Sarawak FA

Football Association of Sarawak (Malay: Persatuan Bolasepak Sarawak) is a football club that supervises football in the state of Sarawak. The association's football team competes in Malaysia's football league representing the state of Sarawak in Borneo. It is one of the 14 state teams of the Malaysian football structure. They currently compete in Malaysia's second division professional football league, the Malaysia Premier League. The team's home matches are played at the 26,000 capacity Sarawak State Stadium in Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak.

FA Sarawak

Full name	Football Association of Sarawak Persatuan Bolasepak Sarawak
Nickname(s)	Ngap Sayot Bujang Senang (The Crocs)
Founded	1974 (1974)
Ground	Sarawak State Stadium
Capacity	26,000[1]
President	Posa Majais
Manager	Hamzah Brahim
Coach	Sam Timbe
League	Liga M3
2020	Liga M3, (season abandoned)
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

The team has won the Malaysia FA Cup (1992), Premier League in 1997 and the Malaysia Charity Shield (1998). In 1999, the team advanced to the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup Winners' Cup after beating Ho Chi Minh Customs of V-League by 5–2 on aggregate in the first round and Yangon City Development of Myanmar Premier League by 4–0 on aggregate in the second round, only to crashing out later to Kashima Antlers of J-League by 2–14 on aggregate. In 2013, the team won the Malaysia Premier League which is their first domestic trophy in 12 years.[2]

History

Football fields have existed in the Kingdom of Sarawak before World War I, such as in Bidi, Buso, Dalian and Rajang River. Sarawak footballers at the time were mainly composed of European assistants and Asian staff. In 1824, a team named as the Kuching Wanderers were formed, mainly consisting of Europeans ancestry.[3] On 16 January 1928, the Wanderers were transformed into Kuching Football Club. Until 1956, the team played regularly twice a week including in James Buchanan Cup, a cup named after the fifteenth President of the United States, James Buchanan. Regular matches however stopped in 1933 as several players left the country due to the world's economic slump. The following year, the Kuching Football Association (as the predecessor of the current association) was officially founded.[3] From the 1950s until 1963, Sarawak competed in the Borneo Cup together with North Borneo football team and Brunei national football team.[4] Following the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, the team subsequently joined the mainstream Malaysian football. However in the 1970s, Sarawak football facing a decline and the management went bankrupt. The current Football Association of Sarawak was founded in 1974 by Haji Taha Ariffin with assistance from the Sarawak state government.[3] Its constitution was subsequently rewritten with a major overhaul was made to change the old management, and the team established the Sarawak Cup. With the association progressed greatly, Sarawak qualify into the Malaysia Cup for the first time in 1978 and enter the competition in 1979.[5]

Amateur and semi-pro era

Like its traditional rival and neighbour of Sabah, Sarawak also produced some quality player such as James Yaakub.[6] Generally, Sarawak is known as The Kenyalang, named after the state bird. In the 1980s, the Black Cats was chosen as the team's pseudonym; however, following series of notorious crocodile attacks at heavily infested rivers in the state during the 1990s, the nick Bujang Senang is chosen to represent Sarawak's chivalric and ferocious play. The name is chosen after a legendary and notorious man-eating crocodile Bujang Senang, who is believed to reside at the Batang Lupar River in the Sri Aman Division.[7] In 1988, under the coach Awang Mahyan Awang Mohamad, he introduced the slogan Ngap Sayot and brought the team to its first Malaysia Cup semi-final,[8] defeating other teams deemed several times to be more stronger than Sarawak, such as Selangor, Kedah, Kuala Lumpur and Pahang.[9] Several other themes then emerged, among them are Ngap Ajak and Tebang Bala Sidak. Recently, the Semangat 88 (Spirit of 88) theme is used alongside Ngap Sayot to emulate the success of the 1980s team. In 1989, Sarawak again appeared to be on the course to make their first final in the competition, but a referee's misjudgement during the quarter-final match in Kuala Lumpur saw the team controversially eliminated at the stage. The incident strained national integration and causing Sarawak football organisation to withdraw their affiliation from the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) for a while.[3]

Professional era

Under the management of New Zealander coach Alan Vest (former interim manager at Australia's Perth Glory) from 1992, the team rose from an underachiever to a successful side especially when a huge investment was made.[10][11] The most popular foreign players in the team was John Hunter (known in the team as John "Kerbau (Buffalo)" Hunter). David Evans an Australian, holds the record as the tallest player ever in the league's history, as well as the longest serving foreign player. Other players such as Billy Bone, Alistair Edwards, Doug Ithier as well as Neathan Gibson were also popular with fans. Following the addition of foreign players since the early 1990s, Sarawak won the Malaysia FA Cup in 1992, Liga Perdana in 1997 and Malaysia Charity Shield in 1998.[10][12][13][14] They also reached their first ever Malaysia Cup final in 1999, only losing 1–2 at the end to Brunei.[15] This era also witnessed a significant change of venue in 1997. After the end of the 1997 FIFA World Youth Cup, Sarawak moved to its current home, the Sarawak Stadium which is adjacent to the old stadium (although the team re-used the old Stadium Negeri for several home matches afterwards). The new stadium was regarded quite unfortunate as the old one, but throughout the time the new stadium becomes an identity for the team itself. The new stadium has hosted several international matches, such the Asian Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final round match between Sarawak and Kashima Antlers of Japan, and other friendlies with clubs from Singapore, Australia and Germany. After the departure of Vest in 1999, the team were left without any foreign touch due to recent change in FAM policy. With the coming of Vest's apprentice and also an ex-captain of Sarawak, Abdul Jalil Rambli, the team managed to reach both the finals of Malaysia Cup and the FA Cup in 2001.[16] It is also noted at the time that the team were second after Selangor in terms of wealth and excellence in management as well as players' welfare, which subsequently became a favourite in most competitions and one of the most consistent teams.

Recent era

Sarawak emerged as the overall champion for the 2013 Malaysia Premier League edition.[2]

"The Invincibles" has been used to refer to the Sarawak team for the 2013 season managed by Dutch coach Robert Alberts.[17] The team completed the season campaign unbeaten, with their league record was 18 wins, 4 draws and 0 losses in over 22 games in total.[18][19] Alberts was praised for his remarkable job in getting the locals to successfully combine with foreign players such as Bosnian striker Muamer Salibašić and Cameroon centre-back Guy Bwele.[2][20] The team venture in other domestic cups however ended in the quarter-finals after losing both legs against Kelantan in the FA Cup by 1–4 on aggregate, and losing 2–4 on aggregate against Pahang in the semi-final match.[21]

Stadiums

Sarawak State Stadium in Petra Jaya, Kuching during a Malaysia Cup semi-finals between Sarawak and Pahang in 2013.

The team's current home is the 26,000-seater Sarawak State Stadium (Malay: Stadium Negeri Sarawak) at Petra Jaya, Kuching.[1] The team previously played at the adjacent, modern, 40,000-seater Sarawak Stadium until 2011 to make way for 2016 Sukma Games renovation works. The team also previously played at the Jubilee Ground (Malay: Padang Jubli) at Padungan Road, Kuching from 1974 until the mid-1980s, before moving to the old (now current) ground. Following facilities upgrade in 1989 for 1990 Sukma Games, the stadium remained as their base until 1997 when they moved to the new stadium after the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship concluded. The Sarawak Stadium is currently only used as training ground and is expected to host the team home games after the conclusion of 2016 Sukma Games.

Crest and colours

Colours

The flag of Sarawak has always been an inspiration for kit colour schemes. Historically, the home shirt is red and black, augmented by black shorts and red socks. However, colours for both shorts and socks may occasionally change to either red or white, according to season's preference. Certain seasons have seen yellow, orange and even white kits worn as first choice kits. Owing to team's success mostly dressed in red and black, the team is sometimes colloquially known as Merah Hitam (the Red and Blacks). Similarly, the away kit is always blue and black; akin to its home kit, colours for both shorts and socks may occasionally change to either blue or white, according to season's preference. Certain seasons have seen white, yellow and navy blue kits worn as change kits. For current season, these colours are set as their "third" kit as the team prefers yellow shirt, black shorts and red socks as their away kit.

More recently, Sarawak have also introduced a third, or alternate kit. In general, most Sarawak kits are influenced by the colours of top Italian football clubs, AC Milan and Internazionale. Sarawak's first known kit manufacturer is Puma, followed by Diadora. Since 1991, the team has worn Lotto kits, which have witnessed tremendous success and fame before switching to local brand Rossi in September 2001. After nine years, Adidas became the kit of choice for one season prior to the appointment of another local brand, Starsport to supply kits for the team until at least 2016.

Ownership and finances

Since the 1980s until 2010, all teams competing in Malaysian football leagues are sponsored by single sponsors, namely Dunhill (1980s–05) and Telekom Malaysia (TM) (2006–10), apart from league sponsorship. From season 2011 onwards, the national satellite television Astro takes over as league sponsor, while competing teams are individually sponsored by respective corporates and suppliers.

In addition, the Lea Group of Companies, a local company through their sporting wing, Lea Sports Centre has been Sarawak's shirt sponsor since the 1990s. Previous sponsors include Bank Utama, Power (a brand by Bata), Inai Kiara, Holiday Inn, AirAsia, Larsen Oil & Gas and Naim Holdings, and currently, the team is sponsored by Sarawak Energy,[22] Shin Yang, Ibraco Berhad, Marina Parkcity, Titanium Management, DD Plantations, HSL, Rimbunan Hijau and Lea Sports Centre.

For the 2019 season, Malindo Air became corporate partner and official airline for the Sarawak team, according to the official Sarawak FA Facebook page.

Sponsorship

Season	Manufacturer	Sponsor
1992–2000	Lotto	Dunhill
2001–2004	Rossi
2005		TMnet
2005–2006		Celcom
2006–2007		TM
2007–2008
2009		Streamyx
2010	Adidas	TM
2011–2013	Starsport	Naim Holdings
2014–2016		Sarawak Energy
2016		Marina ParkCity
2017		Sarawak Energy
2018		none
2019		Press Metal
2020–	Joma	Harini Sdn.Bhd

Honours

Titles	Winners	Runners-up
Malaysia Cup		1999
Liga Perdana (1x)	1997
Liga Premier (1x)	2013	2011
Malaysia FA Cup (1x)	1992	1996, 2001
Malaysian Charity Shield (1x)	1998	1993
Borneo Cup (7x)	1965, 1966, 1969, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986

Club records

As of 14 February 2020

Note:

• P = Played, W = Win, D = Draw, L= Loss, F = Goal for, A = Goal against, Pts = Points, Pos = Position

  1st or Champions   2nd or Runner-Up   3rd place   Relegation

Season	League									Cup			Asia
	Division	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos	Charity	Malaysia	FA	Competition	Result
2004	Super League	21	3	7	11	28	38	16	7th	–	1st round	Group stage	–	–
2005	Premier League	21	3	5	13	23	38	14	7th	–	1st round	Not qualified	–	–
2005–06	Premier League	21	8	6	7	40	39	30	4th	–	Quarter-finals	Quarter-finals	–	–
2006–07	Super League	24	2	4	18	28	65	10	12th	–	1st round	Group stage	–	–
2007–08	Super League	24	4	2	18	25	67	14	13th	–	2nd round	Group stage	–	–
2009	Premier League	24	3	6	15	29	57	15	12th	–	2nd round	Group stage	–	–
2010	Premier League	22	11	4	7	42	34	37	6th	–	2nd round	Not qualified	–	–
2011	Premier League	22	15	3	4	51	16	48	2nd	–	1st round	Group stage	–	–
2012	Super League	26	8	6	12	28	32	30	11th	–	1st round	Group stage	–	–
2013	Premier League	22	18	4	0	49	12	58	1st	–	Semi-finals	Quarter-finals	–	–
2014	Super League	22	9	3	10	26	31	30	7th	–	Group stage	Quarter-finals	–	–
2015	Super League	18	3	5	10	21	33	14	10th	–	Quarter-finals	1st round	–	–
2016	Super League	22	6	6	10	32	40	24	8th	–	Group stage	2nd round	–	–
2017	Super League	22	5	6	11	24	34	21	11th	–	Group stage	Quarter-finals	–	–
2018	Premier League	20	6	4	10	27	35	22	8th	–	Not qualified	2nd round	–	–
2019	Premier League	20	4	4	12	25	44	16	11th	–	Semi-finals	2nd round	–	–

Source:[23][24]

Malaysia Cup records

Sarawak FA Malaysia Cup Records
Champion / Year	Result	Pld	W	D	L	F	A
1921 to 1933	Did not enter
1934 to 1967
1968 to 1978
1979	First Entered	-	-	-	-	-	-
1980 to 1987	Unknown record
1988	Semi-final	20	8	7	5	23	17
1989	Quarter-final	17	7	3	7	20	43
1990 to 1998	Unknown record
1999	Runner-up	-	-	-	-	-	-
2000	Semi-final	10	5	2	3	15	10
2001	Group Stage	6	2	1	3	7	11
2002		6	3	0	3	10	11
2003	Quarter-final	8	3	3	2	15	12
2004	Group Stage	6	3	0	3	15	12
2005	Did not enter
2006	Quarter-final	8	4	3	1	11	5
2007	Group Stage	9	2	2	5	17	23
2008		10	0	7	17	24	5
2009		6	0	0	6	1	26
2010	Did not enter
2011	Group Stage	6	1	0	5	2	11
2012		6	2	1	3	10	13
2013	Semi-final	10	4	3	3	13	5
2014	Group Stage	6	1	2	3	6	9
2015	Quarter-final	6	2	2	2	5	7
2016	Group Stage	6	0	2	4	4	13
2017		6	1	2	3	6	12

Malaysia FA Cup records

Sarawak FA Cup Records
Champion / Year	Result
2009	Second Round
2010
2011	First Round
2012
2013	Quarter Final
2014
2015	Second Round
2016
2017	First Round
2018	First Round
2019	Second Round

Malaysia Challenge Cup records

Champion / Year	Result	Pld	W	D	L	F	A
2018	Group Stage	6	0	1	5	3	14
2019	Semi-final	4	1	1	2	3	6

Performances in AFC competitions

• Asian Cup Winners' Cup: 1 appearance

1999: Quarter-final

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away
1998–99	Asian Cup Winners' Cup	First round	Ho Chi Minh City Customs	3–1	2–1
		Second round	Yangon City Development	3–0^1	1–0
		Quarter-finals	Kashima Antlers	2–4	0–10

¹ Yangon City Development were unable to field a team for the second leg due to player illness.

Individual player awards

M-League top goalscorers

Season	Player	Goals
2009	Joseph Kalang Tie	11
	Zamri Morshidi	10
2011	Bobby Gonzales	15
	Zamri Morshidi	11
	Ashri Chuchu	8
2012	Ashri Chuchu	4
2014	S. Chanturu	6
2015	Billy Mehmet	15
2016	Ndumba Makeche	10
2017	Mateo Roskam	9
2018	Bobby Gonzales	15
2019	Bobby Gonzales	9

Players

First-team squad

As of 9 June 2020.[25]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  MAS Ahmad Uzair Zaidil 3 DF  MAS Sugunthan a/l Maniam 4 DF  MAS Asrin Kalam 5 DF  MAS Shukor Sulaiman 6 DF  MAS Muhamad Alif Najmi Ahmad 7 DF  MAS Mohd Hashim Shamsudin 8 DF  MAS Dalglish Papin 9 DF  MAS Ahrasu Ananthan 10 DF  MAS Mohammad Nor Ubaidullah 11 MF  MAS Nashrul Shazrin Roslan 12 MF  MAS Sulaiman Jamali 13 MF  MAS Fauzan Dzulkifli 14 FW  MAS Nor Mohd Hafizz Nor Azam 15 FW  MAS Amar Muaz Zamri 16 FW  MAS Azrizan Ahmad

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 FW  MAS Abdi Effendi Mukhrijen 18 MF  CGO Ushindi Baraka 19 FW  MAS Nursalam Zainal Abidin 20 MF  MAS Nur Areff Kamaruddin (captain) 21 FW  MAS Wan Zulhilmi Wan Mustafa 22 FW  UGA Denis Amadire 23 MF  MAS Mohd Hafizie Erwinshah 24 MF  MAS Nizam Abu Bakar 25 GK  MAS Ayyub Hakimi Saiful Affendi 26 MF  MAS Shazlan Zaidin 27 DF  UGA Omar Hitimana 28 FW  MAS Hattaphon Bun An 29 FW  CGO Ntambwe Papy 30 FW  MAS Fitri Za'aim Amran 99 GK  MAS Navind Raj a/l Gnanasegaran

Development squad

Current coaching staff

As of 10 June 2020[26]

Position	Name
President	Dato' Posa Majais
Deputy President	Pengiran Datu Daud bin Pengiran Putera
Vice President	Mohamad Saif Jubaidi
Team Advisor	Awang Mahyan Awang Mohammad
Secretary General	Jeffery Lana
Head team coach	Sam Timbe
Assistant coach
Goalkeeping coach	Mohd Faiz Abdul Khalid
Fitness coach	Jerry Tanny Raymond
Physiotherapist	Mohd Fikri Enidzullah
Kit man	Muhd Sufyan Mohd Husin
Masseur	Wan Bujang Wan Othman

Coaches

• Poasa Sahar (1979–1981)
• Edrus Alwi (1982)
• Alan Bradshaw (1983)
• Chow Kwai Lam (1984)
• Che Su (1985–1987)
• Mahyan Mohammad (1988–1989)
• Wahet Uji (1990–1991, 2005)
• Alan Vest (1992–1998)
• Jalil Rambli (1999–2003, 2005–2006)
• Trevor Morgan (2004)
• Pengiran Bala (2007, 2017–2018)
• Mohammad Mentali (2007–2008)
• Kunju Jamaluddin (2008)
• Fairuz Yunus (2008)
• Robert Alberts (2008–2009, 2011–2015)
• Zaki Sheikh (2009–2011)
• K. Rajagopal (2015)
• David Usop (2016–2017)
• Ian Gillan (2018)
• Pengiran Bala (2018)
• Mohd Farhan Abdullah @ Anai Igang (2019)
• Sim Timbe (2020–)

Coach history

The following coaches won at least one trophy when in charge of Sarawak:

Name	Period	Trophies
Alan Vest	1992–1998	1992 Malaysia FA Cup, 1997 Premier League, 1998 Malaysia Charity Shield
Robert Alberts	2011–2015	2013 Premier League

References

1. "Introduction [Sarawak State Stadium]". Sarawak Sports Corporation. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
2. Matthew T. Umpang (25 June 2013). "S'wak clinches Premier League title!". The Borneo Post. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
3. "History". Football Association of Sarawak. 9 May 2011. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
4. Neil Morrison (31 March 2011). "Borneo Cup". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
5. "Malaysia 1979". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
6. "Many fallen sports icons not getting assistance". The Borneo Post. 12 February 2011. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
7. Badd (28 November 2017). "Here's the story behind Bujang Senang, a crocodile that once terrorized Sarawak". cilisos.my. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
8. Sopi Samaile (13 February 2009). "'Ngap Sayot' kian dilupa" (in Malay). Utusan Malaysia. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
9. Ian King; Karel Stokkermans (29 February 2012). "Malaysia 1988". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
10. Kerni Puah (12 August 2013). "White Rajah of football Vest gets the moniker as under him Sarawak won major titles". The Star. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
11. Harry Ilias (3 February 2017). "Imbau era kegemilangan Ngap Sayot" (in Malay). Utusan Borneo. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
12. Josef Bobrowsky (19 April 2003). "Malaysia 1992". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
13. Mikael Jönsson (19 June 2003). "Malaysia 1997". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
14. Mikael Jönsson; Andre Zlotkowski (7 January 2001). "Malaysia 1998". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
15. Andre Zlotkowski; Ian Griffiths (7 January 2001). "Malaysia 1999". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
16. Ian Griffiths; Mohd Rashidan (3 February 2002). "Malaysia 2001". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
17. Dayang Zainatull (16 April 2017). "Sedikit inspirasi untuk skuad Bujang Senang, mungkin?" (in Malay). Astro. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
18. Devinder Singh (6 July 2013). "Unbeaten Sarawak cap memorable season". New Straits Times. Archived from the original on 9 July 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
19. Kerni Puah (28 October 2013). "Solitary goal by Bobby ensures Sarawak's unbeaten record at home unbroken". The Star. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
20. "Ex-Sarawak star: No more 'madness' please". The Star. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
21. Matthew Umpang (12 January 2014). "The 2013 Season: Looking Back". The Borneo Post. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
22. CLDN (1 November 2013). "Sarawak Energy to sponsor Crocs?". Sarawak Crocs. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
23. "[Summary] Malaysia Super League". Soccerway. 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
24. Karel Stokkermans (10 August 2017). "Malaysia 2016". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
25. "Sarawak FA 2020". FAM. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
26. "Sarawak FA Staff". FAM. Retrieved 10 June 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Sarawak football supporters website
• FA Sarawak team latest statistics
• FA Sarawak individual player stats