Lion City Sailors crowned 2024 Deloitte Women’s Premier League Champions

The 2024 Deloitte Women’s Premier League (WPL) concluded in dramatic fashion last weekend (15 September), with the Lion City Sailors clinching their third consecutive title on the final day of the season. 

The Sailors came into their match against Still Aerion at Choa Chu Kang Stadium 2 points behind Albirex Niigata (S) in the championship race. Needing a win to overtake their title rivals, the defending champions opened the scoring in the 5th minute with a header from Raeka Ee. The club’s leading scorer added another in the 32th minute as the Sailors took a 2-0 halftime lead. The floodgates opened in the second half as the Sailors netted four more goals from Sarah Zu’risqha (2 goals), Nurhidayu Naszri, and Nur Ain Salleh to secure a 6-0 victory. They finished the season with 14 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss, accumulating 43 points to be crowned Women’s Premier League champions once again. It also meant that they qualified for next season’s AFC Women’s Champions League.Raeke Ee scored 18 goals for Lion City Sailors this season. (Photo Credit: LCS)

The Sailors experienced a dramatic season, marked by their first-ever defeat in the WPL after an astounding 37-match unbeaten run. This came at the hands of Geylang International on June 23, 2024, in the first round, with a 2-1 scoreline. Geylang proved to be their bogey team once more in the second round, holding them to a goalless draw. Despite these setbacks, their commanding performance in the final match secured the title.

In a record-setting display, the Sailors also achieved a stunning 18-0 victory over Balestier Khalsa on May 4. The match featured four players - Nur Syazwani Ruzi, Nur Sarah Zu’risqha, Raeka Ee, and Josephine Ang - each scoring hat-tricks, showcasing their attacking prowess.

Raeka finished as the club’s top scorer with 18 goals, while Sarah and Josephine followed with 12 goals each.

Albirex Niigata (S) completed their season with 14 wins, 2 defeats and 42 points, finishing second for the second consecutive year. Their striker, Manami Fukuzawa, was the league’s top scorer, netting an impressive 23 goals. 7 of those came in the 14-0 win against Balestier. Kana Kitahara, who was last season's Player of the Year, played a dual role as both player and head coach, contributed 12 goals. 

Manami Fukuzawa is this season’s top goalscorer with 23 goals (Photo Credit: Albirex Niigata (S) FB)

Geylang International FC emerged as the most improved team, climbing from 9th place in 2023 to 3rd in 2024. Highlights of their season include ending the Sailors’ unbeaten streak and holding them to a draw. Farah Nurzahirah was their top scorer with 15 goals.

Geylang International and Still Aerion improve their standings this season (Photo Credit: Geylang International FB)

Still Aerion also showed notable progress, improving from 7th to 4th place, with final standings as:

• 1st: Lion City Sailors
• 2nd: Albirex Niigata (S)
• 3rd: Geylang International
• 4th: Still Aerion
• 5th: Hougang United
• 6th: Tanjong Pagar
• 7th: BG Tampines Rovers
• 8th: Tiong Bahru
• 9th: Balestier Khalsa 

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