Lion City Cup to debut Under-16 girls' football tournament

For the first time since its inception in 1977, the Lion City Cup (LCC) will feature a girls' event when the 29th edition of the youth tournament is held in July.

On Feb 27, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) confirmed it will be adding an Under-16 tournament for girls as part of its commitment to the women's game.

FAS president Bernard Tan told The Straits Times: "This has been a long time coming, but we don't just do it as an isolated piece of the jigsaw.

"This follows the fact that we have launched (national football project) Unleash The Roar!, we have a National Development Centre that now trains the women's team. In terms of preparing them for international tournaments, it's important for us to blood them in various games to make sure that they know what the international standards are.

"There's not a very big pool of friendly games for the women's team, so the Lion City Cup for our girls' team is something we need to start. It will also give them a motivation to want to wear the national jersey and play for the national team at a very young age."

While the dates, format and other details have yet to be finalised, Tan revealed that Hong Kong have confirmed their participation in the U-16 tournament. The boys' event may be held concurrently or return in 2026, he added.

The LCC is one of the oldest international youth football tournaments in the world, and has attracted youth sides from national teams as well as top clubs such as England's Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam and Brazil's Flamengo over the years.

Players who have gone on to become top professionals include Manchester United defender Noussair Mazraoui, Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones and Girona midfielder Donny van de Beek.

After an eight-year hiatus, the competition returned in 2023 with Thailand's BG Pathum beating Malaysia's Selangor, Indonesia's Borneo and Singapore U-15s to the title. The Thai side lost to Japan's Tokyo Verdy in 2024, with Johor Darul Takzim and the Singapore U-16s also taking part.

To support its goal of growing the LCC into a premier competition for boys and girls, the FAS signed a memorandum of understanding with Seventy7 Sports for the London-based outfit to work on developing and commercialising the Cup.

Seventy7 Sports executive chairman Ketan Makwana, who was in Singapore for the 2024 edition, said: "Football is becoming increasingly a business rather than just a sport. More countries are becoming involved in women's and girls' football. It's the biggest story in sports at this moment.

"So, you've got an opportunity to commercialise, create brand partnerships with different industries and verticals that want to be associated with diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity.

"Our vision is to drive innovation into the LCC and support the youth and future generation to thrive through football.

"There was a time when the LCC was at the pinnacle of Asian tournaments; it's time the tournament takes its place as a premier event in the Asia sports calendar."