Kodai Tanaka and Manami Fukuzawa bag the Singapore Premier League and Women's Premier League Player of the Year prizes respectively at annual ceremony
Kodai Tanaka (left) and Ilhan Fandi with the men's Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards. PHOTO: FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF SINGAPORE
Singapore, 8 November 2022 – Outstanding individuals from the 2022 domestic football season were recognised on Tuesday evening at the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Awards Night 2022 – the premier annual event that brings the local football fraternity together.
Held at Orchard Hotel, it was a night to remember for Kodai Tanaka and Manami Fukuzawa, who took home the biggest prizes – the AIA Player of the Year and Deloitte Player of the Year awards respectively.
With 33 goals and 10 assists in 28 appearances, 23-year-old Tanaka helped to fire Albirex Niigata FC (S) to their fifth AIA Singapore Premier League (SPL) title. A stalwart of the local football scene, Fukuzawa, 30, hit eight goals to help Tanjong Pagar United FC finish a creditable third place in the Deloitte Women’s Premier League (WPL).
SPL and WPL award winners at the FAS Awards night. PHOTO: FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF SINGAPORE
Tanaka’s win completed a clean sweep of this year’s major SPL awards for Albirex Niigata (S). Ilhan Fandi, 20, was named the AIA Young Player of the Year following a campaign that reaped 17 goals – one of which was a stunning overhead kick that bagged him the SELECT Goal of the Year prize as well.
Kazuaki Yoshinaga, 54, picked up his third POLAR Mineral Water Coach of the Year award to go level with Vorawan Chitavanich and Richard Bok as the coaches with the most wins in this category.
Lion City Sailors' Izzati Rosni with her Top Scorer and Goal of the Season awards at the FAS Awards night. PHOTO: FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF SINGAPORE
Tampines Rovers FC forward Boris Kopitović, 27, received his SPL Top Scorer prize after plundering an incredible 35 goals in 28 matches, while Geylang International FC goalkeeper Zaiful Nizam, 35, kept nine clean sheets to earn the SPL Golden Glove award. The duo, along with Tanaka and Ilhan, were also named in the AIA SPL Team of the Year.
The final nominees and eventual winners for all the SPL awards were selected by a judging panel that includes the current Head Coaches and Team Captains from the eight SPL clubs participating in the 2022 season, as well as former professional footballer and current SPL pundit Rhysh Roshan Rai and four representatives from separate media outlets.
WPL Player of the Year Manami Fukuzawa. PHOTO: FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF SINGAPORE
Women's Premier League: Double Joy for Tanjong Pagar
There was double joy for Tanjong Pagar United in the WPL awards as Fukuzawa’s team-mate, Haziqah Haszman, was named Young Player of the Year. The goalkeeper, 19, kept four clean sheets in a breakout season that saw her handed a senior international debut. The Coach of the Year accolade went to Yeong Sheau Shyan, 44, who guided Lion City Sailors FC to their maiden title amid a remarkable unbeaten season. Singapore star Izzati Rosni, 23, who fired in 10 goals to win the Top Scorer award, also took home the Goal of the Year prize. At the other end of the pitch, team-mate Beatrice Tan, 30, accumulated six clean sheets to win the Golden Glove award.
As always, the men in black were recognised in the SELECT Referee of the Year and Assistant Referee of the Year categories, with the awards going to Ahmad A’Qashah and Ronnie Koh Min Kiat respectively.
Jared Gallagher of SoccerKakis (left) with his Story of the Year Award and Junpiter Futbol picking up the Photo of the Year. PHOTO: FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF SINGAPORE
The return of all other domestic competitions this year meant that there were also awards on offer in the Singapore Football Leagues (SFL) 1 and 2. Fariz Faizal and Sukhvinder Singh were named Player of the Year and Coach of the Year after helping Singapore Khalsa Association to the SFL 1 crown, with Fariz’s 12 goals also bagging him the Top Scorer prize. SFL 2 champions Jungfrau Punggol FC also collected both top prizes as Sadik Said and Ahmad Salihin were named Player of the Year and Coach of the Year respectively. A remarkable 20-goal haul earned Singapore Cricket Club’s Chang Guo Guang the Top Scorer accolade.
A total of 14 FAS Recognition Awards were also handed out. Recipients included Singapore football’s latest international centurion, Hassan Sunny, as well as retired Lions Baihakki Khaizan and Hafiz Sujad.
Finally, the importance of the media in generating awareness of local football with their tireless coverage was recognised and the honours for Story of the Year and Photo of the Year went to Jared Gallagher of SoccerKakis and Chua Boon Ping of Junpiter Futbol respectively.
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