November 3, 2004
Richard Woon admitted he did not sleep a wink
the previous night with Tanjong Pagar
United pulling out from the S-League weighing heavily on the mind of the
general manager.
The Jaguars were supposed to celebrate
their 30th anniversary this year, but instead of a birthday bash, it will now
be a farewell party.
Woon put on a brave face saying what to do? The
financial situation does not warrant Jaguars to carry on in the S-League next
year so got to go.
The Jaguars had been struggling
financially for some time, with debts currently estimated at $600,000.
Moreover, the club have failed to secure a main
sponsor for the last 2 years.
But it is not that big a problem to Woon as he said out of the $600,000 around half came from
the club's committee members & volunteers & that can be written off as
donations. The remaining $300,000 was incurred when one of our sponsors failed
to meet their obligations during the Asian economic crisis in 1997-98 &
that is what hurting the most.
Still he is looking on the bright side
as he said all these years, they have done their best
& contributed to the progress of
Also he felt there is no difference
than when first starting out as he said when Tanjong Pagar first started as Tiong Bahru Constituency Sports Club in 1974, it also had no
money, no sponsors & no S-League so what is the difference?
Apart from the S-League, the Jaguars
are not participating in the Prime League as well but will continue with all
other activities, including youth development & Centre-of-Excellence (COE) programmes.
At the time according to Woon, they will continue to conduct fund-raising activities
so that in 2 years time the Jaguars will be back in the black.
After that, if they manage to secure a
main sponsor, they will try & join the S-League again