The 1997 S.League was the 2nd season of the S.League, the top professional football league in Singapore. The format of the league was changed, a single season of home and away matches replacing the split seasons and a playoff model of the 1996 season.

S. League
Season1997
ChampionsSingapore Armed Forces
1st S.League title
Asian Club ChampionshipSingapore Armed Forces
Matches played72
Goals scored249 (3.46 per match)
Top goalscorerCroatia Goran Paulić (21)
Biggest home winTiong Bahru United 5-1 Tampines Rovers
(5 July 1997)
Singapore Armed Forces 5-1 Balestier Central
(8 July 1997)
Biggest away winTampines Rovers 2-8 Balestier Central
(28 June 1997)
Highest scoringTampines Rovers 2-8 Balestier Central
(28 June 1997)
1996
1998

The 1997 S.League championship was won by Singapore Armed Forces FC.

Teams

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Police Football Club underwent a rebranding, being renamed as Home United while NFL side Jurong Town Football Club, who renamed themselves Jurong FC, joined the competition taking the number of participating clubs to 9. As a result of the construction of the new Jurong East Stadium being incomplete, Jurong FC used Bukit Gombak Stadium as their home ground for the 1997 S.League season.

Team Stadium Capacity Location
Balestier Central Toa Payoh Stadium 3,900 Toa Payoh
Geylang United Bedok Stadium 3,900 Bedok
Jurong Bukit Gombak Stadium 3,000 Bukit Batok
Home United Jalan Besar Stadium 8,000 Kallang
Singapore Armed Forces Jurong Stadium 6,000 Jurong
Sembawang Rangers Yishun Stadium 3,400 Yishun
Tampines Rovers Tampines Stadium 3,600 Tampines
Tiong Bahru United Queenstown Stadium 3,800 Queenstown
Woodlands Wellington Woodlands Stadium 4,300 Woodlands

Foreign players

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Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5
Balestier Central   Goran Paulić   Marko Kraljević   Bojan Hodak None None
Geylang United   Hamid Reza Estili   Mohsen Garousi   Warren Spink   Martin Tierney None
Home United   Egmar Goncalves   Fabio da Silva   Zsolt Bucs None None
Jurong FC   Musah Edoe   Tanko Tetumah   Alan McTurk None None
Singapore Armed Forces   Ivica Raguž   Jure Ereš   Velimir Crljen   Davor Mioč None
Sembawang Rangers   Zlatko Vidan   Milomir Šešlija   Ousmane N'Diaye   Ignacio Tuhuteru   Gary Blissett
Tampines Rovers   Scott O'Donell   Chris Jackson None None None
Tiong Bahru United   Nicodeme Boucher   Dragan Talajić   Émile Mbouh   Håkan Söderstjerna None
Woodlands Wellington   Jan Janostak   Stuart Young   Max Nicholson None None

Final table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Singapore Armed Forces 16 12 1 3 42 11 +31 37 Qualification to
Asian Club Championship
first round
2 Tiong Bahru United 16 10 4 2 33 16 +17 34
3 Woodlands Wellington 16 11 0 5 35 29 +6 33
4 Balestier Central 16 8 4 4 43 26 +17 28
5 Geylang United 16 6 7 3 23 18 +5 25
6 Tampines Rovers 16 4 3 9 22 38 −16 15
7 Jurong FC 16 4 3 9 15 33 −18 15
8 Sembawang Rangers 16 1 5 10 19 37 −18 8
9 Home United 16 2 1 13 17 41 −24 7
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored

Top scorers

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Rank Name Club Goals
1   Goran Paulić Balestier Central 21
2   Egmar Goncalves Home United 15
3   Jure Ereš Singapore Armed Forces 14
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