Bailey Wright eyes history as Lion City Sailors seek Asian Champions League Two q final spot

SINGAPORE – When Australian centre-back Bailey Wright made his foray into Singapore football in July 2023, the former Sunderland captain said he wanted to “leave things in a better place” than when he first arrived.

Looking to make history for Singapore Premier League (SPL) side Lion City Sailors, the 32-year-old can do just that on Feb 20 by helping the team reach the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League (ACL) Two, when the Sailors face Thai side Muangthong United in the second leg of the round-of-16 tie at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

The Sailors hold a one-goal lead from the first leg on Feb 13 in Thailand, where their 3-0 cushion was reduced to 3-2 following midfielder Song Ui-young’s second-half red card.

As the away-goals rule does not apply in this competition, should both teams be tied on aggregate after the second leg, two 15-minute periods of extra time will be played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if necessary.

At the pre-match press conference held at the Sailors’ Mattar Road headquarters on the eve of the match, Wright said: “We already have a history now of making history, so we don’t want that to stop.

“What lies ahead of us is another opportunity to make that happen. We want to do what no one else has done yet and see where it takes us.

“We’ve certainly enjoyed it so far, and we want to keep enjoying it.”

While the ACL Two is a new second-tier continental tournament that was launched this season, this is the first time in over six years that a Singapore side have reached the knockout stage of an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) club tournament.

The last team to do so were Home United, the previous iteration of the Sailors, when they were crowned Asean zonal champions