Gavin Lee

Gavin Joshua Lee Tse Peng (; born 8 September 1990) is a Singaporean professional football coach who is currently the head coach of the Singapore national team.

Early life Gavin played for the Tampines under-8s, as well as the under-10s, teams that his father coached at the time. Gavin was enrolled in the National Football Academy and also played for the national under-14 team where he played most of his time as a midfielder.

After training alongside Gabriel Quak, Hariss Harun, Izwan Mahbud, Hafiz Abu Sujad, Izzdin Shafiq, Afiq Yunos and Fazli Ayob, Gavin knew he would not be able to keep up. He shared that “It was also at that point that I realised I couldn't cope academically, so I decided to choose a different path” and turned to coaching because his father had been a coach since he was young.

Education Gavin studied at Victoria School and Victoria Junior College where he captained the school football team for Victoria Junior College. He later studied in Nanyang Technological University and had a degree in Sports Science and Management.

As a young football coach, Gavin admitted that a consequence of his daily routines is that he “does not have as many friends as others”. When Gavin was in university, he was often labelled an "old man" as he did not join his peers for suppers and parties and chose to rest early to work the following day.

Club career Gavin was part of the SCC squad in the Singapore National Football League from 2012 to 2014. He later transitioned into coaching, first as an assistant coach with Warriors, and subsequently as head coach of Tampines Rovers.

Managerial career Gavin's first taste of coaching came at 16 when he followed his dad to his coaching sessions and was in charge of laying out cones. Gavin joined the JSSL Singapore when he was 18 as a "cone guy" where he coach various age groups at the JSSL Singapore academy before becoming the general manager in 2016. Gavin was appointed as head coach despite lacking the required Asian Football Confederation 'A' License to become the head coach. The appointment was based on his past performance as Warriors' assistant coach and impressed Tampines Rovers' staff and players with his knowledge.

Lee led the club to second place in the Singapore Premier League (SPL) and won the 2019 Singapore Cup in his first season in charge.

During the 2021 season, Lee led the team to their first ever AFC Champions League debut in Tashkent, Uzbekistan which they are drawn in Group H with 2020 K League 1 champions and 2020 Korean FA Cup winners, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, 2020 J1 League runners-up, Gamba Osaka and Thailand Chiangrai United. On 16 June, Lee has extended his contract until 2024.

On 17 June 2025, Lee left Tampines Rovers after eight years in charge of the club.

Singapore On 7 March 2024, Lee was invited to be part of the backroom staff of the Singapore national team by newly appointed Japanese head coach Tsutomu Ogura for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification match against China. On 11 June 2024, Lee was appointed in charge of the national team against Thailand after Ogura tested positive for COVID-19 and was isolated from the team.

On 24 June 2025, Ogura stepped down as the national team head coach, due to personal reasons. FAS decided to appoint Lee as the interim coach. Under Lee's leadership, Singapore completed their remaining 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers strongly, drawing 1–1 at home against India, then winning 2–1 away in the return match. They followed this with a decisive 2–1 away victory over Hong Kong, securing qualification for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. It was Singapore's first qualification achieved on merit through a full campaign and their first tournament appearance since 1984.

On 28 November 2025, following their success in the qualification to the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, FAS announced Lee had become the permanent head coach of the Singapore national team on an 18-month contract and had become the first local coach since 2016 to take the helms.

Personal life Gavin's younger sister Genevieve, who is a 29-year-old doctor, was formerly a youth international footballer for Singapore. Gavin's father Lawrence, a youth coach who took charge of the Victoria Junior College girls’ team from 2012 to 2025 and led them to 11 straight titles from 2013, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. team2 = location = Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia result = W

Honours As Manager Tampines Rovers Singapore Cup: 2019 Singapore Community Shield: 2020