Jalan Besar Stadium could get a new South Stand, additional 1,500 seats

SINGAPORE – More fans could soon be able to catch football action at the Jalan Besar Stadium, as the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) and national agency Sport Singapore (SportSG) are currently in discussions to expand the facility.

The Straits Times understands that both parties have been in talks since the ASEAN Championship which concluded in August, and FAS president Forrest Li confirmed on Sept 16 that there are plans to add a new South Stand with 1,500 seats to its existing 6,000 capacity. No timeline was provided.

In the 2025/26 FAS Annual Report published online on Sept 16, Li said that he was proud of the Lions’ results at the 2026 Asean Championship – where the team made the semi-finals before they bowed out after a 4-3 aggregate loss to Thailand – and the “groundswell of excitement and support this performance has produced in our fans”.

He added in the statement: “Our stadiums have been fuller and louder than ever. More than 30,000 came out to support our Lions during their final Asian Cup qualifier match against Bangladesh, and every single ASEAN Cup match in Singapore played to a sold-out stadium.

“In recognition of this strong fan response, we are working with SportSG to increase game-viewing capacity: first, by erecting a new South Stand at Jalan Besar Stadium to add 1,500 seats, and later, with the completion of new stadiums in Punggol and Toa Payoh. This improved infrastructure, allowing us to welcome many more fans to the pitch, will make Singapore football even more vibrant and inclusive.”

If confirmed, the new stand will be built along King George’s Avenue. When the LionsXII played in the Malaysian Super League, a temporary King George’s Stand was built in 2012 as an interim measure to boost stadium capacity, before it was dismantled in 2015.

ST has contacted SportSG and FAS for more details.

In recent years, fans have called for an expansion of the venue after a rush for match tickets for the last two editions of the ASEAN Championship.

Many Lions fans were left frustrated in August after more than 4,000 home-supporter tickets for the championship’s semi-final first leg between Singapore and Thailand were sold out soon after sales started online.

At the 2024 edition, thousands of fans formed snaking queues at Jalan Besar to purchase tickets to the championship first-leg semi-final between Singapore and Vietnam. More than 5,000 tickets were sold out in less than seven hours.

Support for the Lions has soared after the team led by coach Gavin Lee notched some encouraging results, including a maiden Asian Cup qualification in November 2025.

At the recent ASEAN Championship tournament, the Lions qualified for the semi-finals for the third time in four editions. They finished second in Group A by beating Cambodia (2-1 away) and Timor-Leste (2-0 at home) before holding defending champions Vietnam (0-0 away) and Indonesia (1-1 at home).

Four-time champions Singapore played their home matches at the Jalan Besar Stadium as the 55,000-seat National Stadium was booked for the National Day Parade on Aug 9, and The Kallang Group revealed that it takes about 2½ weeks to dismantle the set-up and get the pitch ready.

The venue currently hosts Asian Champions League Two (ACL Two) matches and it is the home ground for Singapore Premier League clubs Lion City Sailors and the Young Lions.

Deepanraj Ganesan is a sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on football, athletics, combat sports and policy-related news.