Tampines Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Tampines, Singapore, that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. Founded in 1945, the club has won 5 league titles, 4 Singapore Cups, a record 6 Community Shields and 1 ASEAN Club Championship.
Tampines Rovers is one of the more widely supported football clubs in Singapore, attracting high attendances at both home and away games. Its main rival is Geylang International, with whom they contest in the 'Eastern Derby'.
History Several football enthusiasts from Tampines decided to form a football club in 1945. After many name changes, they finally decided on "Tampines Rovers" as the official club name. The Stags spent the 1950s and 1960s competing in the Singapore Amateur Football Association League, where they were among the top teams, until they were placed in Division II of the newly formed National Football League in 1974.
1975 was a watershed year for Tampines, as they were promoted to Division I after winning all their league matches and reached the President's Cup final, where they lost 0–1 to the Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association in front of a national record crowd of 30,000. They continued to challenge for honours over the next decade, reaching another President’s Cup final in 1978, then emerging as national champions in 1979, 1980, and 1984.
The Stags were relegated to the second tier in 1988, but won their league in 1994 under a new management team. They were one of eight clubs selected to compete in the newly formed S.League.Malathi Das and Palakrishnan (1996), "S.League: the kick-off", Singapore Professional Football League Pte Ltd, p. 50
S.League era (1996–2017) However, Tampines did not finish higher than sixth place in the first six seasons of the S.League. In 2002, the Stags secured the services of Malaysian coach, Chow Kwai Lam,Fariq Rahman, "Kwai Lam helming S-League club", The Malay Mail, 11 April 2002 who guided them to the Singapore Cup and two fourth-place finishes."Tampines Rovers beat Jurong FC 1–0 to win Singapore Cup", Channel NewsAsia, 14 October 2002
Vorawan Chitavanich era (2004–2010) The 2000s marked the golden era of Tampines Rovers under Thai head coach Vorawan Chitavanich, during which the club amassed a squad filled with stalwarts like Nazri Nasir, Noh Alam Shah, Sead Muratović, Fahrudin Mustafić and Rezal Hassan."S.League champs Tampines make it double with Singapore Cup win", Channel NewsAsia, 3 October 2004 Vorawan also recruited fellow both Thailand players, Santi Chaiyaphuak and Choketawee Promrut to strengthen the team. Together, they clinched Tampines Rovers's first S.League and Singapore Cup double in 2004. The following season, they successfully defended their S.League title in 2005, were named the "S.League Team of the Decade" and became the first Singapore team to win the ASEAN Club Championship.Alvin Foo, "Tampines are S-League Team of the Decade", The Straits Times, 21 November 2005 The Stags were the 2006 Singapore Cup champions, but finished runners-up to SAFFC in the league.Atsushi Fujioka, "Singapore – List of Champions ", RSSSF, 8 November 2012.Erlan Manaschev, "Singapore – List of Cup Winners ", RSSSF, 8 November 2012. Tampines Rovers then ended the 2007 season in third place finishing two points behind league champions and runners-up, SAFFC and Home United. Vorawan also recruited more Thai players like Attapong Kittichamratsak, Sutee Suksomkit, Sanrawat Dechmitr in their foreign quota for the 2008 season.
Three-peat champions (2011–2013) In 2011, Tampines Rovers appointed Steven Tan as head coach, replacing Vorawan who was promoted to technical director. On the pitch, club stalwarts like Mustafić Fahrudin and Aliff Shafaein, who were part of the 2004 and 2005 winning sides, were joined by the likes of Aleksandar Đurić, Benoît Croissant, and Jamil Ali. The Stags then went on to win three consecutive S.League titles in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and 4 consecutive Singapore Community Shield in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Tampines Rovers also went on to win the Plate in the 2014 Singapore League Cup.
On 19 January 2016, Former Arsenal and Liverpool winger, Jermaine Pennant signed a one-year contract which he took a 70% pay cut from his salary earned at Wigan Athletic. It was reported that he would earn a salary of SGD$40,000 (£19,500) per month, which made him the highest-paid player in the history of the domestic professional football league.
For the 2016 season, with the club signing 9 Lions XII players, Tampines Rovers began with 6 unbeaten matches in the S.League. In February, Tampines Rovers started with the 2016 AFC Cup being drawn in Group E with Ceres from Philippines, Selangor from Malaysia and Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi from Bangladesh. Tampines Rovers finished second place in Group E which saw them through to the Round of 16 with 10 points leaving Selangor F.A behind, with 2 points' difference. The Round of 16 was won with 10 men by Tampines Rovers versus Mohun Bagan from India by a late goal from Afiq Yunos in the after extra time which resulted in 1–2 win at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium. This was also V. Sundramoorthy's last match before taking on the Singapore national team job as care taker. V. Sundramoorthy's successor was his assistant coach, Akbar Nawas. He was appointed to be the next head coach of Tampines Rovers followed with 8 straight wins and 28 goals. Tampines Rovers started the 2016 Singapore Cup with a double win playing against Philippines club Global in the quarter-finals before facing another club from same country, Ceres in the semi-finals which will see the Stags as the finalist of the 2016 Singapore Cup. On 14 September 2016, Tampines Rovers continued their 2016 AFC Cup Quarter-finals facing Bengaluru from India but was knocked out on a narrow 1–0 aggregate score on a 2 leg basis. The Stags finished the season as runner-ups in the league with 1 points' difference to Albirex Niigata (S).
In view of the financial woes faced by the club during the 2016 season, drastic measures were taken before the start of 2017 season. These would include cut in players and technical staff's salaries, shutting down of fruit machines to name a few. Club chairman, Mr Krishna Ramachandra had decided to make sweeping changes within the club to avoid the same issues happening as last season. The 3 foreign imports from last season, Billy Mehmet, Jordan Webb and Jermaine Pennant had been released from the club with them joining DPMM, Warriors and Bury respectively. The club had also ended their 15-year association with their long-term sponsor, Hyundai. A significant number of the playing staffs had also left the club as well, notably star player, Hafiz Abu Sujad who left the club for Thai League 2 side, BBCU.
The club had signed a trio of foreign young players to replace the 3 that had departed the end of last season. They would include former Ceres utility player, Son Yong Chan, Japanese teenager winger, Ryutaro Megumi and former Croatia U17 International, Ivan Jakov Džoni. They also signed a couple of local free agents. Notable local signings would include Singapore National Team Defensive Pairing, Madhu Mohana and Daniel Bennett from Warriors and Geylang International. The most drastic change during this period would be the sudden resignation of coach Akbar Nawas , who left the club just one month before the start of the season. He was replaced by former Garena Young Lions Coach, Jürgen Raab. Gavin Lee joined the club as an assistant coach. The Stags started off the 2017 campaign losing the 2017 Singapore Community Shield to Albirex Niigata (S).
The Stags took on Global in the AFC Champions League Play-offs. However, they lost 2–0, leading to them playing in the 2017 AFC Cup. The Stags were drawn in Group G with Ceres–Negros from Philippines, Hà Nội from Vietnam and FELDA United from Malaysia. Unfortunately, they ended up in third place with 2 wins and 4 losses.
Midway through the season, club chairman, Krishna Ramachandra had announced that he would be stepping down as chairman of the club, citing commitment issues as the reason. He stayed on as club chairman to assist in FAS in the auditing and settling the accounts of the club prior to the date of his official step down (22 August 2017). On 30 August 2017, Desmond Ong had been confirmed by FAS as the new chairman of the club. He also appointed a brand new committee for the club. The Stags finished the season as runner-ups in the league with 8 points' difference to Albirex Niigata (S).
Singapore Premier League era (2018–present) The 2018 season marked the beginning of the newly revamped Singapore Premier League era. The club started their 2018 season with an AFC Champions League Play-offs against Bali United but lost 3–1 seeing the Stags dropped to the 2018 AFC Cup. To ensure the job security of the players, Tampines Rovers started offering longer-term contracts to their players. They have 3 models of contracts for their players. The first kind of contract entails the players being able to obtain a set increment at the end of every year. The second kind of contract (mainly for the U23 players) comprises a year-end review at the end of the season to decide on the value of the increment. The last kind of contract entails a fixed salary, ie fhe salary would remain the same for the duration of the contract. Most of their players are securing a 2-3-year deal with the club.
Despite agreeing to a 3-year deal, the club has allowed midfielder, Shahdan Sulaiman, to go on a season-long loan to Melaka United, in view of long-term benefits for both clubs and the player. Some of the national players in the club had also moved on to play in overseas leagues as well. Thus the club had signed quality replacements to fill in the shoes for the players who had departed the club for other clubs. The club had also retained the services of Japanese midfielder, Ryutaro Megumi for the 2018 season. They had also brought back Canadian winger, Jordan Webb from Warriors to fill up the foreign quota of the team. The club has also signed quite a number of young players (mainly from the National U20 Squad and Tampines Rovers Prime League) to fill up the minimum quota of U23 players needed in the team for the new season.
The club signed a 2-year technical sponsorship deal with Danish Sportswear Company, Hummel in a deal worth S$100,000 per season. They would be providing the club with their Home, Away, Third Jerseys, as well as the training and team wear. They would not be having any main jersey sponsor in this upcoming season as the management had decided that the word "Hormat" (Respect in Malay) would be emblazoned across the chest for the upcoming season. They debuted their new home jersey during the AFC Champions League Play-off against Bali United. The away and third kit would be revealed in February 2018. The club faced Johor Darul Ta'zim from Malaysia, Persija Jakarta from Indonesia and Sông Lam Nghệ An from Vietnam in the 2018 AFC Cup after failing to advance from the 2018 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs. Their first game was played on 10 February 2018 against Sông Lam Nghệ An.
The club has also announced partnership with local private football academy JSSL Singapore. JSSL would look into the development of youth players from Under-6 to Under-14 age categories. The best players from the U6 to U14 categories would than be fast tracked to the stags U16 and U19 teams in the club's Center of Excellence and ultimately the first team. JSSL Singapore's general manager, Gavin Lee has also been assisting Head Coach, Jurgen Raab in the first team matters as Assistant Coach.
Head Coach Jurgen was relieved of his duties on 9 October 2018. In his two-year stint with Tampines Rovers, he brought them to finish in the league's second place in 2017 and fourth place in 2018.
Gavin Lee reign (2019–2025)