BG Tampines Rovers replace coach Akbar Nawas after just 83 days despite unbeaten start to season
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Akbar Nawas was surprisingly removed as BG Tampines Rovers head coach after just 83 days and unbeaten start to season.
PHOTO: BERITA HARIAN
Follow topic:
- BG Tampines Rovers and head coach Akbar Nawas have mutually agreed to part ways after 83 days, despite an unbeaten start.
- He led the Stags to win the 2025-26 Community Shield, their first silverware since 2020, before his departure.
- Tampines assistant coach Noh Rahman is expected to replace Akbar ahead of the Sept 13 SPL match against Tanjong Pagar.
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SINGAPORE – In a surprise move, BG Tampines Rovers have parted ways with coach Akbar Nawas despite an unbeaten start to the season, which saw the Singapore Premier League (SPL) side lift the Community Shield.
The Stags made the announcement on social media on Sept 11, two days before their SPL match against Tanjong Pagar United, adding that “a mutual decision has been reached between the club and head coach Akbar Nawas to part ways with immediate effect”.
This was Akbar’s second stint as Stags coach, which lasted just 83 days.
The Straits Times understands that Tampines assistant coach and head of youth development Noh Rahman, 45, will step up to replace the 49-year-old.
Under Akbar, who was unveiled as Tampines coach on June 20 to replace Gavin Lee, the Stags had made a bright start to the season.
They stunned SPL champions Lion City Sailors 4-1 in the Community Shield on Aug 16 and beat Cebu 3-1 in their opening Asean Club Championship group game four days later, before a 0-0 draw with Geylang International in their SPL opener on Aug 24.
In response to ST’s request for comment, Tampines chairman Shungo Sakamoto expressed gratitude to Akbar for his “tremendous contributions” as the team achieved “remarkable results”.
He added that they decided on a mutual parting of ways and “amicably decided to hand over the baton to the younger generation” in order to “further the team’s growth”.
When contacted, Akbar and Tampines players declined comment.
Akbar had begun his coaching career with the Tampines Under-21s a decade ago while also assisting then first-team coach V. Sundramoorthy in 2015.
He assumed the reins of the first team in 2016, led them to second-placed finishes in the league and Singapore Cup, and took the club to the quarter-finals of the AFC Cup before he left in 2017 to coach overseas.
He took Filipino side Global Cebu to the Singapore Cup final and knockout rounds of the AFC Cup in 2017, before winning India’s I-League with Chennai City in 2019.
He returned to Singapore in 2021 to lead Balestier Khalsa, but resigned less than a year into his two-year contract to join Thai League 2 side Udon Thani in 2022.
In 2023, he became the first Singaporean to lead a top-tier Thai team when he signed with Nakhon Pathom United.
After finishing 12th out of 16 teams in his first season, and a poor start to the following season, he resigned in September 2024.
