SINGAPORE – Danelle Tan’s first season as a professional laid bare the reality of top-flight football.
Ready to attack her first campaign in Australia’s A-League Women after a positive pre-season, an untimely knee issue and subsequent surgery set her back just before the season began.
When the Singaporean returned to full fitness, she found game time limited, with more experienced teammates ahead of her in the pecking order. In May, Tan left Brisbane following the end of the 2024-25 season after just three appearances.
But this experience has not dampened her desire to seek opportunities at the highest level.
The Lionesses forward has signed a one-year contract with Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza, the defending champions of Japan’s top-tier Women Empowerment (WE) League, the club announced on July 19.
The 20-year-old went to Europe and Japan for trials once it was certain that her time in Australia was coming to an end.
While she had a positive experience with a Portuguese club, the offer from Beleza was more concrete and the prospect of playing in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Champions League won her over.
“Beleza are a huge club and obviously they just won the league last season as well, and to potentially play in the Asian Champions League is immense for me,” said Tan.
“The calibre of players that I’ll be playing with and against will be really high, and so I’m really very excited to get started.”
The WE League became the first fully professional women’s football league in the country, when it was launched in September 2021.
The 2024-25 campaign saw 12 clubs compete, with Beleza edging out International Athletic Club Kobe Leonessa on goal difference to win the title.
The 2025-26 campaign will kick off in August.
Tan is the second Singaporean to sign for a Japanese top-tier side. In 2021, Lionesses captain Siti Rosnani Azman inked a one-season contract with Kobe to play in the WE League.
Beleza, the inaugural winners of the AFC Women’s Club Championship in 2019, are record 17-time champions of the Nadeshiko League, which used to be the highest division in Japan before the formation of the WE League.
They have also produced several players who have gone on to big leagues abroad and the national team.
West Ham United forward Riko Ueki and Manchester City striker Aoba Fujino came through the ranks at Beleza before joining England’s Women’s Super League.
Mina Tanaka, who has 40 goals for Japan, is also a former Beleza player.
Danelle Tan in action for Brisbane Roar during her team’s exhibition match against the Women’s Premier League All-Star team at Bishan Stadium on April 4.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
At Beleza, Tan will be surrounded by Japan internationals.
They include Nanami Kitamura, Asian Games-winning forward Maya Hijikata, Rikako Kobayashi and goalkeeper Momoko Tanaka, who was in Japan’s World Cup squad in 2023. Miharu Shinjo, who was named the AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup Most Valuable Player last May, is also one of Beleza’s main players in midfield.
In Brisbane, Tan found herself in a similar environment – with several Australian senior and youth internationals – and found game time hard to come by.
But she insisted that she is not worried and is focused on being lifted by the high training levels.
“No matter which club you are at, game time is never a given,” Tan said. “My aim is to keep my focus on fighting and doing well in training, and then if you’re good enough, you get to play.
“But when the calibre of players is so high and the training environment is of a very high level, I’m confident that even without game time, I can still improve a lot.”
While Beleza are just her second professional side, Tan is not new to club football.
In 2023, the former Lion City Sailors forward became the first Singaporean woman to feature in a European league when she played for then English third-tier side London Bees in the amateur FA Women’s National League South.
Later that year, she became the first Asian to play for Dortmund women’s team. With BVB Frauen, she won the fifth-division Landesliga to earn their third consecutive promotion in three years, while also triumphing in the regional cup competition, the Kreispokal, in 2024.
She then accepted an offer from Brisbane, signing her first professional contract.
While some see her as a trailblazer for women’s football in Singapore, there have been inevitable questions about her career stability.
But Tan is unfazed.
“At the end of the day, it’s about finding the right environment, one where you feel you can grow and develop in. Sometimes that means recognising when a certain place isn’t the right fit, and having the courage to step into something new,” she said.
“Of course, change can be uncomfortable, and there’s always a level of uncertainty involved. But I think that’s the reality of the profession, especially in the early stages of your career.
“I’m still young and relatively free of major commitments, so I’m in a position where I can embrace those changes and seek out the best opportunities for my development.
“It hasn’t always been easy, but I’m grateful for the different experiences I’ve had so far. They’ve helped shape who I am, both as a player and as a person.”
Deepanraj Ganesan is a sports journalist at The Straits Times focusing on football, athletics, combat sports and policy-related news.
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