Anumanthan Mohan Kumar (born 14 July 1994), nicknamed Anu, 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 most recently played as a defensive-midfielder for

Thai League 1 The Thai League (, pronounced as ') or Thai League 1 (, pronounced as '), often referred to as T1, is the highest level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai L ...

club Kanchanaburi Power and the Singapore national team. Mainly a defensive-midfielder, Anu also been deployed as a central-midfielder and

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 ...

Club career

Young Lions

Anumanthan began his professional football career with the Young Lions in 2012. With the team short on numbers, the National Football Academy trainee was called up to the squad. He played his first game in a 1–1 draw against

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 1 April 2012. Anumanthan was one of five youth players shortlisted for the inaugural Dollah Kassim Award in 2010, which was eventually won by future Young Lions teammate Ammirul Emmran. Anumanthan ended his Young Lions career on a high receiving offers from almost every club in the S.League vouching for his signature.

Hougang United

In January 2016, Anumanthan later went on to sign for

Hougang United Hougang United Football Club is a professional football club based in Hougang, Singapore. The club competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of Singaporean football. Founded in 1998 as Marine Castle United, the club changed its ...

for the

2016 S.League The 2016 S.League (also known as the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st season of the S.League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1996. The ...

campaign. In a stand-out breakthrough season, he won the '

Young Player of the Year Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one's age is low, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an America ...

' award and become the first Singaporean to win this award in 6 years after

Hariss Harun Hariss bin Harun (born 19 November 1990) is a Singaporean professional footballer who plays predominantly as a Midfielder (association football)#Defensive midfielder, defensive-midfielder or a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centr ...

won it in 2010. Anumanthan was a vital member in the 2016 squad which almost made history by qualifying for their first ever

AFC Cup 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 C ...

, after a solid campaign for the club that year.

Home United

Anumanthan signed for

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

in mid 2017 due to

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

commitments and featured his first game for the club against his former club Hougang United in October later that year. He went on to score his first goal for the club against rivals Warriors FC in a 2–1 lost. He ended the year by clinching 3rd placing in both the S.league and the Singapore Cup in 2017. In 2018, Anumanthan went on to lead Home United to their first ever AFC Asian Cup Asean Zonal Championship title. He played a vital role in their successful campaign finishing 2nd in the Singapore Premier League.

Returned to Hougang United

After Anumanthan is done with his National Service commitments, in January 2019 he returned to his former club, Hougang United ahead for the

2019 Singapore Premier League The 2019 Singapore Premier League (also known as the AIA Singapore Premier League due to sponsorship reasons) was the 2nd season of the Singapore Premier League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association football clubs, sinc ...

season.

Kedah Darul Aman

On 18 January 2021, Anumanthan signed for

Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League (), known simply as the Super League (), is the men's top professional Football in Malaysia, football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnersh ...

club

Kedah Darul Aman Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (دار الأمان; Arabic for 'The Safe Abode') and historically as Queda, is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of ov ...

. On 13 August, Anumanthan scored his first goal for Kedah with a header against

Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

at the

Darul Aman Stadium The Darul Aman Stadium () is a multi-purpose all-seater stadium in Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium was opened officially by the Sultan of Kedah in 1962 during Malaya's 1-0 victory aga ...

. Kedah went on to lose the match 2–4. He led Kedah to a 2nd place finish in the 2021 Malaysian Super League and finished the season with offers from other clubs.

Lions City Sailors

Anumanthan went on to sign a 3 year contract for

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 ...

in 2022. He helped his team to win the 2022 Singapore Community Shield that year and a Runner's-up finish to the league. Notably, he had put on a strong display of performance in the club's first match of the

2022 AFC Champions League The 2022 AFC Champions League was the 41st edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 20th under the current AFC Champions League title. This edition was the last in an all-y ...

to eventual champions,

Urawa Red Diamonds The or simply Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ, ''Urawa Rezzu''), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, are a professional association football, football club in the city of Saitama (city), Saitama, part of t ...

. On 26 July 2023, Anu captained the Sailors against English giants, Tottenham Hotspurs in a friendly match at the

Singapore National Stadium The Singapore National Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Kallang, Singapore. It serves as the country's national stadium. Opened in 2014, it was constructed on the site of the Former National Stadium, Singapore, former National Stadium, which ...

. On 9 December 2023, Anu guided the team to win the

2023 Singapore Cup The 2023 Singapore Cup will be the 24th edition of the Singapore Cup, Singapore's annual premier club football knock-out tournament organised by the Football Association of Singapore. Hougang United is the defending champions, having won the tou ...

. 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 ...

, the Sailors finished as a runner-up after conceding in the 97th minute to finish the game in a 1–2 defeat. On 10 June 2025, it was announced that Anumanthan would be leaving the club following the expiry of this contract.

Kanchanaburi Power

On 23 June 2025, it was announced that Anu would be joining newly promoted

side Kanchanaburi Power.

International career

Anumanthan was part of the Singapore national under-23 team that won the bronze medal at the

2013 Southeast Asian Games The 2013 Southeast Asian Games (, ), officially known as the 27th Southeast Asian Games, or the 27th SEA Games, and commonly known as Naypyitaw 2013, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event took place in Naypyidaw, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar from 11 ...

. Anumanthan was called up to the senior team in July 2013. He made his senior debut for Singapore in a 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualifying match against

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

on 14 August 2013, coming on for striker Indra Shahdan Daud in the 70th minute. He followed it up with his first start in a friendly match against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

on 6 September 2013. In 2022, Anumanthan was included in the team for the

2022 FAS Tri-Nations Series The 2022 FAS Tri-Nations Series was a three-team association football tournament held at the National Stadium, Singapore, National Stadium in Kallang, Singapore between 23 and 29 March 2022 for the men's competition and at Jalan Besar Stadium bet ...

and the

2022 AFF Championship The 2022 AFF Championship (officially AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022 due to sponsorship reasons) was the 14th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and was the 1 ...

Style of play

A quick, aggressive, physically strong, aerial ability and tenacious defensive-midfielder, Anu is known for his work-rate and hard-tackling style of play.

Career statistics

Club

* Young Lions are ineligible for qualification to AFC competitions.

International

U19 International caps

Honours

Club

Kedah Darul Aman

: Runners-up:

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Lion City Sailors *

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 ...

runner-up: 2024–25 *

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 ...

: 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 ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, 2024–25 *

Singapore Community Shield The Singapore Community Shield (also known as the AIA Community Shield due to sponsorship reasons; formerly the Charity Shield) is the curtain-raiser to the football season in Singapore. The match is contested between the champions of the previou ...

: 2022, 2024

International

Singapore *

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as SEA Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

: bronze medal 2013

Individual

* S.League Young Player of the Year: 2016

References

{{reflist 1994 births Living people Singaporean men's footballers Singapore men's international footballers Singapore Premier League players Malaysia Super League players Men's association football midfielders Singaporean people of Tamil descent Singaporean sportspeople of Indian descent Young Lions FC players Hougang United FC players Lion City Sailors FC players Kedah Darul Aman F.C. players Thai League 1 players Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand Singaporean expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Singaporean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia Singaporean expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia 21st-century Singaporean sportsmen Footballers at the 2014 Asian Games SEA Games bronze medalists for Singapore SEA Games medalists in football Competitors at the 2013 SEA Games Asian Games footballers for Singapore