England-born footballer Perry Ng receives S’pore citizenship, in line to play at Asian Cup

Cardiff City’s star defender Perry Ng made a surprise visit to the National Development Centre at Serangoon Stadium in 2025.

PHOTO: UNLEASH THE ROAR

Published Sep 27, 2026, 11:52 AM

Updated Sep 27, 2026, 01:40 PM

Perry Ng, born in England with Singaporean heritage, received Singapore citizenship in September and may play for the national team at the Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.

His citizenship was granted under the Foreign Sports Talent scheme as his grandfather was Singapore-born, and he has shown strong ties to Singapore through visits and community activities.

Ng is an accomplished footballer with awards at Crewe Alexandra and Cardiff City, and could debut for Singapore in matches against Paraguay and Brazil in November.

SINGAPORE – Liverpool-born Cardiff City defender Perry Ng could line up for the Lions at the Jan 7-Feb 5 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia, after he received his Singapore citizenship in September.

The development was announced by Football Association of Singapore (FAS) president Forrest Li at the FAS Annual Congress on Sept 27.

Ng, 30, had arrived in Singapore on Sept 21 and it is believed that he is the first foreign-born athlete with third-generation heritage to become a Singaporean.

However, he will not join the national football team in Indonesia for the ongoing FIFA ASEAN Cup as the Lions’ team list is already finalised.

He could, however, be unveiled in the Singapore kit in front of home fans as soon as the following international window when the Lions take on Paraguay and five-time world champions Brazil at the National Stadium on Nov 13 and 17 respectively.

In an Instagram post on Sept 27, in which he was pictured holding a Singapore passport, Ng said: “Proud to share that I’m now a Singapore citizen. Singapore has always been part of my family’s story, and over the years, it has become home to me too. I’m grateful for everyone who has supported me on this journey.”

Ng’s grandfather was born in Singapore, but the Republic’s citizenship rules state that qualifying for a passport by descent applies only to individuals with at least one parent born in Singapore or who is a citizen by registration.

As such, his citizenship application was being considered under the Foreign Sports Talent scheme, after he attained permanent residency in March 2025.

The dynamic right-back had long expressed his interest in playing for the Lions, and has made frequent visits to Singapore during international breaks to train with the national team and mingle with the national youth players.

His routine in town includes paying respects to his grandfather at a Taoist columbarium in Bedok, savouring local delights and volunteering at various charities.

When the opportunity arose, he watched Singapore play a friendly at the Jalan Besar Stadium and acted as a tour guide for overseas friends, taking them to savour chee cheong fun (rice noodle roll) and chicken rice.

In June, his links with Singapore grew even deeper after he successfully proposed to his girlfriend Lucy Owen at Sentosa on June 23.

Ng joined the Crewe Alexandra academy at five, rose through the ranks to play six seasons for their senior team in the English third and fourth divisions, and was voted the club’s Player of the Year in 2018-19.

He moved to second-tier side Cardiff City in 2021 and was named their Player of the Year in 2022-23 and 2023-24. At both clubs, he suffered relegation but also helped them gain promotion later on.

Returning to the English Championship this term, Cardiff are currently 21st out of 24 teams with seven points from eight games.

Although the Bluebirds have had a difficult start to the season, Ng scored a thumping goal in the 2-1 loss to Queens Park Rangers in September.

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David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times, focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.

AFC/Asian Football Confederation

2025年，卡迪夫城队的明星后卫佩里·恩格意外造访了实龙岗体育场的国家发展中心。

照片：释放咆哮

发布于 2026 年 9 月 27 日上午 11:52

更新于2026年9月27日下午1:40

出生于英国、拥有新加坡血统的佩里·吴于9月获得新加坡公民身份，他可能会代表新加坡国家队参加在沙特阿拉伯举行的亚洲杯。

由于他的祖父出生于新加坡，他根据外国体育人才计划获得了新加坡公民身份，并且他通过访问新加坡和参与社区活动，与新加坡建立了紧密的联系。

吴是一名出色的足球运动员，曾在克鲁和卡迪夫城获得过奖项，他有望在11月代表新加坡队对阵巴拉圭和巴西的比赛中首次亮相。

新加坡——出生于利物浦的卡迪夫城后卫佩里·吴在9月份获得新加坡公民身份后，有望代表新加坡队参加1月7日至2月5日在沙特阿拉伯举行的亚洲杯。

新加坡足球协会（FAS）主席李福瑞于9月27日在FAS年度大会上宣布了这一消息。

30岁的吴于9月21日抵达新加坡，据信他是第一位拥有第三代外籍血统并成为新加坡公民的运动员。

然而，由于狮队名单已经确定，他将不会加入正在印度尼西亚举行的国际足联东盟杯国家足球队。

不过，他最早可能在下一个国际比赛日，也就是11月13日和17日，在新加坡国家体育场举行的比赛中，身穿新加坡队球衣在主场球迷面前亮相，届时新加坡队将分别迎战巴拉圭队和五届世界冠军巴西队。

9月27日，吴先生在Instagram上发布了一张手持新加坡护照的照片，并配文：“很荣幸地宣布，我现在是新加坡公民了。新加坡一直是我家族故事的一部分，多年来，它也成为了我的家。感谢所有在这段旅程中支持我的人。”

吴的祖父出生于新加坡，但新加坡的公民身份规定，只有父母一方出生于新加坡或已登记成为新加坡公民的人，才能通过血统获得护照。

因此，在他于 2025 年 3 月获得永久居留权后，他的公民身份申请将根据外国体育人才计划进行审议。

这位活力四射的右后卫一直表达了为狮队效力的意愿，并在国际比赛日期间频繁前往新加坡，与国家队一起训练，并与国家青年队球员交流。

他在城里的日常活动包括前往勿洛的道教骨灰堂祭拜祖父、品尝当地美食以及在各种慈善机构做义工。

有机会的时候，他去惹兰勿刹体育场观看新加坡队的一场友谊赛，并担任海外朋友的导游，带他们品尝猪肠粉和鸡饭。

6 月 23 日，他在圣淘沙成功向女友露西·欧文求婚，与新加坡的联系更加紧密。

吴五岁时加入克鲁亚历山德拉青训营，一路晋升，在英格兰第三和第四级别联赛中为该队一线队效力了六个赛季，并在 2018-19 赛季被评为俱乐部年度最佳球员。

2021年，他转会至英冠球队卡迪夫城，并在2022-23赛季和2023-24赛季被评为该队年度最佳球员。在这两支球队，他都经历了降级，但也帮助球队后来成功晋级。

本赛季重返英格兰冠军联赛的卡迪夫城目前在24支球队中排名第21位，8场比赛积7分。

尽管蓝鸟队本赛季开局艰难，但吴在9月份1-2负于女王公园巡游者的比赛中打入了一粒精彩的进球。

通过《海峡时报》的每周新闻简报，深入了解新加坡的所有体育赛事和趋势。

David Lee 是《海峡时报》的高级体育记者，主要报道水上运动、羽毛球、篮球、台球、足球和乒乓球。

亚足联/亚洲足球联合会