Manisha Tailor is now FAS’ first Women’s Coach Developer and Under-19 Women’s Head Coach AURORATOTO GROUP

SINGAPORE: The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) recently announced that Manisha Tailor would be the Head Coach of Singapore’s Under-19 Women’s National Team and the Women’s Coach Developer for the organisation. She will take over the role of Fazrul Nawaz, who left FAS after coaching the U19 team in the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers this year. 

This is the first time that FAS has created a special position to focus on developing women coaches. With this, Tailor believes that women’s football in Singapore can grow more with the right combination of inspiration, dedication, and confidence. 

Who is Manisha Tailor?

Manisha has 20 years of experience in both teaching and football. In her early career, she started as a teacher and became a Deputy Head Teacher in the United Kingdom. From there, she began coaching footballers full-time in 2011. 

She has experience working with both women’s and men’s football teams. She coached the Middlesex Girls Centre of Excellence, England Women’s Under-15s, Tottenham Hotspur Women’s College Under-21s, and also held academy roles at Queens Park Rangers. She was also a scout for Brentford, a team in the English Premier League. 

To back up her credentials, Tailor holds significant coaching certificates like the UEFA A Licence and the English FA’s Advanced Youth Award. 

For Tailor, becoming the first Women’s Coach Developer at FAS is an honour and a privilege. She truly believes that having role models is important to inspire young girls and women to pursue football. 

What is her goal?

Tailor’s role is not only to coach players but also to support local coaches. She admitted that at the recent Women’s Premier League (WPL) game, she had the opportunity to have in-depth pre- and post-match conversations with the coach, while also scouting for players. 

 “This is merely a starting point, as I know everyone appreciates that the female coaching pool is small and my work at present involves finding who we do have from grassroots, schools to coaching at academy-club level and how we can provide focused support,” she added. 

As part of her plan to increase the number of talented players, Tailor adapted the Emerging Talent Programme—a programme that is separate from the main U19 National Team camps and helps players aged 15 to 19 who have potential but aren’t yet in the national team. This programme will also support the current U19 players and those who are too old for U19 but not ready for the senior team.

The pilot programme ran from Sep 8 to 12, with 20 young female players participating. During the programme, Tailor only had two main goals: to help players improve their skills for clubs or schools and to spot players who could join national team trials.

For Tailor, success is not just about having easy wins but more about creating fair opportunities, supporting future coaches, and helping young players feel motivated and confident as they build their careers.

On social media, netizens expressed their thoughts and opinions on the issue. One netizen remarked that Tailor is a “great signing” for Singapore Women’s Football. 

Another netizen declared that Tailor joining FAS is “one step towards a better foundation for the Ladies team”.

One more netizen wished her good luck and stated, “You’ll have a lot of work to do. I wish you all the best ”