Alizanda Sitom

Alizanda bin Sitom (born 29 July 1970) is a retired Bruneian footballer who played as a goalkeeper.[1] Having played for the Brunei national representative team in Malaysia's M-League System at the turn of the century,[2] he is notable for returning to DPMM for a third spell at the age of 46.[3]

Alizanda Sitom
Personal information
Full name Alizanda bin Sitom
Date of birth (1970-07-29) 29 July 1970
Place of birth Brunei
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Retired
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2005 Brunei
2002–2005 ABDB
2002 → DPMM FC (loan)
2005–2009 DPMM FC
2016–2017 DPMM FC 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 July 2019

In the year 2000, Alizanda was brought into the national representative team to replace Yunos Yusof who had retired after winning the Malaysia Cup the previous year.[4] He was rotated with Jefry Mohammad and Ibrahim Abu Bakar as Brunei suffered relegation, and in the following season competed with a young Wardun Yussof for the goalkeeper position as Brunei began life in Malaysia's Premier Two.[5] Domestically, he played for the football team of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, MS ABDB. He made appearances for his future club DPMM FC in the AFC Champions League against Geylang FC in 2002.[6] Later in the year, he would meet face to face with Wardun in the final of the first Brunei FA Cup competition, but conceded to a Norsillmy Taha strike in the 30th minute to yield the victory to Wijaya FC.[7]

When DPMM replaced Brunei in the Malaysia Premier League at the start of the 2005–06 season, Alizanda transferred immediately to the royally-owned club.[8] He gained promotion to the Malaysia Super League with DPMM but was largely second fiddle to Wardun. He was released in early 2009 following DPMM's signing of Azman Ilham Noor from NBT FC.

In the 2016 close season, DPMM announced that Alizanda had signed a contract after the release of Azman.[9] Due to his age, he was assumed to be holding a coaching role but his head coach Steve Kean has confirmed that Alizanda will compete for the goalkeeping position with Wardun, rekindling a rivalry last occurred eight years ago.[10]

On 2 April 2017, Alizanda started the match against Hougang United and kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory. It was his first competitive match in 8 years and made him the oldest player to play in the S.League aged 46 years, 8 months and 4 days.[11] He made four league appearances in total, the last being a 9–3 drubbing by Home United.[12] His age was 46 years, 9 months and 26 days on that date.

References
  1. "RHB Singapore Cup - Know your foreign teams". S.League. 27 April 2007. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  2. "Penang Rout KL, Terengganu Beat Brunei". Utusan Malaysia. 26 July 2000. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  3. "DPMM FC finalise squad for new S League season". Borneo Bulletin. 16 February 2017. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  4. "2000年　Ｍリーグ　DUNHILL PREMIRE [sic] 1". ASIAN FOOTBALL SHOW. Archived from the original on 30 August 2005. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  5. "M-League - Crunch time for Brunei". Borneo Bulletin. 3 August 2001. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2017-02-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "WIJAYA F.C. juara Proton Piala F.A." Pelita Brunei. 6 November 2002. Archived from the original on 18 February 2005. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  8. "UPBFC Perak And Kuala Lumpur Win Big". Bernama. 11 December 2005. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  9. "Ex-Hammer trainee set for DPMM FC move". Borneo Bulletin. 22 October 2016. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  10. "Kean satisfied with tour of Bangkok". Borneo Bulletin. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  11. "Wasps Secure First Victory Of The Season Against Cheetahs". S.League. 2 April 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  12. "Faris tears DPMM to shreds in Home United's extraordinary 9-3 mauling". FourFourTwo Singapore. 25 May 2017. Archived from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
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