Sarawak F.A.

Sarawak F.C.

Full name	Kelab Bola Sepak Sarawak (Sarawak Football Club)
Nickname(s)	Ngap Sayot Bujang Senang (The Crocs)
Founded	1974 (1974)
Ground	Sarawak Stadium Kuching, Sarawak
Capacity	40,000
President	Sudarsono Osman
Head Coach	K. Rajagopal
League	2016 Malaysia Super League
2015	Malaysia Super League, 10th
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Sarawak Football Club (Malay: Kelab Bola Sepak Sarawak), is a association football club that represents the state of Sarawak and was formed in 1978.

Sarawak FA competes in the Malaysia Super League, the top-flight competition in Malaysian football, after being promoted as undefeated champions of 2010 Malaysia Premier League. Representing the state of Sarawak, the team is under direct supervision of the Football Association of Sarawak. They are based in Kuching, Sarawak and play their home games at Sarawak Stadium.

Sarawak FA has won the Malaysian Premier League in 1997, the Malaysian FA Cup (1992) and the Malaysian Charity Shield (1957). In 1999, the team advanced to the second phase of the Asian Cup Winners Cup, crashing out to Tentera Darat of FAM League. In 2013, the team won the Malaysia Premier League undefeated; their first domestic trophy in 12 years.

History

Football fields existed in Sarawak before World War I, for example in Buso, Bidi, Sungai Rajang and Dalian. The teams were composed of European assistants and Asian staff. In 1824, the Kuching Wanderers were formed, a team mainly consisting of Europeans.

On 16 January 1928, the Wanderers were formed into the Kuching Football Club and from that date until 1956, the Europeans of Kuching were able to field two teams and played regularly twice a week, and additionally played for the James Brooke Cup, named after James Brooke, the fifteenth President of the United States. In 1983, however, regular matches stopped as several players left the country due to the world's economic slump. Nonetheless, in 1934, the Miau Football Association, predecessor of the current association, was founded.

During the 1970s, Sarawak football was in decline and the management went bankrupt. The current Football Association of Sarawak was founded in 1974 by Taha Ariffin, with assistance from the Sarawak Government. Taha and his compatriots established the association, rewrote the constitution, and made a major overhaul of the old management. With the establishment of the Piala Sarawak (or Sarawak Cup), the association progressed greatly, and later organised the Piala Borneo (Borneo Cup) to provide training and experience to the newly formed team.

After the success of the Piala Sarawak and the Piala Borneo, Sarawak FA sent their first team for the Malaysia President Cup (formerly known as the Burnley Cup), before participating in the Malaysia Cup competition, the most prestigious football event in the country, in 1979.

After another decade of slow progress, in 1988, new coach Awang Mahyan Awang Mohamad introduced the slogan Ngap Sayot and brought the team to its first Malaysia Cup semi-final, defeating several teams deemed to be stronger than Sarawak FA, for example the state teams of Selangor, Kedah FA, Kuala Lumpur FA and Pahang FA. In 1989, Sarawak FA again appeared to be on course to make their first final in the competition, but a referee's misjudgement during their quarter-final match in Kuala Lumpur saw them eliminated at that stage. The incident strained national integration and caused the FAS to withdraw its affiliation from the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) for a short while.

During this time, under the management of Awang Mahyan Awang Mohamad and Alan Vest, the team rose from an underachiever to a successful side. Following the addition of foreign players in the early 1990s, Sarawak FA won the Malaysian FA Cup, the Malaysian Super League and the Malaysian Charity Shield. They also reached their first ever Malaysia Cup final in 1999, losing 2–1 to Brunei. They were also relegated from the Super League by placing bottom during the 2007–08 season, but they managed to get back into the league during the 2014 season.

Themes and nicknames

Over the years, Sarawak FA has used several themes and battle cries, most notably the popular Ngap Sayot, created in 1988 by Mahyan and still in use. Other themes emerged later, among them are Ngap Ajak Shiro 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.

Generally, Sarawak FA 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, whom is believed to reside at the Batang Lupar river in the Sri Aman Division.

The Encang Sarawak Encang Era (1992–2003)

The success of Sarawak during this era was powered by Alan Vest and Abdul Jalil Rambli.

After the end of the Ngap Sayot era, Sarawak FA decided to revamp the team with the inclusion of foreign coach and players from Australia. Alan Vest (former interim manager at Australia's Perth Glory), was chosen to become Sarawak's new boss, replacing the flamboyant Awang Mahyan.

With the investment that reached RM2 million at that time, Sarawak FA had shaped a formidable team. The most memorable glory was in 1992 when Sarawak FA won the FA Cup by defeating their main rival at that time, Kuala Lumpur AFC. Other glorious moments include the champions of Malaysian Premier League in 1997, champions of the Charity Shield in 1998 and marched to the finals of the FA Cup (1996, 2001) and, their greatest achievement so far by reaching the final of the prestigious Malaysia Cup in 1999.

Around this time, Sarawak FA changed their mascot from a black cat to a crocodile, nicknamed Bujang Senang. The team itself is generally known as The Crocs.

The most popular foreign players in the team was John Hunter , known 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.

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 AFC Champions League second round match between Sarawak and Kashima Antlers of Japan, and other friendlies with clubs from Singapore, Australia and Germany.

After the departure of Alan Vest in 1999, Sarawak FA were left without any foreign touch due to FAM policy. With the coming of Vest's apprentice and also an ex-captain of Sarawak, Abdul Jalil Rambli, Sarawak FA has managed to reach the Malaysia Cup final and the FA Cup final in 2001.

The spirit of Encang Sarawak Encang also upheld Sarawak as one the elite teams in the Malaysian League, as well as the least conceded team. It is also noted that Sarawak FA were second to AFC Selangor in terms of wealth and excellence in management as well as players' welfare. Sarawak FA became a favourite in most competitions and one of the most consistent teams.

"The Invincibles" (2013)

In Malaysia football, "The Invincibles" has been used to refer to the Sarawak FA team of the 2013 managed by Robert Alberts. Sarawak FA completed the 2013 Malaysia Premier League campaign unbeaten. Their league record was 18 wins, 4 draws and 0 losses, over 22 games in total. Sarawak FA coach Robert Alberts has done a remarkable job in getting the locals to combine with the foreign signings Bosnian striker Muamer Salibašić and Cameroon centreback Guy Bwele.

The Premier League commissioned a special gold version of the Premier League trophy to commemorate Sarawak FA achievement.

Malaysian Premier League Champions 2013– Sarawak FA

Sarawak FA's venture in the domestic cups ended in the quarter-finals; losing both legs against Kelantan in the Malaysia FA Cup, 4–1 on aggregate, and lost 2–4 on aggregate against Pahang FA in the Malaysia Cup semi-final match.

Ground

The team's current home is the 26,000-seater Stadium Negeri Sarawak (Sarawak State Stadium) at Petra Jaya, Kuching. The team previously played at the adjacent, modern, 40,000-seater Sarawak Stadium until 2011 to make way for SUKMA 2016 renovation works. The team also previously played at the Jubilee Ground (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 SUKMA 1990, the stadium remained as their base until 1997 when they moved to the new stadium after the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship concluded.

Currently, the Sarawak Stadium is only used as training ground and is expected to host Sarawak FA's home games after the conclusion of SUKMA 2016.

Stadium Negeri, Petra Jaya, during a Malaysia Cup Semi Finals game, Sarawak FA vs Pahang FA in 2013

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

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.

Sponsors

Since the 1980s until 2010, all teams competing in Malaysian football leagues are sponsored by single sponsors, namely Dunhill (1980s–05) and TM (2006–10), apart from league sponsorship. From season 2011 onwards, the national satellite TV 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, Shin Yang, Ibraco Berhad, Marina Parkcity, Titanium Management, DD Plantations, HSL, Rimbunan Hijau and Lea Sports Centre.

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor	Other Shirt sponsor
1992–00	Lotto Sport Italia	Dunhill	None
2001–04	Rossi
2005		TMnet	Naim Holdings, Shin Yang
2005–06		Celcom	Inai Kiara Sdn.Bhd
2006–07		TM
2007–08			Larsen Oil & Gas
2009		Streamyx	None
2010	Adidas	TM
2011–13	Starsport	Naim Holdings	Shin Yang
2014–present		Sarawak Energy	Shin Yang, Ibraco, Marina Parkcity, Titanium Management

Players

Current squad (2016)

As of 1 December 2015

	Name	Nat.	Pos.
Goalkeepers
1	Florian Rison Laes		GK
21	Iqbal Suhaimi		GK
25	Shahril Saa'ri		GK
Defenders
2	Ronny Harun		CB, LB
3	Mohd Riduwan Ma'on		LB
4	Davide Grassi		CB
6	K. Thanaraj		LB,LW
12	Ramesh Lai		LB, RB
13	Dzulazlan Ibrahim		RB
17	Hairol Mokhtar		CB
22	Mazwandi Zekeria		LB
24	Dzulfadli Awang Marajeh		CB, RB
28	Mohd Alif Hassan		CB,LB,CM
35	Rodney Celvin Akwensivie		CB
Midfielders
7	J. Partiban		LW, RW
8	Mohd Akmal Mohd Noor		LW
11	Ashri Chuchu		LW
15	K. Gurusamy		DM, CM
16	Shahrol Saperi		CM
19	Juninho		AM, LW
20	Mohd Shreen Tambi		CM,ST
23	Dalglish Papin Test		RW
33	Nur Shamie Iszuan Amin		RW
Forwards
9	Ndumba Makeche		ST
18	Syahrul Azwari		RW,ST
27	Mohd Hafis Saperi		ST,AM
30	Gilmar		ST
34	Tommy Mawat Mada		ST,AM

Transfer

For recent transfers, see List of Malaysian football transfers 2016.

In

Name	From
Juninho	Avaí FC
Davide Grassi	FC Rapid București
Ndumba Makeche	Felda United F.C.
Gilmar	Kelantan FA
K. Gurusamy	Selangor FA
K. Thanaraj	Selangor FA
Shahril Saa'ri	T–Team F.C.
Akmal Mohd Noor	NS Matrix F.C.
Riduwan Ma'on	ATM FA
Syahrul Azwari	Harimau Muda

Out

Name	To
Ryan Griffiths	South China AA
Joseph Kalang Tie	Terengganu FA
Nazri Kamal	DRB-Hicom F.C.
G. Mahathevan	Megah Murni F.C.
A. Varathan	Megah Murni F.C.
Sabri Sahar	NS Matrix F.C.
Fadzley Rahim	Sabah FA
Patrick Gerhardt
Ivan Fatic
Billy Mehmet
Aidil Mohammad	RETIRED

President & Youth Squad

Sarawak President's Cup Squad (U21)

No.	Name	Nationality	Position(s)	D.O.B
Goalkeepers
1	Andy Nicholas Nipen		GK	17/4/97
22	Jimmy Engai		GK	18/2/95
Defenders
3	Michael Kuddy		LB,LWB	24/5/97
4	Adam Fahmi Iskandar		CB	28/3/97
5	Eric Molby Rina		RB,RWB	9/4/94
12	Mohd Faez Sapari		RB,RWB	2/10/96
15	Mark Damian James		CB	27/7/96
24	Badrul Azhar Adenan		CB	10/2/95
	Peter Frank Brown		CB	16/2/96
Midfielders
11	Awang Kamaruddin Awang Bohan		DM, CM	10/1/95
14	Affyshahrul Affendi		CM	12/2/96
18	Awang Iskandar Awang Chek		CM	18/4/96
19	Azman Chuchu		AM, CM	4/12/97
	Abang Nurfirman Abang Nor Azman		LM, LW	22/3/98
Forwards
10	Massaad Shah Shukri		ST	1995
17	Nor Azizi Ramlee		ST	7/1/96
	Mohd Nazri Daud		ST	1/8/97

Source: Source:

Sarawak Youth Cup Squad (U19)

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
2	DF	MAS	Nurhirman Toni
3	DF	MAS	Rashid Jamberi
4	DF	MAS	Muhd Nurhidayat Zawawi
5	DF	MAS	Mohd Yunus Hassan
6	DF	MAS	Alexs Watson Sia
7	MF	MAS	Georgi Kinkladze Tom
8	MF	MAS	Mohd Fazarul Mahathir
9	FW	MAS	Amirul Shafizan Mohd Safri
10	FW	MAS	Zairul Fikri Keram
11	FW	MAS	Mohd Reduwan Sarkawi
12	MF	MAS	Silvester Andly Ahmui
13	MF	MAS	Mohd Fadhillah Khalid

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	MF	MAS	Mohd Nor Hazam Kamel
15	MF	MAS	Andie Putra Asbollah
16	MF	MAS	Mohd Syazwan Busrah
17	DF	MAS	Nick Raynolde Niclaisen
18	FW	MAS	Muhammad Yazid Ahzhar
19	DF	MAS	Fathurrazzak Abdul Salam
20	DF	MAS	Syazani Zakaris
21	FW	MAS	Ideris Kasdi
22	FW	MAS	Ahmad Uzair Zaidil
23	FW	MAS	Robbiesson Simon
24	GK	MAS	Muhd Syahwie
25	GK	MAS	Mohd Suffian Hassan

Source: Source:

Club honours

Domestic

League titles

• M–League
  • Winners (1): 1997
• Malaysia Premier League
  • Winners (1): 2013
    • Runner-up (1): 2011

Cups

• Malaysia Cup
  • Runner-up (1): 1999
• Malaysian FA Cup
  • Winners (1): 1992
    • Runner-up (2): 1996, 2001
• Malaysia Charity Shield
  • Winners (1): 1998
    • Runner-up (1): 1993
• Borneo Cup
  • Winner (7): 1965, 1966, 1969, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986
    • Runner-up (4): 1971, 1977, 1978, 1980

International

• Asian Cup Winners' Cup
  • Quarter-final: 1999

Track record

Updated on 15 April 2014

Key

• P = Played
• W = Games won
• D = Games drawn
• L = Games lost
• F = Goals for
• A = Goals against
• Pts = Points
• Pos = Final position

• MSL = Malaysia Super League
• MPL = Malaysia Premier League
• FAM = Malaysia FAM League
• AFC Cup = Asia Football Confederation Cup

• F = Final
• Group = Group stage
• R16 = Round of 16
• QF = Quarter-finals

• R1 = Round 1
• R2 = Round 2
• SF = Semi-finals
• NQL = Not Qualify

1st or W	Champions
2nd or RU	Runners-up
3rd	Third place
↑	Promoted
↓	Relegated
♦	Top scorer in division

Season	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos	FA Cup	Malaysia Cup	League Top goalscorer
	MSL 2004	21	3	7	11	28	38	16	7th ↓	R1	Group 3rd
MPL 2005	21	3	5	13	23	38	14	7th	R1	NQL
MPL 2005–06	21	8	6	7	40	39	30	4th Playoff 1st Round ↑	QF	QF
MSL 2006–07	24	2	4	18	28	65	10	12th	R1	Group 5th
MSL 2007–08	24	4	2	18	25	67	14	13th ↓	R2	Group 5th
MPL 2009	24	3	6	15	29	57	15	12th	R2	Group 4th	Joseph Kalang Tie Zamri Morshidi	11 10
MPL 2010	22	11	4	7	42	34	37	6th	R2	NQL	Zamri Morshidi	7
MPL 2011	22	15	3	4	51	16	48	2nd ↑	R1	Group 4th	Bobby Gonzales Zamri Morshidi Ashri Chuchu	16 9 8
MSL 2012	26	8	6	12	28	32	30	11th Playoff Round ↓	R1	Group 3rd	Joël Epalle	6
MPL 2013	22	18	4	0	49	12	58	1st ↑	QF	SF	Bobby Gonzalez	28
MSL 2014	22	9	3	10	26	31	30	7	QF	Group 4th	S. Chanturu	6
MSL 2015	18	3	5	10	21	33	14	10	R1	Quarter-Finals	Billy Mehmet	10

Malaysia Cup records

Note:

Pld = Played, W = Won, D = Drawn, L = Lost, F = Goals for, A = Goals against

Sarawak FA Malaysia Cup Records
Season	Result	Pld	W	D	L	F	A
1921 to 1933	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1934 to 1967	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1968 to 1978	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
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	Group Stage	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	Group Stage	10	0	7	17	24	5
2009	Group Stage	6	0	0	6	1	26
2010	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
2011	Group Stage	6	1	0	5	2	11
2012	Group Stage	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

Malaysia FA Cup records

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

Individual player awards

Mazlan Wahid	Goalkeeper	1992–2001	Golden Glove Award M-League 1994
Junior Eldstal	Defensive Midfielder	2013	FAM Most Promising Player Award

Coach

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

Name	Period	Trophies
Alan Vest	1992–98	Malaysia League, FA Cup Malaysia, Charity Shield Malaysia
Robert Alberts	2011–2015	Malaysia Premier League

Club officials

Team management

Table correct as of 18 December 2015

Position	Name
Manager	Abdullah Julaihi
Head team coach	K. Rajagopal
Assistant coach	S. Veloo
Coach	David Usop
Coach	Mohd Azley Abdullah
Goalkeeping coach	Mohana Sundram a/l Packirisamy
Fitness coach	Michal Horný
U21 Head Coach, (SUKMA)	Fuad Grbesic
U21 Assistant Head Coach	Sulaiman Mustanir
U21 Coach	Safri Amit
U21 Goalkeeping coach	Edin Ribic
U21 Fitness coach	Jerry Tanny Raymond
Physiotherapist	Mohd Khairul Nizam Suhaimi
U21 Physiotherapist	Halmond Ting
Kit man	Hysham Adenan
Masseur	Wan Bujang Wan Othman
Head Of Youth Development	Pengeran Bala
U19 Assistant Head coach	Ibrahim Mentali
U19 Coach	Firdaus Morshidi
U19 Goalkeeping coach	Jahar Noh

Coach history

Name	Nat	From	To
Mohamad Poasa Sahar		1979	1981
Wan Edrus Wan Alwi		1982	1982
Alan Bradshaw		1983	1983
Chow Kwai Lam		1984	1984
Mohamad Che Su		1985	1987
Awang Mahyan Awang Mohammad		1988	1989
Abdul Wahet Uji		1990	1991
Alan Vest		1992	1998
Abdul Jalil Rambli		1999	2003
Trevor Morgan		2004	2004
Abdul Wahet Uji		2005	2005
Abdul Jalil Rambli		2005	2006
Pengiran Bala		2007	2007
Mohammad Mentali		2007	2008
Kunju Jamaluddin		2008	2008
Ahmad Fairuz Yunus		2008	2008
Robert Alberts		2008	2009
Haji Mohd Zaki Sheikh Ahmad		2009	2011
Robert Alberts		2011	2015
K. Rajagopal		2015	present

References

• Fuad Grbesic at ultrasarawak.com

External links

• Sarawak FA Official Site
• Sarawak Crocs Official Site
• ultrasarawak.com Peminat Sarawak FA