February 1st marked significant importance for one Baihakki Khaizan. On that date, the Singaporean defender – one of the greatest players from his country – officially announced his retirement, calling time on an 18-year career that saw him play in four Southeast Asian countries.
One day after Baihakki had celebrated his 38th birthday, the defender took to social media to announce his retirement, posting a poignant video with an equally touching caption.
“The day has come for me to officially announce that I am retiring from the sport,” Baihakki wrote on his caption, with his video showcasing Baihakki draped in the colors of Geylang United (now Geylang International), his first-ever club, “It’s tough, but I’m glad that I am able to pick a day, putting all the pieces together and decide to move on to another chapter of my life.”
Baihakki’s retirement video displayed him sitting inside an empty stadium in his Geylang United uniform before switching to him playing football by himself in a public field, all while the veteran defender narrates his love for the beautiful game. A slideshow then comes up, displaying Baihakki in his glory days throughout his 18 years of playing.
“Never in my wildest dreams that you would teach me the greatest lesson in my life. Bringing me to foreign lands, to exciting adventures, to the heights of success,” Baihakki narrates before the slideshow ends to show a small clothes rack, which displayed the shirts of some of the teams that Baihakki had represented throughout his career.
Along with his Geylang United shirt, the rack had a Singapore national team shirt, a Persija Jakarta shirt, a Johor Darul Ta’zim shirt, a Trat FC shirt, a Muangthong United shirt, an Udon Thani FC shirt, and a PT Prachuap shirt.
“But today, we part,” said a teary-eyed Baihakki, clearly emotional from his decision, “Not with sadness, but with gratitude and humbleness.”
Baihakki admitted in the caption that he broke down several times whilst recording the part where he said “we part,” but nonetheless the former Singapore captain said that his retirement video does not mark the end, it marks “a new beginning.”
Starting off his career in 2003 with Geylang United, Baihakki moved to Young Lions in 2004 and stayed there until 2007, before returning to Geylang United in 2008. Staying at the Eagles until 2009, Baihakki then moved to Indonesia, where he became one of the few men who donned the colors of Indonesian El Clasico rivals Persija and Persib Bandung, before joining the breakaway league that was the Liga Prima Indonesia (LPI) with Medan Chiefs in 2011, where he played alongside compatriot Shahril Ishak – the duo were previously teammates at Persib.
Both Baihakki and Shahril then returned to Singapore in 2012, joining the island state’s LionsXII project. The project saw the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) fielding a team in the Liga Super Malaysia called LionsXII and almost immediately Baihakki established himself as a mainstay in LionsXII’s defense, winning the 2013 Liga Super Malaysia title with them.
Baihakki then joined JDT in 2014 and after an unimpressive spell – which saw him being loaned out to LionsXII in the same year – the defender was transferred to the Southern Tigers’ reserve team down at the Liga Premier Malaysia, JDT II. There Baihakki fared better, playing 52 times and scoring 3 goals in his two seasons with the reserves.
A brief stint back in Singapore with Warriors FC then ensued, before Baihakki embarked to his third Southeast Asian country – Thailand. Baihakki joined Muangthong in 2018, however, he did not make an appearance with the Kirins at all. Instead, Baihakki was loaned out to Muangthong’s satellite club Udon Thani in the Thai second-tier, playing 20 times as he became the first Singaporean to score in the Thai football pyramid.
Baihakki left Muangthong at the end of the 2018 season, joining newly-promoted Trat. He spent only one season with the White Elephants, before moving to Prachuap for the 2020 season.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic meant that Baihakki’s stay at Prachuap was a brief one, and with his desire to be closer with his family throughout these tough times in his mind, Baihakki mutually terminated his contract with the Killer Wasps and went home to Singapore, joining Tampines Rovers. The Stags would end up becoming Baihakki’s final port of call, with the defender representing them for two seasons.
Despite retiring as a player, Baihakki has stated that he has no intentions to step away from the world of football just yet.
“I want to understand the game more from a management perspective,” said Baihakki, as quoted from Mothership, before continuing to say that he would try to help contribute to the progression of Singaporean football.
Hailed as one of the greatest Singaporean defenders out there, Baihakki made over 100 appearances for the Singapore national team throughout his career, lifting three AFF Championships with them and grabbing bronze in the 2007 SEA Games. Despite retiring from international duty in 2019 with 134 caps to his name, Singapore’s then-head coach Tatsuma Yoshida convinced Baihakki to return for one last dance, with the defender turning out for Singapore throughout their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.