SINGAPORE – At 18, Delwinder Singh made history by becoming the youngest club captain of an S.League (now known as Singapore Premier League) club when he skippered Tanjong Pagar United in 2011.
Twelve years later, he has achieved another milestone by becoming the first Singaporean footballer to sign for a Cambodian club as he joined Siem Reap-based Angkor Tiger FC on a one-year deal.
The 30-year-old defender said: “Having witnessed first-hand the high level of football that they play in Cambodia, I am very excited to be able to showcase my skills in this growing competitive league.
“It is an honour for me to learn that I am the first Singaporean player here, and I will do my best with my SPL and national team experience to make my country proud.”
The Tigers were founded in 2015, and play at the 5,000-seater Hanuman Stadium. They finished seventh out of eight Cambodian Premier League teams in 2022 and have never finished higher than fourth (in 2015).
However, they have shown their ambition by signing Ben Nugent, a 30-year-old English defender who was Cardiff City’s Young Player of the Year in 2012-13 when they won the Championship to earn promotion to the English Premier League.
Singh will also be reunited with his former Jaguars teammate and Japanese midfielder Shodai Nishikawa. Meanwhile, fellow Singaporean and former Hougang United coach Clement Teo is helming another CPL club Boueng Ket.
Since kicking off his professional football career with the Jaguars, Singh has featured in more than 200 SPL games for Geylang International, Young Lions, Hougang, Warriors FC and Balestier Khalsa. Before heading to Cambodia, he played five games for the Eagles and scored once. He has also been capped five times by the Lions.
Tigers coach Alistair Heath said: “We have been scouting Delwinder for some time now, and we like what we see. I know he has what it takes to play in a variety of positions, and we are certainly going to benefit from his leadership, aggression and defensive acumen.”
While Cambodia are ranked 176th in world football, 18 rungs behind Singapore, they have made improvements in recent years, and beat the Philippines at the 2022 AFF Championships.
The new CPL season, featuring 10 teams, starts on Aug 5, before the Tigers begin their campaign away at Dangkor on Aug 6.
