Lionel Tan

Lionel Tan Han Wei (陈汉玮, born 5 June 1997) is a Singaporean professional footballer who plays either as a centre-back or right-back for Singapore Premier League club Lion City Sailors and the Singapore national team.

Lionel was with the National Football Academy after graduating from Singapore Sports School. In 2016, Lionel started his career with Home United's Prime League team. Subsequently, in 2017, he moved to Hougang United. His performance at the youth level led to him being nominated for the 2014 Dollah Kassim Award although he did not win it in the end.

Club career

Youth

Lionel started his career with National Football Academy (NFA) U-18 team in 2015 after his graduation from the Singapore Sports School. He had hoped to move on to the Garena Young Lions squad following his exploits with the NFA. However, when no such move arose, Tan jumped at the chance to be reunited with Robin Chitrakar at Home United's Prime League squad.

Loan to SAFSA In 2018, Lionel was loaned to SAFSA while he is serving his National Services duties.

Young Lions

After spending one year with SAFSA, Lionel moved to Garena Young Lions for the 2019 Singapore Premier League season for whom he made a total of 19 league appearances.

Return to Hougang United Lionel returned to Hougang United after the completion of his National Service in the middle of the 2020 Singapore Premier League season.

Lion City Sailors On 18 January 2023, Lion City Sailors announced the arrival of Lionel on a free from Hougang United. He make his debut on 24 February in a 3–1 win over Tanjong Pagar United. He scored his first goal for the club on 1 July against the same opponent in the away fixture in a thrashing 7–1 win. On 20 September, Lionel make his AFC Champions League debut in a 1–2 lost against Thailand club Bangkok United. On 9 December, he helped the club to win the 2023 Singapore Cup which is also his first back to back cup win with a different club.

On 26 February 2025, Lionel scored the only goal in the match against league rivals, Tampines Rovers which give Lion City Sailors the 9 points gap on top of the league table. Despite Maxime Lestienne's equaliser in the 91st minute of the 2025 AFC Champions League Two final against Sharjah, the Sailors finished as a runner-up after conceding in the 97th minute to finish the game in a 1–2 defeat.

International career

Youth Lionel was part of the 2015 Under-18 Squad for AFC Under-19 Championship qualifiers.

Lionel is also in the 2016 AFC Under-19 Championship qualifiers playing in matches against Thailand which the team lost 3–0. He also played against Chinese Taipei.

In 2017, Lionel was called up to the Singapore Under-22 squad for the 2017 Southeast Asian Games but failed to make a single appearance as the Republic crashed out in the group stages.

He captained the Singapore Under-22 squad for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. Lionel then scored again in his second cap, a 1–0 victory over Macau. On 12 September 2023, he scored again to put Singapore in the lead against Chinese Taipei at the Bishan Stadium – his third international goal.

Career statistics Club

International International caps

International goals

U23 International goals No Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition1 22 March 2019 MFF Football Centre, Mongolia 1–1 1–1 (draw) 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualification

U23 International caps Result column lists Singapore U22 score first.

U19 International caps Result column lists Singapore U19 score first.

Honours Home United Prime League: 2016 Singapore FA Cup: 2016

Hougang United Singapore Cup: 2022

Lion City Sailors AFC Champions League Two runner-up: 2024–25 Singapore Premier League: 2024–25 Singapore Cup: 2023, 2024–25, 2025–26 Singapore Community Shield: 2024; runner-up: 2025

Singapore U22 Merlion Cup: 2019