Commentary: What the Gavin Lee era of Singapore football demands of us

SINGAPORE: One thing has always struck me about Gavin Lee, the newly appointed head coach of the Singapore men’s national football team . In interviews, he rarely begins by talking about his own achievements. Instead, he starts by thanking others: the mentors who shaped him, the players who trusted him and the staff who worked quietly behind the scenes.

This is not just humility; it reflects an empathy-driven mindset. In a world where head coaches are often expected to be charismatic tacticians or prominent personalities, this grounding in gratitude and community feels refreshingly human.

While Lee’s appointment as national head coach has drawn many positive reactions, it has also arrived in a landscape where scepticism is second nature. Singapore fans have been here before – hopeful, yet wary. Some question whether a young, local coach can shift decades of performance plateaus. Others quietly fear that a new appointment might mean old challenges in a new form.

But maybe the bigger question is not what Gavin Lee can or cannot do. Perhaps the question is: What do we, as Singaporeans, expect of ourselves in this new chapter?

If there is one lesson that a football study trip to the United Kingdom taught me, it is that a football nation is not built by coaches alone. It is built by communities.

I met fans and academy players of a lower-league club who turned up week after week, even when their team was battling relegation. Pre-match family activities were bustling, from middle school students shadowing the media team like budding sports journalists, to academy players enjoying futsal with the neighbourhood children.

At kick-off, the stadium was packed. They cheered not because their team was winning, but because