Lim Tong Hai (born 14 May 1969) was a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for the

Singapore national football team The Singapore national football team (, zh, 新加坡國家足球隊, ta, சிங்கப்பூர் தேசிய கால்பந்து அணி ) represents the Republic of Singapore in the senior men's international footb ...

from 1989 to 1999. He held various backroom roles at former club

Geylang United Geylang International Football Club is a professional football club based in Bedok, Singapore, which plays in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was founded in 1973 with the purpose of building a s ...

after retiring from his playing career until his departure in 2012.

Club career

Lim played for

Geylang International Geylang International Football Club is a professional football club based in Bedok, Singapore, which plays in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was founded in 1973 with the purpose of building a s ...

(later renamed Geylang United) in the

FAS Premier League The Football Association of Singapore Premier League was a semi-professional football league competition held in Singapore between 1988 and 1995. The Premier League succeeded the National Football League Division One as the top tier of the Singapor ...

before signing for the

Singapore Lions Singapore FA was a representative team of footballers representing the Football Association of Singapore in domestic competitions run by the Football Association of Malaysia. This is separate from the Singapore national team. As it permits ...

in 1994. He formed a strong partnership with South Korean

Jang Jung Jang Jung ( ko, 장정) is a South Korean former footballer. He mostly played as a defender. Club career He formerly played with FC Seoul (as then known Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso) in South Korea, Perak FA and Singapore FA in Malaysia and Geyl ...

in the heart of defence as the Lions achieved the

M-League The Malaysian League or also known as the M-League ( Malay: ''Liga Malaysia'' or ''Liga-M'') is a terminology used to describe the professional association football league in Malaysia. The terminology was mainly used to describe the league and ...

and

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup ( ms, Piala Malaysia), formerly known as ''Malaya Cup'', is an annual association football, football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popular ...

double in 1994. With the withdrawal of the Lions from Malaysian competitions and subsequent launch of the

S.League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as 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), which re ...

, he signed for

Tiong Bahru United Tanjong Pagar United Football Club is a professional association football, football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club took part in S.League from 1996 to 2004, and from 2011 t ...

(later renamed Tanjong Pagar United) in 1996. In 1998, he captained

Tanjong Pagar United Tanjong Pagar United Football Club is a professional football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club took part in S.League from 1996 to 2004, and from 2011 to 2014. The club with ...

to a

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

and

Singapore FA Cup The Singapore FA Cup, (also known as the Singapore Pools FA Cup for sponsorship reasons), is an annual football competition in Singapore. Initially held for clubs from the S.League from 1996-1998, the Football Association of Singapore decided to ...

double. He made a return to Geylang United in 2002, playing a further 2 seasons until he retired as a player.

International career

Lim played for the

and had many memorable matches for Singapore. However, the nadir of his international career came at the 1993 Southeast Asian Games where he scored two own goals against

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

to cost Singapore the match and a spot in the final.

International goals

Coaching career

Lim retired from playing in 2003 and was appointed coach for Geylang United's

Prime League The Prime League was the reserve and youth team soccer league of Singapore's S.League. Teams involved in the league are primarily made up of youth players from the S.League clubs. The Prime League was founded in 1997. S.League clubs are required ...

team the following year. In 2006, he was promoted to caretaker coach of the first team and was likely to continue to lead the team for the 2007

season as he was ready to rebuild the team after years of dismal results in the league, where Geylang United was last in the standings. However, there was a turn of fortunes when Lim led Geylang to a much-improved 2007 season high of 4th in the S-League table. There were much changes in the Geylang United side with Kim Grant,

Noh Rahman Mohamed Noh bin Rahman (born 2 August 1980) is a retired Singaporean footballer who played as a defender. A cultured fullback, Noh Rahman's versatility means he can be employed in defence and in midfield for both club and country. Club caree ...

Hassan Sunny Hassan bin Abdullah Sunny (born 2 April 1984) is a Singaporean professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Singapore Premier League club for Singapore Premier League club Albirex Niigata (S) and the Singapore national team. Foot ...

and Lim leading the team for a better start for the 2007 S-League season. In late 2007, he assumed the role of team manager when Slovak Jozef Herel was brought in as Geylang's coach.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Tong Hai 1969 births Association football defenders Living people Singaporean footballers Singapore international footballers Singapore Premier League players Singaporean sportspeople of Chinese descent Geylang International FC players Singapore FA players Singaporean football managers Singapore Premier League head coaches Jurong FC players Tanjong Pagar United FC players Southeast Asian Games silver medalists for Singapore Southeast Asian Games medalists in football Competitors at the 1993 Southeast Asian Games