When people think “Singapore wonderkid”, a few names tend to spring to mind. Ilhan Fandi, Jacob Mahler, Zikos Chua, amongst others, have all emphatically announced themselves to the local football community through their exploits both in the Singapore Premier League and for the national team at underage level.
One name that has slipped completely under the radar, however, is that of Hari McCoy, the British-Singaporean starlet quietly exploding on Portugal’s west coast.
Despite being a British citizen and being born in England, Hari’s link to the Lion City is a fascinating one, with his paternal grandfather serving as a British Navy commander stationed in Singapore, while his father Dave was born here at Alexandra Hospital, before moving back to the United Kingdom a year later.
Hari’s mother Santha, meanwhile, was born in Singapore, before her family left the Little Red Dot for the UK back in 1971. It was there that she met Dave, with the couple - who both hold British passports - getting married and having four children, two boys and two girls.
Eight years ago, the family decided to move back to Singapore, and that’s when the McCoy footballing story really took off.
Aged just nine, Hari joined the JSSL Academy, a prominent football academy in Singapore and the same one that produced current Fulham youngster Ben Davis. It was here that he developed his skills and love for the game, training regularly and participating in tournaments both at home and abroad.
The pinnacle probably arrived in the form of the internationally renowned Gothia Cup, widely recognised as one of the biggest youth football tournaments in the world. However, the occasion didn’t faze Hari in the slightest, with the youngster plundering goal after goal on the biggest stage.
So impressive were his exploits in Gothenburg that Portuguese giants and two-time European champions Porto made a move to sign the winger for their youth side following a successful trial back in 2017. It was all going swimmingly for young McCoy, who seemed to have the world at his feet.
An untimely hip fracture put the move on ice, though, leading Hari to the next stage of his career, a two-year stint at Our Tampines Hub with Tampines Rovers. Signing for the Stags as a 15-year-old, Hari didn’t take long to make his mark following his return to fitness. He became one of the youngest members of Tampines’ Under-19 squad when he turned out for them in the 2018 season, putting in a slew of impressive performances over the course of the campaign.
Hari was quick to attribute his rapid rise through the ranks to the five years he spent at Dulwich College (Singapore), an international school he credits massively for helping him both academically and with his footballing development.
One of his most memorable goals in a Tampines shirt was a spectacular chipped effort from a narrow angle against Geylang in 2019, one which really made the small crowd at Tampines Hub that evening sit up and take notice of the slight number 54 out on the right flank.
His big moment came when he made his first-team debut for Tampines in a friendly against Johor Darul Ta’zim II last year, with a breakthrough into the Stags’ SPL team seeming imminent.
However, Hari wasn’t around long enough to find out, as he found himself packing his bags and ready to leave Singapore once again. The destination this time, was the Portuguese Primeira Liga. The club in question was Rio Ave, a top flight Portuguese side which finished seventh in the 2018-19 Liga NOS season.
“We chose to go to Portugal because they play some technical football, and Hari’s a technical, skilful player, a winger,” enthused Dave McCoy, Hari’s father, to Goal.
“We really went there for minutes, rather than money. Why didn’t we go to England? Well, English football at Hari’s age doesn’t develop wingers very well. If he wants to be a winger, and a world-class winger, he needs to go to Portugal, where they produce wingers,” hinted McCoy senior at the likes of Luis Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani.
“The English game focuses mainly on physical and fast players, many of whom fall away in later years. The key to making it at the highest level is technical and tactical development, which Portuguese football gives you. Just look at the impact of Bruno Fernandes at Manchester United and Bernardo Silva at Manchester City.”
Having spent the campaign training with Rio Ave’s U-18s, U-19s and U-23s before the football season was disrupted by the developing COVID-19 situation, Hari quickly caught coaches’ eyes with his displays on the training pitch, scoring goals, creating chances and running at defenders.
No mean feat, especially given that Rio Ave’s U-23 side is one of Portuguese football’s finest. They won the country’s U-23 top division in 2019 and led the table in 2020 before the season was paused. It was this academy which groomed current Manchester City and Brazil goalkeeper, Ederson Moraes. Three decades prior, they were also the first club of a certain Jose Mourinho.
“The club has said they want him for next season (2020-21), and that he’ll be their starting right winger for the U19s,” Dave continued. “He’s really enjoying it, and he’s a good example that you can actually grow up in Singapore and make it as a football player.”
While Hari might be excelling now, making the move a success was far from a walk in the park.
“I’d say what I’ve felt is definitely the tempo of play,” Hari exclusively told Goal when quizzed on the differences between football in Singapore and Portugal.
“It’s a new culture, language barrier and weather for me, so adapting to everything was hard. But I pick up things quite quickly, so by now I can probably understand about 60 per cent of the stuff the coaches talk about. The weather is something I’ve had to get used to, and during October through January especially it gets really cold. It’s been difficult but I’ve managed to adapt and I’ve definitely improved,” he continued.
The young forward can now converse in English, Mandarin, Spanish and Portuguese. On top of the cultural aspect, Hari has also had to juggle football alongside his schoolwork, with long journeys to and from the training ground to match.
“I’ve been training every day in Portugal non-stop, I’ve been having to commute which takes about an hour one way on the train, and I go to school as well, so it’s a long shift for me every day!” he chuckled.
“A lot of Singaporean parents are pushing school, school, school! You can do the school, but you can do the football as well. You can do three to four hours of football every day and three to four hours of schoolwork, so you’re pretty busy, but in this country you have the facilities, you got the clubs, you got the weather- you can train every day of the year. If they’re committed, and if they’re good enough, I’ll gladly help anyone get a place at a club in Europe,” added Dave with a grin.
Up till now, Hari hasn’t been able to make his competitive debut for Rio Ave’s U-19s, as having lived outside the EU for close to a decade and been registered with a professional club in Tampines Rovers, FIFA regulations prohibit Rio Ave from signing him until he turns 18. As such, he will sign his first official contract with the club on his 18th birthday, five months from now, Dave confirmed.
From then on, Hari will go from playing solely in training and friendly matches to competing weekly in the Campeonato Nacional de Juniores, Portugal’s premier U-19 football league. Match attendance ranges from 400 to 1000 people, and each game is broadcast live on television, so the spotlight on Hari’s fledgling career could be set to brighten further.
“Well I’m biased, but I’d say within 12 to 18 months Hari will be running out for the first team. He’s already training with the U-23s, and the next step is the first team. I’d say within a year and a half, he’s got a good chance,” said Dave confidently. “And, he learned to play football in Singapore. That’s the message we need to be sending out.”
He’s definitely got a long way to go, with cementing his place in Rio Ave’s U-19 side and then breaking into the first team on the short-term agenda, but there was only one thing on Hari’s mind when asked about his long-term ambitions in the game: to run out in front of the Shed End at Stamford Bridge.
“Obviously, it’ll be a dream to play for Chelsea because that’s the club I’ve been supporting my whole life!," he exclaimed. “But my goal for the next two years is to make it into the first team for Rio Ave, build my way up and see where it goes from there.”
With Hari beginning to attract attention from across the continent, Dave was quick to put his foot down and pledge his son’s immediate future to Rio Ave.
“It’s worked out really well, and even now for next season, Hari’s had a lot of interest from other clubs, but we’re probably going to stay in Portugal, because what we want to do is get in the first team,” he declared. “We’ve said no, we’re going to stay at Rio Ave, we don’t want any money, not yet anyway, we just want to play.”
It’s a mindset which could well reap dividends for the McCoy’s further down the road. With many young players these days making the step up too early, chasing lucrative contracts and big-name clubs, they lose the opportunity to play week in, week out. Many then end up stuck on the bench, lacking minutes, confidence and exposure.
Hari’s younger brother Max, 16 this year, plans to stay in Singapore for another two years to complete his IB Diploma. His goal in that time is to establish himself in the Tampines Rovers team, before moving to Portugal as an U-19 player.
Throughout the interview, the common sentiment that both Hari and Dave shared was that you can come from Singapore and make it as a top-class footballer. Despite local footballers having struggled traditionally to land a move to Europe, Hari insisted that with the right attitude and mindset, it is doable.
“A lot of people say that if you’re not in a top academy you can’t make it, but as long as you put the effort in, and are willing to sacrifice a lot, it can happen. I had to leave most of my family behind in Singapore, so it’s definitely a lot of sacrifice, but if you’re willing to sacrifice a lot of things it’s definitely possible,” he said.
Exciting times lie ahead for young Hari, and as he laces up his boots in preparation for a hugely pivotal 2020-21 campaign, you can’t help but feel this young man could really go places. With the right attitude and ability to boot, the British-Singaporean frontman could become a menace to defenders for years to come.