Malaysia Super League

Astro Malaysian Super League

File:Logo Liga Super 2011.JPG
Founded	2004
Country	Malaysia Singapore
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Number of clubs	14
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Malaysia Premier League
Domestic cup(s)	Malaysia Cup Malaysia FA Cup
International cup(s)	AFC Cup
Current champions	Kelantan (2011)
Most championships	Kedah (2) Selangor (2)
TV partners	Astro Arena RTM
Website	malaysiansuperleague.com
Current: 2012 Season

The Malaysia Super League (Liga Super Malaysia) is a Malaysian professional league for association football. At the top flight of the Malaysian football league system, it is contested between 14 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Malaysia Premier League. It was previously known as the Semi-Pro League from 1989 to 1993 and the M-League (Liga-M) from 1993 to 2004. It is currently sponsored by Astro and therefore officially known as the Astro Malaysia Super League. The competition formed in 2004 following the decision by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to privatize the league. As a result, MSL Sendirian Berhad (or MSL Proprietary Limited) was created to oversee the marketing aspects of the league.

Since 1979, a total of 11 clubs have been crowned champions of the Malaysian football system. Since the inception of the Super League in 2004, six teams have won the title: Kedah (2 titles), Selangor (2), Pahang (1), Perlis (1), Kelantan (1) and Negeri Sembilan (1). The current champions are Kelantan, who won the 2011 season.

History

Main article: History of Malaysian League and Trophy

A football league competition involving the representative sides of the state football associations was first held in Malaysia in 1979. When it began, it was intended primarily as a qualifying tournament for the final knock-out stages of the Malaysia Cup. It was not until 1982 that a League Cup was introduced to recognise the winners of the preliminary stage as the league champions. Over the years, the league competition has gained important stature in its own right.

Initially the only teams only allowed to participate in the league were the state FAs, teams representing the Armed Forces and the Police, and teams representing the neighbouring countries of Singapore and Brunei (though the Football Association of Singapore pulled out of the Malaysian League after the 1994 season following a dispute with the Football Association of Malaysia over gate receipts, and has not been involved since). In recent years, top Malaysian club teams have also been admitted to the league competition.

Between 1989 to 1993 and 1998 to 2003, the football league in Malaysia was divided into two levels:

• 1st Division: Premier 1 League Malaysia
• 2nd Division: Premier 2 League Malaysia

Between 1994 to 1997, there was no second-level league as the top two leagues were combined.

Between 2004 to 2006, the professional football league in Malaysia was divided into two levels and two groups:

• 1st Division: Malaysia Super League
• 2nd Division: Malaysia Premier League Group A
• 2nd Division: Malaysia Premier League Group B

Between 2007 until now, the professional football league in Malaysia was only divided into two levels when Malaysia Premier League combined into one level:

• 1st Division: Malaysia Super League
• 2nd Division: Malaysia Premier League
• 3rd Division: Malaysia FAM Cup

Teams

A total of 14 teams will participate in the 2012 Malaysia Super League season.

• Kelantan FA (2011 Super League Malaysia champions)
• Selangor FA
• Terengganu FA
• Johor FC
• Kedah FA
• Negeri Sembilan FA
• T-Team
• Sabah FA
• Kuala Lumpur FA
• Perak FA
• Felda United FC
• Young Lions
• PKNS FC (Promoted as 2011 Malaysia Premier League champions)
• Sarawak FA (Promoted as 2011 Malaysia Premier League runners-up)

Champions

Since its inception in 2004, the Malaysia Super League title has seen 4 different teams become champions. Kedah FA becomes the first club that won the Super League Malaysia title back-to-back, in 2006-07 season and in 2007-08 season.

Astro Malaysia Super League is classified as the 18th league in Asian with a Grade D in the AFC Pro-League Ad-Hoc Committee Assessment Chart.

Season	Champions	Runners-Up	3rd Place
2004	Pahang FA	Public Bank FC	Perlis FA
2005	Perlis FA	Pahang FA	Perak FA
2005-06	Negeri Sembilan FA	TM FC	Perak FA
2006-07	Kedah FA	Perak FA	DPMM FC
2007-08	Kedah FA	Negeri Sembilan FA	Johor FC
2009	Selangor FA	Perlis FA	Kedah FA
2010	Selangor FA	Kelantan FA	Terengganu FA
2011	Kelantan FA	Terengganu FA	Selangor FA
2012

(For detailed information on a particular season, click on the season.)

Pre-2004 Malaysia Super league champions

Season	Champions
1979	Singapore FA
1980	Selangor FA
1981	Singapore FA
1982	Penang FA
1983	Malacca FA
1984	Selangor FA
1985	Singapore FA
1986	Federal Territory FA
1987	Pahang FA
1988	Kuala Lumpur FA
1989	Division 1: Selangor FA
1990	Division 1: Selangor FA
1991	Division 1: Johor FA
1992	Division 1: Pahang FA
1993	Division 1: Kedah FA
1994	Singapore FA
1995	Pahang FA
1996	Sabah FA
1997	Sarawak FA
1998	Premier 1: Penang FA
1999	Premier 1: Pahang FA
2000	Premier 1: Selangor FA
2001	Premier 1: Penang FA
2002	Premier 1: Perak FA
2003	Premier 1: Perak FA

Criticism

The Malaysia Super League has had its share of criticism throughout its history.

Radical position movements

With only eight teams in the league prior to the 2006-07 season, position movements were radical. Successive losses would condemn teams to a relegation dogfight. Similarly, successive wins would put a team in contention for the title. Notable examples include:

• In 2005 season, Perak FA was rooted at the bottom of the table (with 12 points from 3 wins, 3 draws & 8 losses) after 14 rounds (which was already two-third of the season), relegation dangers seemed imminent back then. However, 6 straight wins that followed propelled them into direct contention for 2nd place with Pahang FA (the defending champions then) on the last day of the season. They eventually lost that game, but still finished in a respectable 3rd place.

• In 2006 season, Selangor MPPJ was leading the table (with 21 points from 7 wins, 1 draw & 2 losses) after 10 rounds (which was almost half of the season), winning the title to follow up their famous victory in 2003 Malaysia Cup was certainly on the cards. However, 8 losses in a row subsequently left them in deep relegation troubles. Their place in the Super League Malaysia was only saved with 2 straight wins in the final rounds of the season. In the end they finished in a disappointing 5th place.

Constant format changes

The reasons given for the formation of the Malaysia Super League was the need to improve the standard of football in Malaysia. However, the Malaysia Super League was criticized by local press. Many called it a variation of the older M-League but with fewer teams in the top division. Many also disagreed with the fact that the league format changed almost annually and it is a problem which persists until today. The Malaysia Super League has gone through two format changes in its short history spanning three-years. The Football Association of Malaysia decided to expand the Super League Malaysia to accommodate 14 teams instead of 8, which was the number of league teams in the Super League's first three seasons.

From Super League Malaysia 2009 the league will have 14 teams, and all teams will play each other only twice (26 matches total). It was also decided that the teams will no longer feature any foreign players.

Foreign players

The professionalism of some teams have also been questioned. Most Malaysia Super League teams view foreign players as a necessity and as a result, most teams usually fill up their rosters with unknown foreigners. Teams usually sign foreigners based on their performances in pre-season trials. It is not uncommon for foreign players to be released after just two or three matches or be kept on the sidelines for an entire season.

The last case of unprofessional conduct involved Ivan Ziga, a Slovakian player who plays for Sarawak FA. Ivan Ziga claims his contract was terminated nine-months early without any explanation. He also claimed he was not paid. He took his plight to the Football Association of Malaysia but received no reply until Ivan Ziga threatened to take the case to FIFA.

Ivan Ziga's case is not uncommon in Malaysia, with most other cases involving African players who are either not paid or left stranded when their contracts are terminated early without any proper explanation given by teams.

Foreign players are to come back to the league starting from the 2012 season onwards.

Records & Statistics

Golden Boot Winners

Season	Players	Teams/Clubs	Goals
1989	Zainal Abidin Hassan	Selangor FA	12
1990	Alistair Edwards	Singapore FA	13
1991	Abbas Saad	Johor FA	11
1992	Zainal Abidin Hassan	Pahang FA	12
1993	Mohd Hashim Mustapha	Kelantan FA	13
1994	Mohd Hashim Mustapha	Kelantan FA	25
1995	Scott Ollerenshaw	Sabah FA	22
1996	Scott Ollerenshaw	Sabah FA	18
1997	Laszlo Repasi	Perak FA	19
1998	Vyatcheslav Melnikov	Pahang FA	17
1999	Azman Adnan	Penang FA	13
2000	Azizul Kamaluddin	Pahang FA	12
2001	Norizam Ali Hassan	Perak FA	13
2002	Muhamad Khalid Jamlus	Perak FA	17
2003	Phillimon Chepita	Perlis FA	23
2004	Indra Putra Mahayuddin	Pahang FA	15
2005	Julio Cesar Rodriguez Zacharia Simukonda	Sabah FA Perlis FA	18
2005-06	Bambang Pamungkas	Selangor FA	30
2006-07	Keita Mandjou Awang Md Shahrazen Mohd Said	Perak FA DPMM FC	21
2007-08	Marlon Alex James	Kedah FA	23
2009	Mohd Nizaruddin Yusof	Perlis FA	18
2010	Mohd Ashaari Shamsuddin	Terengganu FA	18
2011	Abdul Hadi Yahya	Terengganu FA	20

Club Records

Team	Super League Malaysia	Premier League Malaysia	Malaysia FA Cup	Malaysia Cup	Malaysia Charity Shield	AFC Cup	AFC Champions League	Total of Champion(s)
Selangor FA	7 (3)	2	5 (2)	32 (15)	8 (5)	-	(1)	54
Singapore FA	4 (2)	-	-	24 (19)	1 (1)	-	-	29
Kedah FA	3 (4)	3	3 (1)	4 (6)	2 (3)	-	-	15
Perak FA	2 (1)	(1)	2 (3)	7 (11)	3	-	-	14
Kuala Lumpur FA	2 (3)	-	3 (1)	3 (1)	3 (4)	-	-	11
Pahang FA	5 (4)	-	1 (1)	2 (4)	2 (4)	-	-	10
Penang FA	2 (2)	-	1 (2)	4 (9)	1	-	-	9
Johor FA	1 (1)	1	1	2(1)	1 (2)	-	-	6
Perlis FA	1 (1)	1	(3)	2 (1)	2 (1)	-	-	6
Terengganu FA	(3)	2	2 (2)	1 (3)	1 (1)	-	-	6
Negeri Sembilan FA	1 (1)	1 (1)	2	2 (2)	(2)	-	-	5
Kelantan FA	1 (1)	1	(2)	1(3)	1	-	-	4
Sarawak FA	1	-	1 (2)	(1)	1 (1)	-	-	3
MPPJ FC	-	1	-	1	1	-	-	3
Sabah FA	1 (1)	(1)	1 (3)	(3)	(1)	-	-	2
Malacca FA	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Brunei FA	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1
PDRM FA	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	1
Johor FC	(1)	1	-	-	-	-	-	1
Public Bank FC	(1)	1	-	-	-	-	-	1
ATM FA	-	-	-	(2)	-	-	-	-
Naza FC	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	1
UPB MyTeam FC	-	(1)	-	-	-	-	-	-
TM FC	(1)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

• Table shows teams' wins in all competitions
• Numbers in bracket shows runner-up finishes in competitions
• Although the FA of Malaysia has not recognised retrospectively the league winners for 1979–1981, these are included for statistical comparison.
• The figures in bold represent the most times this competition has been won by the team

See also

• Malaysia Super League seasons
• FAM Football Awards
• History of Malaysian football
• Expatriate footballers in Malaysia
• List of Super League Malaysia managers

External links

• Official site
• Football Association of Malaysia
• RSSSF.com: Malaysia - List of Champions
• Malaysia Super League results