Lions’ Shawal goes from cleaning glass panels to scoring goals for S’pore
Eight years ago, Shawal Anuar was playing in the lower-tier National Football League for Keppel Monaco FC, working odd jobs to supplement his $50 match allowance.
Today, that struggling young footballer earns a five-figure salary with the Lion City Sailors and the 31-year-old is Singapore’s most in-form player and chief goal getter, in the absence of the injured Ikhsan Fandi. He has scored five goals in his last four matches with the national side, including two at the Asean Football Federation Championship against Myanmar and Laos.
His journey to the national team, and as a professional footballer, has been riddled with challenges and Shawal admitted that he “gets emotional” when reflecting on his meteoric rise in the sport.
Shawal, who won his first trophy – the 2022 Singapore Cup – with Hougang in November, said: “After I received the offer from Sailors, my wife was so happy for me. And we had a chat about the life I had and what I had to do before (football).
“If not for football, I think I still might be going to mall after mall to clean or go around Singapore to deliver scooters to people’s homes. I am lucky to have this ability to play football.
“Sometimes after matches, I look back at my own highlights and note how different my life is now compared to before and I do get emotional.”
The Lions midfielder shared that football was not even his first or second sport of choice as a kid. In primary school, he spent most of his time playing sepak takraw and when he moved on to Kent Ridge Secondary School, he played hockey and badminton before finally settling on football as a co-curricular activity (CCA) as a last resort.
He said: “The only football I was playing before joining the CCA in secondary school was at street soccer courts with my friends. But even then, I would be the goalkeeper because I was always the last to be chosen. I was there to make up the numbers.”
During his national service, an 18-year-old Shawal was convinced by his friends to play amateur football in the Football Association of Singapore Island Wide League, where he represented Ottawa Serpents FC.
In his early twenties, he joined lower-tier National Football League (now known as Singapore Football League) side Keppel Monaco FC, earning $50 allowance per game. To make ends meet, he also worked as a mover, cleaned glass panels at malls and delivered kick scooters.
At this point, earning money was essential and professional football was far from his mind.
But it was at the club that he really learnt the game from his teammates – former professional footballers Gusta Guzarishah and Azmi Mahmud– and started to enjoy the sport.
It was only in 2014, when Shawal was playing in the SPL that he was spotted by current Geylang International head coach Noor Ali, who was then the Eagles’ Prime League (reserve league) assistant coach. Buoyed by his teammates’ encouragement, he attended the trials and was given a six-month contract which paid him $500 a month.
He then managed to break into the Eagles’ senior squad and received his first professional contract a year later. The offer of $1,800 was enough for him to quit his odd jobs and turn his full attention to football – a move that has since paid dividends. Now, Singapore is reaping the benefits through Shawal’s goals.
The rapid winger is one of the quickest in the Singapore Premier League and has been singled out as the Lions’ dangerman by Vietnam coach Park Hang-seo ahead of the teams’ AFF Group B clash on Friday.
He has been in excellent form for club and country this season, scoring 11 goals and notching six assists in 24 SPL games, on top of his six international goals. Shawal credited Lions head coach Takayuki Nishigaya’s trust in helping him translate his club form into the on-going tournament. .
As Shawal targets another goal, and more importantly a positive result against Vietnam, he hopes his story will inspire his fellow Singaporeans.
He said: “The message is to keep working hard and believing in yourself no matter what you do. Always take the good that people have to say to you, stay disciplined and never stop working towards what you want to achieve.”
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