1988–1997: Founding The club was founded as
Marine Castle United Football Club in 1988 as a
National Football League team which was formed by
Newcastle United fans in the
Marine Parade area. The club was nicknamed the Dolphins. In September, Singapore-based
Orientus Asia Hotels and Resorts, a five-month old company, became the main sponsor of the club with a sponsorship deal worth $250,000 in cash till December 2007. The club also had its fair share of
marquee players in the earlier days such as
Michael Currie, who formerly played for
Queens Park Rangers). Conversely,
Grant Holt began his early career at the club, before going on to play for upper-division clubs in England, such as
Nottingham Forest and
Norwich City in the
English Premier League. In November 2014, it was announced that Hougang United and
Woodlands Wellington will merge for the 2015 season.
2020: AFC Cup debut Hougang United made their
AFC Cup debut in the
2020 AFC Cup but due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament got cancelled thus only winning one match against Laos side,
Lao Toyota 1–3 at the
New Laos National Stadium in
Vientiane. The Cheetahs also qualified for the
2022 AFC Cup group stage where they play all their match in a centralised venue at the
Thống Nhất Stadium in Vietnam which saw Hougang United finishing 2nd out of 4th place winning 4–3 against Cambodian side,
Phnom Penh Crown and defeating Laos side,
Young Elephants 1–3 before suffering a heavy defeat to Vietnamese club,
Viettel 5–2. trophy in its first ever piece of silverware in the club history.
2022: First silverware On 19 November 2022, under the lead of caretaker manager
Firdaus Kassim, Hougang United defeated defending champions,
Tampines Rovers 3–2 in the
2022 Singapore Cup final in which
Kristijan Krajček scored a hat-trick to secure The Cheetahs their first-ever silverware. The club also finished 5th in the
Singapore Premier League in the same season which meant they failed to qualify for any continental competitions but due to their Singapore Cup win, they snatched an
AFC Cup spot from fellow
Singapore Premier League club,
Geylang International. Hougang United started off their
2023–24 AFC Cup campaign with a trip to
Kota Kinabalu facing
Sabah on 21 September 2023 where they played their first fixtures in a heavy downpour which they suffered a 3–1 away loss however in the next match against
Haiphong at the
Jalan Besar Stadium, Hougang United bounced back from 1–0 down as
Đorđe Maksimović scored a brace in the last 10 minute in the game to settled for a 2–1 victory as the Cheetahs collected the 3 points. Hougang United went on to have a great run in the
2023 Singapore Cup where they reached the final but were unable to retain their cup.
2025: Foreign imports While preparing for the
2025–26 season, Hougang United focused on regional players due to its budget for the season, the club then signed an apparel partnership with Volt, a sportswear brand from Thailand. Hougang United then went on to signed
Yotsakorn Burapha,
Settawut Wongsai,
Chonlawit Kanuengkid,
Kanok Kongsimma,
Parinya Nusong and later
Saharat Panmarchya in the January 2026 transfer window where Hougang United is coach by
Pannarai Pansiri on an interim basis. In March 2026, the
Football Association of Singapore (FAS) discovered Hougang had fielded an ineligible foreign player Gloire Amanda, a Tanzanian-born Canadian citizen, in SPL and SPL2 matches. Hougang had submitted Amanda's work permit application to the FAS but not the approved work permit as Amanda had yet to receive his
work permit. Prior to discovery, Amanda had played three matches, two in SPL and one in SPL2. FAS fined Hougang and overturned the results for the 1-0 win against
BG Tampines Rovers in SPL2 to a 0-3 loss and the 2-0 win against the
Young Lions in the SPL to a 0-3 loss also. The other match against
Lion City Sailors in the SPL which was a 1-5 loss remains unchanged as it is a greater margin than 0-3. As a result, Hougang dropped from fifth to sixth in the table. == Team image ==