Balestier’s Myanmar trio could be new way forward for S.League

SINGAPORE — Not long after Park Ji-sung joined Manchester United, the English club claimed to have over one million credit card subscribers back in his homeland of South Korea.

That may or may not have been an exaggeration — after all, this is a club that claimed to have 325 million followers in Asia in 2012. But it was clear that there was great excitement in Korea at seeing one of their favourite sons playing for one of the world’s favourite clubs.

Back in the late 1990s to the mid-2000s, a fair proportion of the Thai national team headed to Singapore to play in the S.League, including Kiatisuk Senamuang, Tawan Sripan and Surachai Jaturapattarapong. The trickle became such a flood that a Thai television station even based a reporter in the Republic to cover them for an entire season.

The days of Thai stars coming here have gone. Nevertheless, bringing in the right foreign players can have quite an effect — on and off the pitch — depending on who they are and where they are from.

And that is what makes Balestier Khalsa’s signing of Myanmar trio Aung Kyaw Naing, Nanda Lin Kyaw Chit and Kyaw Zayar Win so interesting.

While they did not play in the 2016 AFF Suzuki Cup, their country — which also qualified for the 2015 Under-20 World Cup — showed that it is heading in the right direction by deservedly reaching the last four, defeating Malaysia along the way.

With fans camping outside the stadium in Yangon for tickets, there is real potential off the pitch too in a football-crazy country of over 60 million.

Former Singapore national coach Radojko Avramovic, who helmed the Myanmar national team for about 18 months from February 2014 to August 2015, told TODAY: “There is some good talent in Myanmar, and generally it is a good idea for S.League clubs to look there (for talent).

“There are players there that are good enough to play in Singapore, and to play well.

“There is also a lot of passionate support in the country and a love of football. It can only be good for the S.League, and there will be some support in Myanmar for these players.”

Balestier coach Marko Kraljevic has similarly expressed his hope that some of the reported over-200,000 Myanmar nationals working in Singapore will come and support the team.

In the 2016 season, Balestier had a Balkan contingent, so moving into the Myanmar market is quite a change. The potential is greater, however.

Fans in Croatia are accustomed to seeing their countrymen perform for the biggest clubs in the biggest leagues, and the S-League is not on their radar In contrast, Myanmar players rarely travel, which is why there is interest in the country in how they perform in Singapore.

“All fans in Myanmar know about this transfer, but these players are not so famous here and are not currently national players,” said Aung Naing Soe, a Yangon-based football journalist. “If some of our best players went to Singapore, there would be more excitement.

That, in turn, would result in real engagement with the club and the S.League in general, he said.

“Fans would listen for results, read all about those players, and watch their teams’ games on television.”

Likewise, Myanmar nationals often turn up by the thousands to support their countrymen in football matches in Singapore. Football officials tell TODAY that during the 2014 Suzuki Cup and the 2015 SEA Games, tickets allotted to Myanmar fans always sold out within hours.

Balestier take on Warriors FC at the Toa Payoh Stadium tonight (7.30pm), so it will be interesting to see how many Myanmar nationals will turn up for the game.

The possibilities are not just limited to Myanmar, however.

S.League clubs should also consider other Asean nations such as Laos and Cambodia, which also boast talented players and plenty of love for the game. Cambodian striker Chan Vathanaka, nicknamed the “Cambodian Messi”, recently became the first player from his country to join the J-League when he signed for third-tier side Fujieda MYFC.

Arunava Chaudhuri, an Indian football consultant, believes that Singapore’s large Indian population could be a key reason for S-League clubs to go shopping in South Asia.

“It would surely create a buzz among fans, to have a big-name Indian player. Youngsters are venturing out to foreign countries, but people aren’t following them in a big way due to a lack of regular playing time,” he said.

So the magic formula could be something like this: The right players with the right profile on and off the pitch joining the right club and playing regular first-team football, with a healthy contingent of interested fans back in their old home as well as new.

The signing of the three Myanmar players marks an interesting new step for football in Singapore. Balestier have no credit cards to promote, but they have made a move that is rich with possibilities.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

TODAY Sports’ guest columnist John Duerden has been based in Asia for almost 20 years and covers the continental football scene for The New York Times, BBC Radio, The Guardian, FourFourTwo and World Soccer magazine.