As Geylang United Football Club, they were one of the eight teams in the inaugural season of the S.League in 1996. They won the first stage (the Tiger Beer Series) of the league season and finished fifth in the second stage (the Pioneer Series). They won the league after defeating SAFFC (the Pioneer Series champions) 2–1 in the Championship Play-off. They completed the season with another trophy, beating the same team on penalties in the Singapore FA Cup. As the team was full of international stars, led by 1998 Iranian World Cup head coach Jalal Talebi, players such as Fandi Ahmad, Kadir Yahaya, David Lee, Hamid Reza Estili, Mohammad Khakpour, and Chris Riley, Vincent Subramaniam (Head Coach for SAFFC) identified them as the Manchester United of Singapore. As league champions, they qualified for the 1997–98 Asian Club Championship but were eliminated after losing 8–2 on aggregate by Kashima Antlers in the first round.