The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) entered a representative team in the Malaysian League and Malaysia Cup competitions up to 1994.
Eight clubs - Hwee Seng SC, Jurong Town FC, Changi CSC, Armed Forces, Tampines Rovers, Tiong Bahru CSC, Balestier United RC and Geylang International - were selected to contest the inaugural season in 1988.
[5] In 1994, in a bid to add some spice to the Premier League and generate increased fan interest, two teams from Australia were invited to participate – the Perth Kangaroos and the Darwin Cubs.
Perth Kangaroos won the Premier League that year without losing a game, and the Darwin Cubs finished second.
It was therefore decided that the national team should play in the 1995 Premier League competition[7] as a stop-gap measure until the establishment of the S.League the following year.