Tampines Rovers FC

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,[2] who guided them to the Singapore Cup and two fourth-place finishes.[3]

Vorawan Chitavanich reign (2004 – 2010)

The 2000s marked the golden era of the Stags as under the management of Thailand coach, Vorawan Chitavanich which the club amassed a squad filled with stalwarts like Nazri Nasir, Noh Alam Shah, Sead Muratović, Rezal Hassan and countless others.[4] Together, they clinched Tampines Rovers's first S.League titles and the Singapore Cup double in 2004.[5] 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.[6] The Stags were the 2006 Singapore Cup champions, but finished runners-up to SAFFC in the 2006 S.League.[7][8] In 2011, Tampines Rovers appoointed Steven Tan as coach for the 2011 S.League season replacing Vorawan Chitavanich who moved up to become the club technical director.

S.League three-peat (2011 – 2013)

As another star-studded cast with players 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 won three-peats consecutive S.League titles in 2011, 2012 and 2013 in which they also went on to win 4 consecutive Singapore Community Shield in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Tampines Rovers also went on to win the 2014 Singapore League Cup Plate Winners.

Jermaine Pennant was the talk of the town buzzing through the local football which saw an initial spike in interest at Tampines Rovers games that saw crowds of more than 4,000 turning up to see him play.

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 F.A from Malaysia and Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi from Bangladesh.[9] Tampines Rovers finished second place in Group E which will see 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 Global F.C in the quarterfinals 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 FC 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 Singapore.

Tampines Rovers vs Selangor F.A during the 2016 AFC Cup group stages on 10 May 2016 at the Singapore National Stadium.

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 Brunei DPMM, Warriors FC and Bury FC 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 F.C.

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 FC utility player, Son Yong Chan, Japanese Teenage winger, Ryutaro Megumi and former Croatia U17 International, Ivan Jakov Džoni. They too did sign a couple of local free agents last season. Notable local signings would include Singapore National Team Defensive Pairing, Madhu Mohana and Daniel Bennett from Warriors FC and Geylang International. The most notable one would be the sudden resignation of coach Akbar Nawas who left the club just 1 month before the start of the season and was replaced by former Garena Young Lions Coach, Jürgen Raab. The Stags started off the 2017 campaign losing the 2017 Singapore Community Shield to Albirex Niigata Singapore.

They took on Global F.C. in the AFC Champions League Play-offs this season but unfortunately lost to them 2–0, which meant that they would be playing in the 2017 AFC Cup this season which they are drawn in Group G with Ceres–Negros from Philippines, Hà Nội from Vietnam and FELDA United from Malaysia but ended up in third place with 2 wins and 4 losses.

Midway through the season, club chairman, Mr 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, Mr Desmond Ong had been confirmed by FAS as the new chairman of the club and had also appointed a totally brand new committee for the club moving forward. The Stags finished the season as runner-ups in the league with 8 points' difference to Albirex Niigata Singapore.

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 the initiative to offer longer term contracts to their players. They have 3 models of contracts for their players. The first kind of contract is that the players would be able to get a set increment at the end of every year. Second kind of contract (mainly for the U23 players) is that there would be a year-end review at the end of the season to decide on the amount of increment. The last kind of contract is that their salary would be 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 FC 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 has 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 had debuted their new home jersey during the AFC Champions League Play-off against Bali United. The away and third kit would be revealed in Feb 2018. The club would be facing 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 Asian Champions League 2018 Play-off game. Their first game would be 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.

Tampines Rovers started the 2019 season making a slew of changes to both the team coaching set up and as well as the playing staff this off season. In view of the undesirable results from the previous season, head coach, Jürgen Raab was relieved from his coaching duties. There was an overhaul of the technical team as Khadir Yahaya was roped in as head coach. While last year's assistant coach, Gavin Lee was promoted to first-team coach while he completes his AFC "A" Coaching License while former club captain, Mustafić Fahrudin stayed on with the club after his retirement to be the assistant coach of the team. Former player, Isa Halim was brought in to be the fitness coach, together with goalkeeper coach, William Phang forms the new technical team. The team had also signed a number of young players to the team from the National Football Academy, they had also signed 2 new Serbian U-21 players, Zehrudin Mehmedović and Mirza Delimeđac. At the same time the team had also signed goalkeeper, Zufairuuz Rudy from Hougang United. Shahdan Sulaiman had also returned from his loan stint at Melaka United. As backup goalkeeper, Haikal Hasnol was loaned to Home United due to National Service Commitments. Irfan Fandi had also been loaned to Young Lions due to National Service Commitments as well. Notable players such as Hafiz Abu Sujad, Afiq Yunos and Fazrul Nawaz had moved to Hougang United. At the same time, Fahrudin Mustafić had also retired from the game and is now working as an assistant coach in the team.

In pre-season, the team had taken on NFL Side, Singapore Cricket Club before traveling to Thailand to participate in the LEO Cup playing against Chiangrai United and Chiangrai City. After coming back from Thailand, they took on NFL Side, Katong FC before facing Johor Darul Ta'zim II and Albirex Niigata Singapore. Notably in their final friendly game against Albirex Niigata Singapore, they beat Albirex Niigata Singapore 4-0. In the attendance of a healthy crowd watching the friendly game. It was also announced that Hyundai has returned to be the main sponsor of the club since not partnering with the club from 2017. ANA Courier Express and Gatorade has continued their partnership with the club as well. ecoWise has also come on board as well. Hummel had also released the club's new jersey and the jersey had been specially designed and made for the club.

Tampines Rovers was drawn in Group F with Hà Nội, Yangon United and Nagaworld. Their first official game of the season would be a trip to Yangon, Myanmar to take on Yangon United in the 2019 AFC Cup. A game in which they came from behind to beat Yangon United 3-1 after trailing at the end of the first half. Thanks to goals from Khairul Amri, Zehrudin Mehmedović and Ryutaro Megumi. The Stags 2019 AFC Cup campaign come to an end when they ended the group stage matches with 13 points together with Hà Nội which will see the Vietnamese club finishing as group leaders with a 18+ goals difference qualifying to the next round.

They would kick start their campaign in the 2019 Singapore Premier League season on 3 March 2019 against Hougang United at the Jalan Besar Stadium. After a streak of impressive wins, the team had a slight dip of form drawing the next 4 games, winning 2 and losing 2. At the same time top striker, Khairul Amri had left to sign for FELDA United in the Malaysia Super League. Tampines Rovers went on to win the 2019 Singapore Cup in the final against Warriors FC.

The 2020 season marked the 75 years since the club's founding. On 14 January 2020, the club kicks off its 2020 campaign against Bali United in an AFC Champions League play off.[10] The game ended in a thrilling 5-3, with Bali United winning the tie with 2 goals in extra-time. This meant that Tampines Rovers would play in the 2020 AFC Cup instead ending up in Group H of the competition with Kaya–Iloilo, PSM Makassar and Shan United. On 22 February 2020, Tampines Rovers won the their record 5th time Singapore Community Shield against Hougang United. The Stags goes on to start the league magnificently, winning 3 out of their 3 opening fixtures without conceding a goal and scoring 7 along the way, putting 4 past recently acquired Lion City Sailors. On the other hand, The 2020 AFC Cup was no different, winning 2 and drawing 1 of their 3 games. However, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the league was halted from 27 March 2020.

The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth approved the season recommencement on 17 October 2020. Competition rule changes included the provision for two water breaks during a match, and clubs will be able to use up to five substitutions (in defined windows after half-time). In addition only 11 more matches per team were to be played over 49 days. With the season ending on 5 December 2020. Tampines began their return with their first loss of the season to Hougang United. However they recovered with a superb win over favourites, Albirex Niigata Singapore. They went on to finish the season unbeaten in their next 9 games but ultimately finished 2nd, 3 points off Albirex Niigata Singapore at top spot. It was their draws at Geylang International, Balestier Khalsa and Hougang United that cost them. However, they qualified for the 2021 AFC Champions League due to Albirex Niigata's inability to qualify for Continental competitions as they were a satellite team of Albirex Niigata of Japan.

AFC Champions League debut

Syazwan

Madhu

Irwan

Ryann

Bennett

Mehmedović

Kyoga

Yasir

Ryan Tan

Kopitović

Bošnjak

Tampines Rovers 2021 AFC Champions League Group Stage debut against Gamba Osaka at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on 25 June 2021

The 2021 season marked Tampines debut in the 2021 AFC Champions League who were drawn in Group H and take on two-time AFC Champions League winners Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors of Korea Republic, J-League runners up and 2008 AFC Champions League winners Gamba Osaka and Thailand outfits, Chiangrai United.While it was a tough debut for Gavin Lee's charges, veteran defender Daniel Bennett did create a slice of history when he scored their only goal during their fifth group encounter against Gamba Osaka in an 8-1 defeat at the Bunyodkor Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. At 43 years and 181 days, Bennett also eclipsed Dejan Damjanović (39y 341d) as the oldest ever scorer in the tournament's history. The 2021 Singapore Premier League season ended with Tampines Rovers finishing in 4th place which will see them qualified for the 2022 AFC Cup.

Five Years contract extension

Kyoga Nakamura being handed a new five-year lengthy deal by the Stags in an unprecedented move in Singaporean football, making it the longest contract extension in Singaporean league history reaffirming his commitment to the club. The lengthy deal would see Kyoga remaining as a Stag till December 2026 and could also pave the way for another naturalized footballer and also being a Singaporean citizenship. Tampines Rovers also announced a five-year contract for promising star, Shah Shahiran and Joel Chew committing their future to the club.

The Stags started off the 2022 season with in a 2-2 draw against Balestier Khalsa on 26 February 2022. Tampines Rovers started off the 2022 AFC Cup group stage in late June playing at the Kuala Lumpur Stadium as a centralised venue to face Kuala Lumpur City and PSM Makassar however they lost both matches. The 2022 Singapore Cup returns after a 2-years hiatus due to the competition being cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore which saw the Stags having a great run to the Cup Final before losing to 3-2 to Hougang United.

The 2023 season saw star player, Zehrudin Mehmedović leaving the club after staying with the club for 4 years. Tampines Rovers than replace the last foreigner slot bringing in Miloš Zlatković, Lion City Sailors stars, Faris Ramli and Saifullah Akbar also joined the club. Faris started the first 4 league games scoring a goal in each of the consecutive four matches. The Stags see themselves as host of the 2023–24 AFC Cup qualifying ASEAN play-offs zone against Cambodian side, Phnom Penh Crown at the Jalan Besar Stadium on 23 August 2023.

On 23 September 2023, Tampines Rovers have inked a three-year collaboration with Thailand club, BG Pathum United. As part of the agreement, the Singaporean outfit will be renamed as BG Tampines Rovers from 2024 onwards. Kadir Yahaya who was the former Tampines Rovers head coach and the current head of youth football for BG Pathum, played a pivotal role in securing the deal.

As of 30 June 2023[11]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 4 DF  JPN Shuya Yamashita 7 MF  SGP Yasir Hanapi (captain) 8 MF  SGP Shah Shahiran 9 FW  MNE Boris Kopitović 10 MF  JPN Kyoga Nakamura (vice-captain) 11 FW  SGP Glenn Kweh U23 12 MF  SGP Amirul Haikal U23 13 FW  SGP Taufik Suparno 15 MF  SGP Syed Firdaus Hassan 16 MF  SGP Joel Chew U23

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF  SGP Rezza Rezky U23 20 MF  SGP Saifullah Akbar 21 MF  SGP Firdaus Kasman 22 DF  SGP Syahrul Sazali 23 DF  SGP Irfan Najeeb 24 GK  SGP Syazwan Buhari (vice-captain) 30 FW  SGP Faris Ramli 31 GK  SGP Ridhuan Barudin 33 DF  SRB Miloš Zlatković 45 DF  SGP Hamizan Hisham U23

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 51 MF  SGP Taras Goh Jun Xian U21 52 DF  SGP Adam Ali U21 54 MF  SGP Jovan Ang U21 55 DF  SGP Kegan Phang U21 56 DF  SGP Zeeshan Iskandar U21 57 FW  SGP Lim Zheng Wu U21 58 MF  SGP Caelan Cheong Tze Jay U21 60 MF  SGP Matthias Koesno U21 63 GK  SGP Sunny Tia U21 64 MF  SGP Ong Yu En U21 66 DF  SGP Hadirul Harraz U21

No. Pos. Nation Player 67 GK  SGP Jayden Khoo U21 68 DF  SGP Irfan Rifqi U21 69 DF  SGP Adam Reefdy U21 71 DF  SGP Ilham Iskandar U21 72 DF  SGP Shaddiq Mansor U21 73 DF  SGP Ryaan Sanizal U21 75 MF  SGP Yusril Hanapi U21 77 FW  SGP Ali Manaf U21 78 MF  SGP Neel Manoj Nannat U21 79 MF  SGP Anton Yen Goh U21 80 FW  SGP Aqil Rusyaidi U21

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 FW  SGP Marc Ryan Tan (NS till 2024) 6 MF  SGP Iman Hakim (NS till 2025, to Young Lions FC) 55 MF  SGP Ethan Henry Pinto (NS till 2025, to Young Lions FC) 70 DF  SGP Andrew Aw (NS till 2025, to Young Lions FC) 5 DF  SGP Danish Irfan Azman (to Geylang International)

Position	Name
General Manager	William Phang
Head Coach	Gavin Lee
Assistant Coach	Fahrudin Mustafić
Fitness Coach	Tan Guo Xiong
Goalkeeper Coach	William Phang
Physiotherapist	Trevor Lee John Wong
Head of Youth	Noh Rahman
Video analyst	Nathaniel Tan
Sports Trainer	Chong Wei Zhi Hannah Goh
Logistics Officer	Goh Koon Hiang
Photographer	Shintaro Tay

Reference:[12]

League

• Singapore Premier League
  • Champions (5): 2004, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2013
  • Runners up (8): 2006, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020
• National Football League Division One
  • Winners (3): 1979, 1980, 1984

Cups

• Singapore Cup:
  • Champions (4): 2002, 2004, 2006, 2019
  • Runners up (4): 2007, 2010, 2012, 2016,
• Singapore Community Shield (record)
  • Champions (5): 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2020
  • Runners up (2): 2017, 2018
• Singapore League Cup:
  • Plate Winners: 2014

• ASEAN Club Championship: 1
  • Winners (1): 2005

Rank	Player	Club appeareances	Total goals
1	Aleksandar Đurić	181	103
2	Boris Kopitović	105	90
3	Khairul Amri	129	66
4	Jordan Webb	119	53
5	Noh Alam Shah	125	48
6	Yasir Hanapi	202	40
7	Fahrudin Mustafić	303	38
8	Shahdan Sulaiman	205	36
9	Jamil Ali	178	32
10	Taufik Suparno	129	30

• Biggest Wins: 9-0 vs Police SA (On 19 July 2014)
• Heaviest Defeats: 9-0 vs Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (On 1 July 2021)
• Youngest Goal scorers: Saifullah Akbar ~ 17 years 5 months 12 days old (On 13 July 2016 vs Hougang United)
• Oldest Goal scorers: Aleksandar Đurić ~ 43 years 9 months 11 days old (On 23 May 2014 vs Young Lions)
• Youngest ever debutant: Caelen Chong ~ 16 years 7 months 12 days old (On 3 September 2022 vs Balestier Khalsa)