UNCLE CHOO: SINGAPORE'S GREATEST FOOTBALL COACH

Choo Seng Quee is arguably Singapore's greatest football coach. He brought Singapore football to great heights, especially during the 1970s. This larger-than-life footballing icon had already made a name for himself as a no-nonsense defender during the 1930s helping Singapore win the Malaya Cup on two occasions.

World War II disrupted his promising playing career, and after the war, he switched to coaching. In a coaching career spanning almost 30 years, he had several spells as coach of the Singapore national team (in addition to also coaching the Malaysian and Indonesian teams). Though his coaching methods were 'old school', based on hard work and discipline, success followed him wherever he went.

His brash manner, unfortunately, did not endear well with the powers who ran the Singapore Amateur Football Association (SAFA), a predecessor of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS). This led him being thrown into football wilderness on several occasions. But that did not stop him from progressing in his coaching career. The football administrators from Malaysia and Indonesia took advantage of these moments of 'unemployment' by offering him financially attractive contracts to coach their respective teams, leading to years of success while Choo Seng Quee was at the helm.

This is the incredible story of this legend known to many as simply 'Uncle Choo' who instilled a sense of patriotism in his players. To him, wearing the Singapore jersey was a badge of honour.

Contents:

• About the Author
• Foreword
• Preface
• Prologue
• The Turbulent Sixties
• Dawn of Football in Singapore
• Family Life
• Seng Quee: The Player
• The War Years
• Seng Quee: The Coach
• Seng Quee: Stamping His Mark as Singapore's Legendary Coach
• The Seventies
• The Last Days
• His Legacy
• Uncle's Own Words
• His 'Sons' Speak
• A Tribute from Quah Kim Song
• Appendices:
  • Timeline
  • List of Achievements
  • International Coaching Statistics
  • Champions and Finalists for the Malaya/Malaysia Cup
  • Champions in Singapore
  • Cup Finals in Singapore
  • Winners of the Association Challenge Cup
• Acknowledgements
• Bibliography
• Index

Readership: Football fans in Southeast Asia, in particular Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia

Key Features:

• Reminisces the glories of the Malaysia Cup years
• Educates the younger generations on how it was like to support the Singapore national football team back in the 1970s and 1980s
• Presents first-hand accounts by people who had played or worked with Uncle Choo