MP Tin Pei Ling joins Geylang revamp as club advisor
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S.League: MP Tin Pei Ling joins Geylang revamp as club advisor
Member of Parliament (MP) for MacPherson SMC Tin Pei Ling has joined S.League club Geylang International as a club advisor ahead of the new season.
The 32-year-old was unveiled in her latest role on Wednesday evening (10 February) at SAFRA Tampines. She will work with Geylang in their efforts to reach out to the community including providing guidance in areas like corporate social responsibility and grassroots football programmes, as well as fund-raising activities.
Tin, who will be the first woman advisor of Geylang, cited her passion for developing youth as one of the reasons for accepting the club’s invitation. She hopes the young Eagles will help inspire their peers and be role models for the next generation.
“So I hope that through sports, through football, we can engage a larger community and continue to cultivate younger Singaporeans,” she told the assembled reporters.
“I think this is something that is definitely a very meaningful endeavour. These are the things that really inspire me and I hope to be able to work closely with Geylang in this respect.”
New chairman reshaping Geylang
At the same event, Geylang also unveiled Epson Singapore as their main sponsor for the upcoming season. One of the world’s largest manufacturers of printers and projectors, Epson will provide printing and imaging equipment and services to support the club’s operations - the sponsorship value is estimated to be around $100,000.
Apart from Epson, Geylang also revealed a list of 11 other sponsors or partners, including New Balance, who will provide boots for the senior and Prime League teams, as well as kit sponsor THORB.
The appointment of Tin to help in community outreach and the influx of sponsors are the results of the efforts of new chairman Ben Teng to reshape the club since taking over last December.
The 41-year-old and his management team have secured new sponsors within one and a half months by working “relentlessly”, having approached close to 50 organisations.
MP for MacPherson SMC Tin Pei Ling with Geylang International's team managers, coaching staff and players, and …On the pitch, the club added new and exciting signings to bolster their squad, which has an average age of 26. Only four players were retained as nine former LionsXII players such as Gabriel Quak and Faritz Hameed arrived while Hasrin Jailani, who was part of the 2001 title-winning side - the last time the Eagles won the S.League - has been appointed to his first head coach role.
No 11-month contracts
On top of that, “quite a number” of the club’s players have been tied down to two-year contracts, with the rest on one-year deals, with the option to extend a further year. This is in contrast with the usual practice of offering 11-month contracts in the S.League.
Teng explained that the management team members are from the corporate world and were surprised to find out that it was the norm to offer 11-month contracts in the league when they came on board.
“We did our best to find sponsors and to build a business around this football club. Consequently, we should be able to afford them for two years, because this is important for stability and continuity.”
Teng said that “anything above fourth position” in the nine-team league will be a “good” achievement for the Eagles this season. The management has set a two to three-year timeframe for the club to start winning silverware again.
Ultimately, the aim is to make Geylang a sustainable club in his first year and use that as a platform towards attaining future glory.
“(We need to) financially strengthen, get stronger, and then we can start running (better) next year,” Teng said.
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Red Lantern Club?
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Geylang Club?
which one?
now become truely I dunno wat to say