Nur Adam Abdullah made the left-back spot at the Lion City Sailors his own in 2021. His swashbuckling style has seen him consistently bomb up and down the flank, a familiar sight as the Sailors stormed to their first Singapore Premier League (SPL) title.

The win was Nur Adam’s first professional trophy after a stellar season, and the 20-year-old ends the year with the top award for players aged under 23: He was named the AIA Young Player of the Year at the Football Association of Singapore’s (FAS) Awards Night earlier today (12 October). 

Nur Adam pipped teammate Saifullah Akbar – 2020’s YPOTY – and Albirex Niigata’s Ryoya Taniguchi, the White Swans’ leading assist provider this season to the award. This after putting in strong performances that also saw him named the league’s young player of the month in September. 

September was a particularly good month for the Sailors, with Head Coach Kim Do-hoon winning the coach of the month award, and Brazilian defender Jorge Fellipe named as September’s player of the month.

Jorge was one of four Sailors –Nur Adam, Shahdan Sulaiman and Stipe Plazibat – named in the AIA SPL Team of the Year. 

Jorge and Stipe were nominated for the AIA Player of the Year Award, but the accolade was won by Hougang United forward Tomoyuki Doi who was also the league’s top scorer with 19 goals. 

Gabriel Quak, 2020’s POTY and 2021’s top local goalscorer, added yet another personal accolade to his trophy cabinet. The 30-year-old’s sensational left-foot volley in the Sailors’ 4-1 win over Balestier Khalsa in April was named the SELECT Goal of the Year.  

The Sailors salute our award winners!