Last Saturday, a landmark agreement was signed between Singapore Premier League giants Tampines Rovers and Thai League 1 powerhouses BG Pathum United, which will see the Glass Rabbits take over day-to-day operations at the Stags after three years in an unprecedented measure to take Singaporean football to the next level.
Tampines themselves will receive numerous benefits from this agreement, which include access to BGPU’s state-of-the-art training facilities, shared knowledge regarding football technology and sports science, as well as benefits in marketing, social media, and fan engagement.
As part of the agreement, Tampines Rovers will be renamed into BG Tampines Rovers from the 2024 season, with Thai company Bangkok Glass PCL, the owners of BGPU, becoming the Stags’ main sponsor.
With BGPU set to take control of Tampines after three years, it is hoped that more football clubs in Singapore will be open for privatization. Currently the Lion City Sailors, owned by tech company Sea, are the only fully-privatized football club in the island nation, while Geylang International have recently become a partner to the City Football Group, who currently own the likes of Manchester City, Melbourne City, Mumbai City, New York City, and Girona, which goes alongside the Eagles’ current partnership with J.League 3 side Matsumoto Yamaga.
With the partnership, Tampines are set to receive a wide range of benefits on and off the field from both the Thai League 1 side and their affiliated club, Cerezo Osaka in the J.League 1.
Speaking after the signing ceremony, Tampines chairman Desmond Ong told the Strait Times that former Stags head coach and current head of youth football for BGPU, Kadir Yahaya, played a pivotal role in securing the deal.
“Kadir has a good relationship with the club, so we were exploring various options for collaboration,” said Desmond, as quoted from the Strait Times, “Then we realized that an invitation was extended by (national football project) Unleash The Roar! and the Football Association of Singapore for them and other clubs around the region to play a part in the SPL and help raise the standards of the league, so we pitched this possibility.”
BGPU’s director of international operations Philip Tan revealed that they had three options – joining the league using a home-and-away format, setting up a satellite team in the SPL, or their current partnership. And with Albirex Niigata Singapore – the SPL’s last remaining foreign satellite team – set to transition themselves into a local outfit from the 2024 season, the option for a partnership with Tampines is the most viable one for the Glass Rabbits.
With Tampines having full access to BGPU’s facility as well as the Glass Rabbits’ know-how, player movement between the Stags and BGPU as well as Cerezo is also likely.
Ong said, “With Pathum in the picture, we’ll be looking more at Thai players. And Cerezo are willing to introduce us Japanese players, so we hope to leverage on this partnership to see who’s available to add to the roster. We also hope our local players are good enough to go and train with them.”
He noted the coaching team will remain unchanged, adding, “I hope to let the coaches concentrate just on football. They’ve double-hatted for a long time, helping to build the club and get policies right, and it’s a relief to see Pathum willing to send people like their analysts over.”
Tampines have a long history in Singaporean football. Formed in 1945, they were part of eight founding members of the S-League (now known as the SPL) in 1996. They have since amassed five league titles, four Singapore Cups, and five Singapore Charity Shields, while internationally the Stags have one ASEAN Club Championship title to their name as well as making several appearances in the AFC Cup and becoming the second Singaporean side to appear in the AFC Champions League group stages in 2021.
However, 2023 hasn’t gone ideally for Tampines, with the Stags finishing third in the recently-concluded SPL and being dumped out of this season’s AFC Cup after losing 3-2 to Cambodian champions Phnom Penh Crown in the qualifying play-offs.
The relationship between Tampines and Thailand had gone way back, long before the BGPU partnership was penned. Former coach and fan favourite Vorawan Chitavanich guided them to their first two S-League titles and two Singapore Cups during their golden era in the mid 2000s, with Vorawan also being the man who led Tampines to the ASEAN Club Championship title in 2005.
Port FC co-head coach Choketawee Promrut and Bankhai United gaffer Sutee Suksomkit had also played for Tampines during their playing days.
An eager Desmond is looking forward to BGPU’s contributions, stating: “I’m very confident when at some point I walk off into the sunset, I’m leaving the club in good hands.”