October 28, 2004
Outgoing Tanjong Pagar United chairman Mathew Kang has one message for local
football clubs.
He calls for local
clubs to band together instead of acting like vultures that always hover around
when one is down & out.
He said there are some
clubs who try to kill while you are down like poaching the best players by
giving them more money, knowing that your club are struggling financially &
cannot match the offer.
That is something
he does not want to see & instead he wanted to see the other side shown by Eagles
Patrick Ang & Stags Teo
Hock Seng.
In his own words he
asked - How many club chairmen will actually call & encourage you when you
are down? To their credit, Geylang's Patrick Ang & Tampines' Teo Hock Seng did. They called me
to offer help after reading about my club's financial problems.
Kang, who quit
after just one season at Tanjong Pagar,
said that local S-League clubs should band together instead of going it alone.
He said every club
has to know that it is not just about themselves. That
it is not just about Tanjong Pagar
or any other club. It is about local football. Therefore we should all be in it
together & not gloat when any club is in trouble.
For instance, Kang
recount the past in his words - When Jurong FC were
in trouble in 1998, I pitched in to help while I was at Gombak
United. If any club is in trouble, it means