Singapore League Cup
The StarHub League Cup is an annual soccer competition in Singapore. It was launched in 2007, and is open to teams who play in the S.League. The title sponsor for 2013 is StarHub.
The 2007 competition was sponsored by SingTel, and officially titled the SingTel League Cup. Eight of the twelve S.League teams took part in the 2007 tournament, which was held before the start of the S.League season proper.
In 2008, the competition's official sponsored name was the Avaya-J&J League Cup (with sponsorship coming from Avaya and Jebsen & Jessen Communications). All twelve S.League teams took part in the 2008 tournament. Unlike the 2007 event, the 2008 competition was held during the S.League season.
The 2009 edition of the League Cup was held from 1 to 19 June, again during the S.League season. The competition began with a group stage, where the clubs were divided into four groups of three. The top two teams from each group qualified for the knockout stage. All knockout matches were played at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Live television coverage was provided by Starhub.
2010 saw the League Cup returning to a knockout format. The teams which finished in the top 4 positions in the 2009 S.League season were given byes to the quarter-final round, and the remaining clubs played a qualifying round to decide who would join them in the Cup competition. The draw was conducted before the qualifying round, which meant that qualifying clubs already knew which quarter-final slot they would be playing for.
The 2011 League Cup final on 30 June 2011 saw Albirex Niigata (Singapore) defeat Hougang United 5-4 on penalties to become the third consecutive foreign club to hold the trophy after DPMM and Etoile FC.
The 2013 tournament is currently sponsored by StarHub, and officially titled the StarHub League Cup.
Read more about Singapore League Cup: Past Results, All-time Records By Clubs, Previous League Cup Tournament (1997)
Famous quotes containing the words league and/or cup:
“Half a league, half a league,
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All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward the Light Brigade!”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“Sisters define their rivalry in terms of competition for the gold cup of parental love. It is never perceived as a cup which runneth over, rather a finite vessel from which the more one sister drinks, the less is left for the others.”
—Elizabeth Fishel (20th century)