David Lee (born 10 April 1958) is a Singaporean former footballer who last played for the Singapore national football team and Geylang United as a goalkeeper.[2]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | David Lee Soon Chye | ||
| Date of birth | 10 April 1958 | ||
| Place of birth | Singapore | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1979–1994 | Singapore FA | 161 | (0) |
| ????–1981 | Tiong Bahru | ||
| 1982–1983 | Niac Mitra | ||
| 1984–???? | Tiong Bahru | ||
| 1987–1998 | Tyrwhitt Soccerites | ||
| 1989– | Jurong Town | ||
| 1996–1997 | Geylang United | 34 | |
| International career | |||
| 1979–1991 | Singapore | 105[1] | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
He was part of the Singapore Malaysia League side that won the 1994 Malaysia Cup and Malaysian League title. He had also won the first ever S.league title and Singapore Cup "double", with Geylang United in 1996. He had since retired from professional football in 1997.
Early life edit
Lee was born to a mechanic and housewife in 1958 and stayed in Commonwealth, Singapore.[3] As the eldest child, he has two younger brothers and two younger sisters.[4]
At 15, Lee was selected for the National Youth badminton team.[3] He was subsequently spotted by Football Association of Singapore chairman N. Ganesan and was drafted into the National Youth football team.[3]
Football career edit
Club career edit
Niac Mitra edit
In 1982, Lee, with Fandi Ahmad, joined Indonesian club Niac Mitra.[3] In 1983, Lee left Niac Mitra due to a sudden Galatama League ban on foreign players.[4]
Tiong Bahru edit
Lee rejoined Tiong Bahru Constituency Sports Club on his return to Singapore.[5]
Tyrwhitt Soccerites edit
In 1987, Lee joined the Tyrwhitt Soccerites, playing in Division Two in Singapore football.[6]
Jurong Town edit
At the end of 1988, Lee joined Jurong Town, despite Tyrwhitt Soccerites promoted from Division Two to Division One in 1988 and then promoted to the FAS Premier League at the end of the 1988 season.[6]
International career edit
After three years in the National Youth team, Lee was picked for the national football team and became the reserve goalkeeper for Edmund Wee in 1979.[4]
In 1980, during the Asian group of the pre-Olympics tournament, Wee was injured shortly after the start of a match against North Korea.[4] Lee was substituted on and Singapore won the match 3–1. As a result, he was chosen again for the Malaysia Cup final later in the year where Singapore won 2–1 against Selangor.[4]
Lee played for the national team in the 1983 SEA Games and won the silver medal.[7]
In 1995, Lee was investigated for match fixing, along with some other national football team players, for a match between Singapore and Perlis.[8] He and the other players were subsequently cleared of the charges by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau of Singapore.
Coaching career edit
Lee is the former goalkeeping coach of Singapore Armed Forces Football Club and currently trains the youth goalkeepers at the Singapore Sports School.
Honours edit
Singapore FA edit
- Malaysia Cup: 1980 1994
- Malaysia Premier League: 1994
- Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Cup: 1989
Geylang United edit
- S League: 1996
References edit
- ^ "FAS launches FAS Captains' Advisory Panel". FAS. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
- ^ Three last hurrahs Archived 4 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d "Lee's a shuttler-turned-footballer who became adept at golf". www.businesstimes.com.sg. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
- ^ a b c d e "Cool, calm and collected – that's David in goal". Singapore Monitor. 1 December 1983. p. 45. Retrieved 12 October 2023 – via NewspaperSG.
- ^ "GOALKEEPER DAVID JOINS TIONG BAHRU". Singapore Monitor. 12 January 1984. p. 32. Retrieved 12 October 2023 – via NewspaperSG.
- ^ a b "David the most expensive player". The New Paper. 3 December 1988. p. 36. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
- ^ "S'pore had the good luck, M'sia the bad". Singapore Monitor. 29 May 1983. p. 52. Retrieved 12 October 2023 – via NewspaperSG.
- ^ "Lions took no money". The New Paper. 10 March 1995. p. 12. Retrieved 12 October 2023 – via NewspaperSG.