August 31,
2004
It was
undoubtedly the most important match in Tampines
Rovers' S-League history.
Coming up
against Double Champion Home United at the Tampines
Stadium, a win would have taken the Stags closer than ever to their first
championship title.
Despite
being 1 of the biggest S-League clubs, the Stags' only silverware came in the
form of the 2002
With so
much to play for against the Protectors, many would have expected Tampines chairman Teo Hock Seng to resemble a nervous wreck around his team's bench,
barking noisy instructions at his players but he did not.
Instead, he
sat the press section leaving the job to his coach Vorwan.
If he was tense, he certainly did not show it.
But it did
showed when the Protectors took the lead through Aide Iskandar
& with a face like thunder, he left his seat never coming back to it
instead taking his favourite position near the pitch,
just behind the home team's bench.
When Tampines equalised through Ismail Fitrey, Teo seemed a much relieved man & later when Fauzie Amin scored the winner,
the chairman turned to the crowd, raising his arms & smiled.
The
58-year-old must knows then the Stags cannot blow it this time around as they
are 4 points clear of Home United with 3 games left.
For many in
the S-League fraternity, it was just reward for nothing other than Teo committed loyalty to the S-League.
It is
backed up by R Vengadasalam, who was appointed Tampines Rovers director of operations 2 months ago & Balestier Khalsa treasurer Jagjit Sing.
R Vengadasalam said Teo deserves
this accolade & he is not just saying it because he is his boss. It is for
the heart Teo has shown in the sport & in the
club.
Balestier Khalsa treasurer Jagjit Singh,
who has known Teo for a decade, said he is a man who
tries to help in whatever way he can & he has been waiting all these years
to win the championship so Jagjit Singh is delighted
it is paying off.
It is
certainly backed up with facts as apart from spending copious amounts of his
own money (some estimate it to be more than $2 million) on Tampines
Rovers, Teo, the managing
director of Komoco Motors, has also helped
footballers off the pitch.
Former
national players, goalkeeper Lim Chiew Peng & skipper Nazri Nasir are currently employees of Komoco
Motors, which is the distributor of Hyundai vehicles while Teo
had helped midfielder Tan Kim Leng start his car dealership.
On the
pitch, he helped the Football Association of