| By Bhas Kunju & Teng Kiat bhas.kunju@goal.com | @BhasKunju teng.kiat@goal.com | @TengKiat |
It was recently revealed that the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) were looking for a new coach to succeed the now-departed Radojko Avramovic, who left on a high following the Lions' triumphant 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup campaign.
The FAS also said that they would be working with international executive search firm Sports Recruitment (SR) International to help them in their hunt for Singapore's next head coach, with president Zainudin Nordin citing their "in-depth understanding of the global football industry" as a reason.
SR International is part of three offerings under the SR Group (the other two being SR Digital and SR Partners), which has been working in the world of football since their launch in 2001.
The Group undertakes work in the football business such as building high performance teams, commercial departments or leadership teams, which is possible due to the breadth and depth of their network. Former Executive Director of the English FA, David Davies, is a specialist adviser to SR Group and works closely with them on key football appointments.
SR Group's clients include top English clubs Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool, current Serie A champions Juventus, French team AS Monaco as well as Azerbaijani side Gabala FC, in addition to the Hong Kong FA, UEFA, English FA and The Premier League.
Their specific ‘Performance Sport’ assignments have included the International Performance Director for the Football Association of Ireland, the National Team Manager for the Hong Kong FA, The Performance and Coaching Director for the Rugby Football League, the Head Coach for British basketball women's team, the Director of Sports Science for Qatar's Aspire Academy (Qatar) and head coaches for Gymnastics Australia.
The Group has operated across Asia for over five years now after the opening of their Singapore office in 2008, with clients in the region such as World Sport Group (WSG), The Institute for Sports Research, Arsenal, Liverpool, adidas, Li-Ning and the Singapore SportsHub. Their focus is on senior level roles across Asia, and they believe Singapore is well placed to be a key hub for the sports industry in this region.
SR Group regularly run events where key members of the Sports Business community gather to discuss pertinent topics and network amongst their peers. Such past events have been attended by various senior leaders from the Singapore Sports Council, FAS, WSG, SportsHub, ESPN Star Sports, Perform Group, IMG and the Economic Development Board, amongst others.
Michael Squires, Chairman of SR Group, believes that the firm will be a valuable asset to the FAS in their search for Singapore's next national football coach.
“We are delighted to be partnering with the FAS on this crucial hire," he said.
"Our global team of consultants will utilise our deep network of contacts and our advanced research methodology to find the best candidate to take Singapore football to the next level.”
