Akram bin Azman (born 21 November 2000), better known as Akram, is a Singaporean professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays either as a full-back or

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Singapore Premier League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as the SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), wh ...

club

Lion City Sailors Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as the Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional association football, football club based in Bishan, Singapore, Bishan. It competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Si ...

and the Singapore national team.

Club career

Young Lions

Akram played for the Young Lions for the

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

season. The then-18-year-old made his professional career debut in a 4–1 defeat to

Balestier Khalsa Balestier Khalsa Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Toa Payoh, Singapore, that competes in the Singapore Premier League. Founded in 1898, the club is considered as the oldest Football in Singapore, foot ...

on 2 March 2019.

Tanjong Pagar United

After completing his national service, Akram moved to

Tanjong Pagar United Tanjong Pagar United Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Queenstown, Singapore, Queenstown, Singapore. The club currently competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of Singapore football leag ...

ahead of the 2022 season in May 2022. He then scored his first professional career goal on 10 March 2023 in a 2–0 win over

Geylang International Geylang International Football Club is a professional football club based in Bedok, Singapore, that competes in Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was founded in 1973 and played their first season ...

. In July 2023, Akram was appointed as the captain of the team. He made a total of 52 league appearance for the club, scoring 4 times.

Lion City Sailors

Midway through the 2024–25 season transfer window, Akram made the switch to league leaders

on 16 January 2025 after Lion City Sailors paid SGD$15,000 to sign him. Akram made his debut on 9 February 2025 against his former club Tanjong Pagar United in a 4–1 home win. On 20 February, he made his

AFC Champions League Two The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC Ch ...

debut against Thailand club

Muangthong United Muangthong United Football Club () is a Thai professional football club based in Muang Thong Thani, Pak Kret district, Nonthaburi province. The club plays in the Thai League 1, the top-flight football league of Thailand. Muangthong United has pa ...

. Despite

Maxime Lestienne Maxime Christophe Lestienne (; born 17 June 1992) is a Belgian professional association football, footballer who plays as a winger (association football), winger for Singapore Premier League club Lion City Sailors FC, Lion City Sailors. Club car ...

's equaliser in the 91st minute of the

2025 AFC Champions League Two final The 2025 AFC Champions League Two final was the final match of the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two, the 20th season of Asia's secondary club football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the first since it was ...

against

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

, Akram finished as a runner-up after a 1–2 defeat.

International career

Akram was first called up to the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

in March 2025, for the friendly against

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

and the

2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification The 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification is the qualification process organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to determine the participating teams for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, the 19th edition of the international men's football championsh ...

against

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. He made his debut and started against Nepal on 21 March 2025.

Style of play

Akram is athletic, strong in the tackle, and is versatile to play across multiple positions. Akram, who primarily plays as a full-back, can also play as a

or winger.

Personal life

Akram has an older brother,

Naufal Azman Naufal bin Azman (born 10 July 1998), better know as Naufal,is a Singapore, Singaporean professional Association football, footballer who plays either as a Midfielder, winger or Forward (association football), striker for Singapore Premier Leag ...

, who is also a professional footballer. His other twin, Akmal, is also a professional footballer. Both of them is currently playing their trade for

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Lion City Sailors *

runner-up: 2024–25 *

: 2024–25 *

Singapore Cup The Singapore Cup is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Singaporean football. Established in 1998, it is the foremost prestigious cup competition in the country. It is open to clubs in the Singapore Premier League. Since ...

: 2024–25

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akram, Azman Living people 2000 births Singaporean men's footballers Singapore men's international footballers Singapore Premier League players Men's association football defenders Singapore men's youth international footballers Lion City Sailors FC players 21st-century Singaporean sportsmen