Football: S'porean businessman Jason Lim finds success with Laos football club

SINGAPORE - In 2020, Singapore Premier League (SPL) outfit Lion City Sailors heralded a new era in local football when they became the first privatised club here. Backed by Singaporean billionaire Forrest Li, the defending SPL champions have become a headline act in the local scene.

About 2,000km away in a more modest environment in Vientiane, another Singaporean entrepreneur Jason Lim has been quietly building a championship contender too - Lao Premier League (LPL) side Young Elephants FC.

It is a side that he inherited from ground zero after he was appointed president and chairman of the club in 2018.

Young Elephants were founded in 2015 by the Lao Football Federation (LFF) with the aim of giving exposure to footballers aged 16 to 19 years old and helping them launch their professional careers.

But in 2017, the LFF gave up ownership of the club due to rules around club licencing and privatisation and sought out Lim, who was well known to the federation due to his voluntary work as team manager for the Laos Under-23 team between 2009 and 2017. A year later, Lim took the reins. He also roped in other Singaporeans based in Laos - Kevin Pereira and Philip Tay - as board members.

Said Lim, 54, who has also served as president of the Singapore Business Association in Laos (SBAL) since 2017: "When I was approached, I told the people at LFF that I will try to do what I can. But as time went by, I grew into the role and I love what I do.

"It's been very tough and owning a football club in Laos is not easy especially due to a lack of sponsorship. People here are not making (enough) money for themselves so why would they provide for a club?

"I have had to build almost everything from zero with the help of friends who have chipped in here and there."

In the club's inaugural season in the LPL in 2018, they finished sixth in the eight-team league. Two years later, the club won their first domestic Cup competition - the Lao FF Cup - to qualify for this year's Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup. They are also currently leading the LPL after nine matches, yielding seven wins and two draws.

On Friday (June 24), Young Elephants made their AFC Cup debut in a 5-1 defeat by V-League 1 runners-up Viettel at the Thong Nhat Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City. On Monday, they will face fellow Group I competitors Hougang United. The Cheetahs posted a 4-3 victory over Cambodian champions Phnom Penh Crown to start their campaign last Friday.

Singapore's other representative, Tampines Rovers, are in Kuala Lumpur and will face Malaysia Cup winners Kuala Lumpur City and Indonesia's PSM Makassar in Group H. Both groups are part of the Asean Zone, along with Group G. The three group winners, along with the best runner-up, will advance to the zonal semi-finals.

Lim's development of the Young Elephants to what it is today resembles his own life. An avid Singapore football fan, he admitted that he was not good enough to play the game at a professional level. He joined the TATA-Government Training Centre under the Economic Development Board and learned technical skills which he then put to use as a Precision Machinist for an oil rig.

While visiting friends while on holiday around South-east Asia in 1997, Lim fell in love with Laos' simplicity. He seized the opportunity and settled there. Today, he has a family there and two companies - a surveillance system company called Smart Solutions and a construction and maintenance firm Lim Trading Group.

But Lim's real love lies in football and his dream of getting the club to qualify for continental competition has been achieved.

Yet, this has required significant outlay. Lim said that he has spent close to $1 million since taking over the club. The bulk of the expenditure has gone towards raising players' salaries. Lim shared that while most players in the LPL earn an average of US$200 (S$277.84) a month, his players earn double that amount.

He also visits Peninsula Plaza in Singapore each year to buy the latest football boots for the whole squad so that his players "truly feel like professional players".

He explained that most of his players come from rural provinces.

He said: "Of course, there is no guaranteed return in football ownership. But many of the players at my club have been here since they were 15 or 16. They grew up with me. They are not just players, they are family to me. It's not a journey, its a relationship.

"Is it difficult? Of course. I have wanted to give up many times but I ask myself - where will these players go? What will happen to them?"

Lim credits Singapore football icon V. Sundram Moorthy, now LFF's technical director, with helping him get his dream off the ground.

Lim said: "He is one of those who has guided me so much. He taught me a lot with his experience. I am so grateful to him."

Another Singaporean that Lim has leaned on is Satyasagara (formerly known as K. Balagumaran), who was the head coach of Hougang from 2015 to 2016. The 57-year-old was appointed Young Elephants head coach in March.

Coach Satyasagara was full of praise for Lim.

He said: "When he told me of his vision, I was immediately interested. You can't ask for a more supportive president. He is very much involved and in fact, he is at the training ground every single day. He treats the players like his own sons."

Against Hougang, Satyasagara said he is confident his side can put up a stiff challenge to the Singapore team, who are now fifth in the eight-team SPL.

After all, Laos had taken a 2-0 lead against Singapore at the recent SEA Games before the two sides eventually drew 2-2. It was the second consecutive Games that the Young Lions had failed to beat the Laotians.

Satyasagara said: "Even results from the national team matches show you that teams from Laos are no longer pushovers.

"We are still a work in progress but we will give our all in the tournament. We can give Hougang a good fight."