We may be a club based in Tampines and have a prominent fan base in the locale, but our supporters stretch well beyond the Eastern part of Singapore. Besides having fans situated in various parts of our Little Red Dot, we have many who live abroad and have been following the Stags for years. We embark on this new series to shed light on some international members of The Stand to uncover why they love Tampines Rovers and how they support Our Stags abroad.
In our inaugural entry, we travel to the land Down Under to Sydney Australia, to meet Tim Glanville. As a passionate fan of Asian football, Tim knew a fair bit about the Stags since they regularly competed in the AFC Cup. Yet, he never managed to catch a Tampines Rovers fixture. That changed during the COVID-19 Lockdown in New South Wales last year.
"During the lockdown, the Australian A-League was frozen," mentions Tim. "So, I took to YouTube to find some live football to watch and I found the Singapore Premier League. I really enjoyed it and started taking note of matches and kick-off times. Consequently, I watched all of the Suzuki Cup matches and was supporting Singapore."
Tim with his trusty #PRIMED T-Shirt, along with a signed card from Kyoga!
After watching the SPL regularly, Tim realized that he needed a team to support and after scouring the clubs, he realized that he connected the most with the Stags.
"I considered every team and eventually decided on Tampines," shares Tim. "I liked that the club has a proud and rich history. While some of the results I was watching weren’t ideal, the fans were passionate and still getting behind the team. I really resonated with that."
Like every member of the Stand, Tim has a favourite Stag and to him, that's our Japanese magician, Kyoga Nakamura.
Tim’s favourite player, our Japanese magician Kyoga Nakamura!
"His work rate and passing impressed me. My hometown club is Sydney FC and Kyoga reminds me a bit of Milos Ninkovic, who is our midfield maestro."
Tim has been to Singapore before but has never been to Tampines before. Thankfully, with relaxing COVID-19 measures, he hopes to visit Singapore again and attend a Tampines home game when he does return. He has witnessed how passionate The Stand is every fixture, and wants to be amongst the contingent of Tampines Rovers fans to cheer Our Stags on at Our Tampines Hub.
Till then, he will be cheering on Our Stags from Sydney and has a simple message for the squad - Continue to fight for the shirt and for The Stand!