular artificial ones – has varied over the past few seasons.

The affected competitions are the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers, the Women’s Asian Cup and Olympic qualifiers, AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions League Two (ACL2) and the AFC Women’s Champions League.

The Jalan Besar Stadium hosted ACL2 matches of Singapore Premier League (SPL) sides Lion City Sailors and BG Tampines Rovers last season, with both teams having also qualified for the group stage of the second-tier continental club competition next season.

After notifying its member associations of the ban on June 11, AFC sent letters the next day to those who are affected by the decision, asking them to nominate an alternative venue with natural grass or a hybrid surface for their home matches.

These include Singapore, who have played some national team games at the Jalan Besar Stadium when the 55,000-capacity National Stadium was unavailable or deemed too big for requirements.

During last season’s ACL2, the Sailors played six home games at Jalan Besar, winning four times, drawing once and losing once as they qualified for a historic final.

Their opponents, Emirati side Sharjah FC, complained that Jalan Besar was not a worthy venue for the final.

The match was then moved to Bishan Stadium, where stands were added to make it a 10,000-seater venue in May, with Sharjah winning 2-1.

The 2025-26 ACL 2 group stage, which involves the Sailors and Tampines, will kick off in September, but it is unlikely that Bishan will be ready to host home games then.

Works have commenced to replace the rubber track at Bishan Stadium, which also hosts SPL matches, and that will require approximately 16 weeks to be completed.

Lion City Sailors’ Lennart Thy scoring the second goal in their 2-0 victory over Sydney FC in the AFC Champions League Two semi-final, first leg at Jalan Besar Stadium in April. ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY

To mitigate the situation, it is understood that FAS is in discussions with the AFC to allow both Tampines and Sailors’ opening ACL 2 group-stage games to be scheduled as away matches.

ST understands that if works at the Bishan Stadium are completed by October, the facility will be able to host subsequent group-stage matches.

But these games will be played at Jalan Besar once it becomes available as Bishan Stadium, which can accommodate up to 2,800 spectators, does not meet AFC’s minimum requirement for capacity.

The changes will also have an impact on the 2025-26 SPL – the season’s curtain raiser, the Community Shield, is scheduled for Aug 16 at the Jurong East Stadium.

When the league season kicks off a week later, matches will take place from Friday to Monday at Our Tampines Hub and the Jurong East Stadium. Bishan and Jalan Besar are expected to be available in October and January 2026 respectively.

Since the Jalan Besar Stadium was first fitted with an artificial pitch in 2005, other venues, such as the Jurong East Stadium and Our Tampines Hub, have followed suit as the authorities deemed that such surfaces are easier to maintain than grass pitches in Singapore’s humid climate.

This has helped Singapore teams achieve some good results in international matches, as visiting teams have often found it hard to deal with the pace, bounce and trajectory of the ball on the Jalan Besar pitch, which was last relaid between July 2020 and January 2021, with costs borne by Fifa.

In 2011, Brazil legend Zico, who was Iraq’s coach then, condemned it as being unsuitable for a professional match ahead of his team’s 2014 World Cup third-round qualifier against Singapore, noting that “this kind of pitch is for school kids”.

Local players have also raised concerns about the injuries sustained while playing on the pitch, though there is currently no conclusive evidence to show a link between artificial pitches and injuries.

Singapore striker Ikhsan Fandi and former midfielder Adam Swandi both suffered knee injuries in the 3-1 friendly win over the Maldives at Jalan Besar in December 2022.

Ikhsan’s younger brother Ilhan then had a serious knee injury as well during the Asean Football Federation Championship game against Vietnam on Dec 30 at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

S.League Selection’s Park Tae-won attempting a header in an exhibition match against Thailand All Stars on Nov 13, 2005. This was the first official match at Jalan Besar Stadium since the natural grass surface was replaced with an artificial pitch that year. PHOTO: ST FILE

Jalan Besar pitch timeline:

2005: Grass pitch is replaced with artificial turf to withstand wear and tear; first official match is played there featuring S-League Selection and Thai All-Stars in November 2005

2008: A $1 million renovation is completed featuring a

new

artificial pitch with enhanced cushioning compared to the previous surface, along with upgraded floodlights

2014: Facility is returfed with a new artificial pitch as part of maintenance

2021: Relaid with Fifa Quality Pro artificial turf as part of a Fifa Development Project

2025: Natural grass to return to comply with AFC regulations

Deepanraj Ganesan is a sports journalist at The Straits Times focusing on football, athletics, combat sports and policy-related news.

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