Thambiah "Terry" Pathmanathan (born 9 February 1956) is a former

Singapore international The Singapore International or ''Singapore Satellite'', ''Cheers Asian Satellite'' is an open international badminton tournament in Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southea ...

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 played as a defender. He played for

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

Pahang {{Infobox political division , name = Pahang , official_name = Pahang Darul Makmur , native_name = , settlement_type = States and federal territories of Malaysia, State , image_skyline = , imagesize ...

in the

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup (), formerly known as Malaya Cup, is an annual football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popularity as the country's oldest cup tournament, i ...

. Towards the end of his career, he played for

Tampines Rovers Tampines Rovers Football Club (currently known as BG Tampines Rovers due to sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football, football club based in Tampines, Singapore, that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of t ...

in the inaugural S.League season in 1996, retiring from playing professionally in the same year.

Football career

Club career

He played generally in the role of

sweeper Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) ray-finned fish of the family (biology), family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains about 80 species in two genus, genera. One ...

, as the last man in defence. He was renowned for his poise on the ball and impeccable reading of the game. He was nicknamed "Captain Marvel", for his leadership qualities, and one of his trademark moves was the long throw-in. Among his national teammates, he was nicknamed "Ganesan's favourite" as one of the privileged ones under

N. Ganesan Nadesan Ganesan, PBM (31 October 1932 – 1 July 2015) was a chairman of the Football Association of Singapore. He served as FAS vice-chairman for two years before he was appointed chairman on 31 March 1976, and was a vice-president of the Asian ...

when Ganesan was vice president of

Football Association of Singapore The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) is the governing body responsible for the administration of football in Singapore. Established in 1892 as the Singapore Football Association (SFA), it is the oldest football association in all of ...

. In 1982, Pathmanathan left

Singapore FA Singapore FA was a representative team of the Football Association of Singapore in competitions run by the Football Association of Malaysia, separate from the Singapore national football team, Singapore national team. Despite dissolving in 19 ...

to join

Pahang FA Sri Pahang Football Club () is a Malaysian professional football club based in Kuantan, Pahang. They currently play in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football. Founded in 1959, it has traditionally worn a yellow home kit s ...

. In 1983, he won the

with the team. He played with Pahang till 1987 when his contracts end on 24 April 1988. Pathmanathan then rejoined Singapore FA with the

(FAS). In 1996, Pathmanathan signed with

Tampines Rovers FC Tampines Rovers Football Club (currently known as BG Tampines Rovers due to sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football, football club based in Tampines, Singapore, that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of t ...

and became the oldest player in the S.League. In 1997, Pathmanathan joined

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

Division 2 club Tessensohn Khalsa Rovers as a player-coach.

International career

In 1984, Pathmanathan was recalled to the national team for

Merlion Cup The Merlion Cup is an invitational association football, football tournament that was held in Singapore annually from 1982–1986, in 1992, 2009 and 2019 and 2023. Participants included full national sides, Olympic sides, Invitational XI's and ...

. He was initially unable to join the team until he was released by Pahang.

Coaching career

Pathmanathan was the head coach for Young Lions from 2009 to 2010, and

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 ...

from 2011 to 2012.

Management career

In 1982, Pathmanathan worked as a supervisor at a mining company at Pahang and then worked as a marketing executive at a Kuantan Hotel. In 1997, he was an account manager with DNC Advertising. Pathmanathan is currently a senior manager with the

Singapore Sports Council Sport Singapore (SportSG) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth of the Government of Singapore. It is the lead agency tasked with developing a holistic sports culture for the nation. History Sport Singapore was ...

Personal life

Pathmanathan was offered Malaysian citizenship by the Sultan of Pahang,

Ahmad Shah of Pahang Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah ibni Almarhum Sultan Abu Bakar Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mu’azzam Shah ( Jawi: ; 24 October 1930 – 22 May 2019) was Sultan of Pahang from 1974 until his abdication in 2019, and the seventh Yang di-Pertua ...

, who was also the President of the Malaysian Football Association (FAM). Pathmanathan took up

permanent residency Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with such l ...

instead.

Profile and achievements

* 1978, Called into national team * 1981, Finals of Malaysia cup lost to Selangor * Late 1981 appointed captain of national team until 1992 * 1985, 1989, Silver medalist at Sea games Thailand and Malaysia * 1985, Merlion Cup Singapore, Joint Champions with Yugoslavia * 1983, Voted most exciting player in Malaysia, equivalent to footballer of the year * 1991, Sea games Philippines, Bronze medalist * 1992,Voted Singapore footballer of the year * 1990, Finals of Malaysia cup with Singapore squad * 1992, In the Tiong Bahru squad in the Singapore Premier league * 1997 to 2004, Player coach for Khalsa and Singapore Recreation club in Singapore Div 1 * 2005, National UNDER 21 Head coach and also assistant coach to young lions * 2009, National UNDER 23 Head coach and led the team to Laos Sea games. Won the bronze medal with youngest team ever of average age 19yrs.

Honours

Singapore FA *

Malaysian Cup The Malaysia Cup (), formerly known as Malaya Cup, is an annual football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popularity as the country's oldest cup tournament, i ...

: 1980 Pahang FA *

: 1983 Orders and special awards * Pinak Jasabakti Kerja : 1985

References

Singaporean people of Indian descent 1956 births Living people Singaporean people of Tamil descent Singaporean sportspeople of Indian descent Singaporean men's footballers Singapore men's international footballers Sri Pahang FC players Singapore FA players Tampines Rovers FC players Singaporean football managers Singapore Premier League managers Tanjong Pagar United FC managers Young Lions FC managers 1984 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers at the 1990 Asian Games Men's association football defenders SEA Games silver medalists for Singapore SEA Games bronze medalists for Singapore SEA Games medalists in football Competitors at the 1985 SEA Games Asian Games footballers for Singapore {{Singapore-footy-bio-stub