Sabah FA
Encyclopedia
The Football Association of Sabah is a registered football association affiliated with the Football Association of Malaysia
Football Association of Malaysia
The Football Association of Malaysia is the governing body for football in Malaysia, responsible for organising the Malaysian national football team and the major football and futsal tournaments within the country. The Football Association of Malaysia main headquarters is located at Wisma...

. The association's football team competes in Malaysia's football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 league representing the state of Sabah
Sabah
Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...

 in Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

. Sabah FA is a professional football club and one of the 14 state teams of the Malaysian football structure. They currently competes in Malaysia's top professional football league, the Malaysia Super League. The team's home matches are played at the 30,000 capacity Likas Stadium
Likas Stadium
Likas Stadium is located in the area of Likas in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. It is mainly used for association football and athletics and it is located within Likas Sports Complex...

 in Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu , formerly known as Jesselton, is the capital of Sabah state in East Malaysia. It is also the capital of the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the northwest coast of Borneo facing the South China Sea. The Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park lies on one side and Mount...

, the capital city of Sabah.

History

The North Borneo Football Club(NBFC) changed its name to Sabah Amateur Football Association(SAFA) in 1977 prior to joining the Malaysia Football League.
Past players include James Wong
James Wong (footballer)
James Wong is a former Malaysian footballer who is a striker for Malaysia national football team and Sabah FA. He was known as King James Wong by the local fans and Ah Fook by his teammates....

, Hassan Sani
Hassan Sani
Hassan Sani was a former Malaysian football player. He played for Sabah FA in the semi-pro league and Malaysia Cup in the late 1970s and in the 1980s.Hassan start representing Malaysia in youth competition from 1977–1978...

, Peter Rajah, and striker Matlan Marjan
Matlan Marjan
Matlan Marjan is a former professional football player from the state of Sabah, Malaysia. He is celebrated as the person whom scored 2 goals against England for Malaysia on 12 June 1991 as well as being one of the top striker in the local league in the early 1990s...

 who scored a double against England 12th of June 1991

Amateur Era

Sabah was a well known team during the Malaysian football semi-pro era as state team produced many quality players namely the trio of James Wong
James Wong (footballer)
James Wong is a former Malaysian footballer who is a striker for Malaysia national football team and Sabah FA. He was known as King James Wong by the local fans and Ah Fook by his teammates....

, Hassan Sani
Hassan Sani
Hassan Sani was a former Malaysian football player. He played for Sabah FA in the semi-pro league and Malaysia Cup in the late 1970s and in the 1980s.Hassan start representing Malaysia in youth competition from 1977–1978...

, and Peter Rajah. These players during their time led Sabah to become one of Malaysian football's most feared teams during the 80's.

One fine example was during the 1979 Malaysian League where Sabah started slowly. After a run of 8 matches, they stood with 3 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses but, during the later stages they stepped up a gear or five by winning all their remaining 8 matches with most of them by huge margins, including an incredible 8–0 thrashing of Sarawak, 7-0 hammering of Perak FA
Perak FA
The Football Association of Perak enters a team in Malaysian football competitions to represent the state of Perak. The team currently plays in the Malaysia Super League....

 and the 6–1 beating of Terengganu FA
Terengganu FA
The Football Association of Terengganu The Football Association of Terengganu The Football Association of Terengganu (Bahasa Melayu: Persatuan Bola Sepak Negeri Terengganu (PBSNT) enters a team in Malaysian football competitions to represent the state of Terengganu. The team is based in Kuala...

. At the end of the season, Sabah finished as runners-up behind Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 and became the highest scoring team with 49 goals in 12 games, which is an average of 3 goals per game.

Professional Era

When professional football was introduced by Football Association of Malaysia
Football Association of Malaysia
The Football Association of Malaysia is the governing body for football in Malaysia, responsible for organising the Malaysian national football team and the major football and futsal tournaments within the country. The Football Association of Malaysia main headquarters is located at Wisma...

, Sabah also made a reputation of being one of the Malaysian League's most competitive teams. Quality professional players were produced from the ranks during the 1990s, most notably Matlan Marjan
Matlan Marjan
Matlan Marjan is a former professional football player from the state of Sabah, Malaysia. He is celebrated as the person whom scored 2 goals against England for Malaysia on 12 June 1991 as well as being one of the top striker in the local league in the early 1990s...

 who helped Sabah finish as runners-up during 1993 and 1994 Malaysia FA Cup
Malaysia FA Cup
The FA Cup Malaysia is a national knock-out football competition organised by the Football Association of Malaysia. The tournament was introduced during the Semi-Pro League era in 1990...

, and who at one time was appointed as the national team captain by the then Malaysian national team coach Claude LeRoy.

The positive results gained from the beginning of professional era however was cut short by the match fixing scandal that rocked Malaysian football in 1994. The scandal almost destroyed Sabah and Malaysian football in general. Sadly, Matlan was the one of several players found guilty for being involved in the scandal. As a punishment for their involvement in match fixing, he and the other players were banned for life by FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

 from being involved in football.

After the scandal, Sabah began its rebuilding process to regain their reputation in Malaysian football. Sabah won their first professional trophy, the Malaysia FA Cup
Malaysia FA Cup
The FA Cup Malaysia is a national knock-out football competition organised by the Football Association of Malaysia. The tournament was introduced during the Semi-Pro League era in 1990...

 in 1995. In the 1996 season, Sabah won their first league title and went through to the final of the Malaysia Cup
Malaysia Cup
The Malaysia Cup is an annual association football tournament in Malaysia. It is currently the longest-running football competition in Asia...

 for the first time but were beatened by Selangor FA
Selangor FA
The Football Association of Selangor , commonly referred to as FAS or simply Selangor, competes in Malaysian football competitions representing the state of Selangor Darul Ehsan. The team is based in Shah Alam city. They are currently playing in Malaysian Super League, the top-flight of Malaysian...

 on penalties.

The 2000 season could be considered as Sabah's worst since joining the Malaysian professional league. They were relegated to the second division and could not get past the group stages of the Malaysia Cup. However, Sabah quickly regained its performance in the 2001 season where they finished as runners-up behind Johor FC
Johor FC
Johor Football Club is a Malaysian football club based in Pasir Gudang, Johor. They play in the top division in Malaysian football, the Malaysian Super League...

.

In the 2002 season, Sabah lining up players of calibre such as Zainizam Marjan
Zainizam Marjan
Zainizam Marjan is a Malaysian footballer who was a midfielder for Sabah FA at Malaysia Premier League. He is the former member of Malaysia national football team. He is the younger brother of Sabah and Malaysia top striker during the '90s, Matlan Marjan.-Career:Zainizam start his football career...

, Khairul Azman Mohamed
Khairul Azman Mohamed
Khairul Azman Mohamed is a former Malaysian footballer who was a goalkeeper for Pahang, Sabah and the Malaysia national football team.-Career:...

, and foreign striker Josiah Seton
Josiah Seton
Josiah Seton is an Liberian footballer . He is a member of the Liberia national football team.Seton previously played for Sabah FA in Malaysia....

, finished third in the league and again managed to get through to the final of Malaysia Cup by beating Selangor Public Bank and Perak FA
Perak FA
The Football Association of Perak enters a team in Malaysian football competitions to represent the state of Perak. The team currently plays in the Malaysia Super League....

. Sabah however finished as runners-up yet again by losing to the same team that beat them in 1996 final, Selangor FA
Selangor FA
The Football Association of Selangor , commonly referred to as FAS or simply Selangor, competes in Malaysian football competitions representing the state of Selangor Darul Ehsan. The team is based in Shah Alam city. They are currently playing in Malaysian Super League, the top-flight of Malaysian...

. This time, Sabah lost by 'golden goal' scored by Mohd Amri Yahyah
Mohd Amri Yahyah
Mohd Amri Yahyah is a Malaysian footballer who is a versatile player, who can operate as a striker and midfielder. Recently, he has been playing as attacking midfielder for team Selangor FA.-Career:...

.

In 2003, Sabah again finished third in Malaysia Premier League One. Sabah again reached the final of Malaysia Cup. This time they lost to club-side Selangor MPPJ by 3–0, with hattrick from Juan Manuel Arostegui
Juan Arostegui
Juan Manuel Arostegui is a professional Argentine football player and currently plays for Aldosivi in Primera B Nacional...

.

When Malaysian Super League
Malaysian Super League
The Malaysia Super League is a Malaysian professional league for association football. At the top flight of the Malaysian football league system and it is managed by the Malaysia Super League Sdn Bhd, under supervision of the Football Association of Malaysia...

 was introduced in 2004, Sabah struggled to be competitive against other teams in the top league. Sabah only managed to stay in Super League for two seasons as they were relegated to Malaysia Premier League for the 2005/06 season.

After the relegation to 2nd tier league, Sabah continued to struggle for promotion to get back into the top division. They lost to Pahang FA
Pahang FA
The Football Association of Pahang enters a team in Malaysian football competitions to represent the state of Pahang. The team is based in Kuantan, Pahang. They play in the top division in Malaysian football, the Malaysian Super League...

 in the 2006/07 season play-off for a place in 2007/08 Malaysia Super League.

For the 2009 season, due to Football Association of Malaysia
Football Association of Malaysia
The Football Association of Malaysia is the governing body for football in Malaysia, responsible for organising the Malaysian national football team and the major football and futsal tournaments within the country. The Football Association of Malaysia main headquarters is located at Wisma...

's new ruling of not allowing teams to hire foreign players, Sabah fielded an all-local team with home-grown talent and home-based players with two local imports to strengthen the squad and to compete in Malaysia Premier League, Malaysia FA Cup
Malaysia FA Cup
The FA Cup Malaysia is a national knock-out football competition organised by the Football Association of Malaysia. The tournament was introduced during the Semi-Pro League era in 1990...

, and Malaysia Cup
Malaysia Cup
The Malaysia Cup is an annual association football tournament in Malaysia. It is currently the longest-running football competition in Asia...

.

After 6 years playing in the 2nd tier Premier League, Australian coach Gary Phillips was able to guide Sabah to promotion in 2010 - his first season in charge.

They have been playing in the 2011 Super League.

Honours

Title Winners Runners-up
Malaysia Cup
Malaysia Cup
The Malaysia Cup is an annual association football tournament in Malaysia. It is currently the longest-running football competition in Asia...

1996, 2002, 2003
Division 1/Premier 1/Super League 1996
Division 2/Premier 2/Premier League
Malaysian Premier League
Malaysia Premier League is the second-tier football league in Malaysia. The league is currently named Astro Premier League Malaysia...

2001, 2010
Malaysia FA Cup
Malaysia FA Cup
The FA Cup Malaysia is a national knock-out football competition organised by the Football Association of Malaysia. The tournament was introduced during the Semi-Pro League era in 1990...

1995 1993, 1994, 1998
Malaysian Charity Shield 1996

Achievements

Year Position League FA Cup Malaysia Cup
1995 5/15 Premier League Champion Semi Final
1996 Champion Premier League 2nd Round Runner-up
1997 3/15 Premier League 2nd Round Group Stage
1998 5/12 Premier League Runner-up Semi Final
1999 4/10 Premier 1 Semi Final Group Stage
2000 11/12 Premier 1 1st Round Group Stage
2001 Runner-up Premier 2 Semi Final Group Stage
2002 3/14 Premier 1 Quarter Final Runner-up
2003 4/13 Premier 1 Semi Final Runner-up
2004 6/8 Super League Quarter Final Semi Final
2005 8/8 Super League Quarter Final Group Stage
2006 4/8 Premier League (Group B) 1st Round Group Stage
2007 6/11 Premier League Quarter Final Semi Final
2008 4/13 Premier League Quarter Final Group Stage
2009 9/13 Premier League 1st Round Group Stage
2010 2/12 Premier League 1st Round Group Stage
2011 10/14 Super League 1st Round Quarter Final

Performances In The Regional Tournaments

  • Asian Cup Winners' Cup: 1 appearance
1996: Second Round

Current squad


President's Cup Team

For the president's cup squads, see Sabah FA President's Cup Team
Sabah FA President's Cup Team
The Sabah President's Cup is part of the President Cup Malaysia.Player 2011...

.

Transfers (In)

Transfers (Out)

For recent transfers, see List of Malaysian football transfers 2012

Current coaching staff

Position Name
Manager  
Assistant Manager  
Head team coach   Justin Ganai
Assistant coach   Andrew Magganggim
Reserve team coach   Johnny Dominicus
Goalkeeping coach   Khairul Azman Mohamed
Khairul Azman Mohamed
Khairul Azman Mohamed is a former Malaysian footballer who was a goalkeeper for Pahang, Sabah and the Malaysia national football team.-Career:...

Fitness coach   Sulaiman Arman
Physiotherapist   Matlan Basir
Kit manager  

In

Out

|| align=left |
|| align=left |
|| align=left |

Former players

Local players

  Sharil Arsat
  Asmawi Bakiri
  Mohd Fareed Shah Hassan
Mohd Fareed Shah Hassan
Mohd Fareed Shah Hassan is a Malaysian professional footballer.He began his professional career with Selangor in Sukan Malaysia 1998 which saw Selangor won the gold medal. After one season playing for Selangor, he decided to sign with Sabah...

  Gilbert Junior
  Mohd Gadaffi M Karim
  Yap Wai Loon

  Shahrin Majid
  Matlan Marjan
Matlan Marjan
Matlan Marjan is a former professional football player from the state of Sabah, Malaysia. He is celebrated as the person whom scored 2 goals against England for Malaysia on 12 June 1991 as well as being one of the top striker in the local league in the early 1990s...

  Khairul Azman Mohamed
Khairul Azman Mohamed
Khairul Azman Mohamed is a former Malaysian footballer who was a goalkeeper for Pahang, Sabah and the Malaysia national football team.-Career:...

  M. Pavalamani
  Ahmad Tharmini Saiban
  Kalasigaram Sanbagamaran

  Hassan Sani
Hassan Sani
Hassan Sani was a former Malaysian football player. He played for Sabah FA in the semi-pro league and Malaysia Cup in the late 1970s and in the 1980s.Hassan start representing Malaysia in youth competition from 1977–1978...

  Sunder Selveraju
  Rosdee Sulong
  Ong Kim Swee
Ong Kim Swee
Ong Kim Swee is a Malaysian football manager and former footballer. He spent most of his career playing for East Malaysian team notably Sarawak and Sabah during the mid 90's....

  James Wong
James Wong (footballer)
James Wong is a former Malaysian footballer who is a striker for Malaysia national football team and Sabah FA. He was known as King James Wong by the local fans and Ah Fook by his teammates....

  Mohd. Nafuzi Zain

Import players

  Robert Gaspar
Robert Gaspar
Robert Mark Gašpar is an Australian football player for Persib Bandung.An attacking midfielder, Gaspar is a former player of Malaysian side Sabah FA where he played for 2 seasons and in this time he reached the Malaysian cup final...

    Scott Ollerenshaw
Scott Ollerenshaw
Scott Ollerenshaw is a former Australian football player, best known for his appearances for his country's national side in the late 1980s.-Club career:...

  Veselin Kovacevic
  Seslija Milomir
  André Scotti
André Scotti Ossemer
André Scotti Ossemer is a Brazilian footballer. He previously playing at the Eerste Divisie with FC Zwolle. On January 2008, he transfer to Sabah FA and playing in Malaysia Premier League. His contract were ended at the end of season after Football Association of Malaysia do not want foreign...

  Andrezinho
André Ronaldo de Souza Esposito
André Reinaldo de Souza Esposito, better known simply as Andrezinho is a Brazilian professional footballer currently playing with Foolad F.C..-Career:...

  Felipe Melo
  Felipe Veras Melo
Felipe Veras Rodrigues Melo
Felipe Veras Rodrigues Melo is a former Brazilian footballer.-Biography:Felipe Veras started his career at hometown and one of the most successful teams in Brazil, Flamengo. He played his only match at Campeonato Brasileiro Série A on 3 December 1995, against São Paulo FC...

  Julio Rodriguez
Julio Cesar Rodrigues de Souza
Julio Cesar Rodrigues De Souza is a Brazilian professional football player, who currently plays for Cacuia Futebol Clube.-Career:...

  Junior
  Branko Panic
Branko Panic
Branko Panić is a Croatian footballer. He plays in the centre-back position for NK Borac Bakar in the Croatian 4.Liga.Panić previously played for NK Pomorac in the Croatian Prva HNL.-Career:* 2007-2008 : KS Flamurtari Vlorë Albania...


  Zdravko Šimić
Zdravko Šimic
Zdravko Šimić is a Croatian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Sengkang Punggol of the Singapore S-League. He can play in both the defensive and offensive midfielder positions, and is the captain of his current club.-Club career:...

  Miroslav Denk
  Miroslav Janu
Miroslav Janu
Miroslav Janů is a Czech football manager and former Czech international footballer.Before in Arema, Janů was assistant manager of Czech top club in Czech Premier League, Slavia Prague to helping Karel Jarolím. He was also coaching junior team in same club.His coaching adventure in Indonesia was...

  Jaroslav Netolička
Jaroslav Netolicka
Jaroslav Netolička is a Czech football goalkeeper. He obtained a total number of fifteen caps for Czechoslovakia national football team, in which he had to concede ten goals....

  Vítězslav Tuma
Vítězslav Tuma
Vítězslav Tuma is a former Czech football forward.Tuma played at a position of forward, being a prolific goalscorer. He was a top goalscorer of Gambrinus liga in 2000/2001 season with 15 goals.- External links :...

  Michal Vana
  Paul Bastock
Paul Bastock
Paul Anthony Bastock is an English football goalkeeper currently playing for Boston United. He has played professional and non-league football for over 20 years, making over 600 appearances for nine different clubs including Cambridge United, Cheltenham Town, Boston United, Dagenham & Redbridge...

  Jamie Phoenix
  David Rocastle
David Rocastle
David Carlyle Rocastle, nicknamed Rocky, was an English football player, who spent the majority of his career at Arsenal...

  James Rodwell
James Rodwell
Jim Rodwell is the former chairman of Boston United and also a former professional footballer who played centre-half for the club....

  Safou Lassi

  Tim Bredbury
Tim Bredbury
Tim Bredbury is a Hong Kong former international footballer. He is the current coach of Biu Chun Rangers.-Early life:Bredbury was born in Hong Kong to British parents. He went to Glenealy school,a primary school and King George V School, a secondary school in Hong Kong.-Playing career:Bredbury...

  Joseph Amoah
Joseph Amoah
Joseph Amoah , Liberian football midfielder. He currently plays for Persibo Bojonegoro.- External links :*...

  Josiah Seton
Josiah Seton
Josiah Seton is an Liberian footballer . He is a member of the Liberia national football team.Seton previously played for Sabah FA in Malaysia....

  Paulus Shipanga
Paulus Shipanga
Paulus Shipanga is a Namibian football midfielder. He plays for Bay United and the Namibian national team.-Clubs:*2000–2005: Blue Waters*2005–2006: Sabah FA*2007/08: Wits University FC*2007/08: Eleven Arrows F.C....

  Chris Zoricich
Chris Zoricich
Chris Zoricich is a New Zealand association football player who represented the New Zealand national football team in the 1980s and 90s...

  Udensi Christopher Ikechukwu
  Charles Obi
  Keith Gumbs
Keith Gumbs
Keith "Kayamba" Gumbs is a St. Kitts and Nevis international football player who currently plays as a striker for the Indonesia Super League side Sriwijaya FC...

  Ian Lake
Ian Lake (Kittian footballer)
Ian Lake is a professional footballer, currently playing for Saint Kitts and Nevis Premier Division side Newtown United, where he plays as a striker.-International goals:-External links:*...

  Dumisa Ngobe
Dumisa Ngobe
Vincent Dumisa Ngobe is a retired South African football midfielder. He last plays for the South Africa national team and works currently as head of development by Mpumalanga Black Aces F.C.-Clubs:*1996–1997: Kaizer Chiefs...

  Ahmed El Sayed El Fatih


Manager

Year Manager
1999   Goh Thian Chuan
2000-01   Osman Jamal
2004-05   Mohd Joehari Mohd Ayub
2006-09   Abdul Rahman Datuk Mohd Zakaria
2009   Mohd Asyraaf Fong Abdullah
2010   Gary Phillips
Gary Phillips
Gary Phillips is a retired football goalkeeper who was last attached to Hemel Hempstead Town as manager.He started his career as a schoolboy at Southampton before moving to non-League Chalfont St Peter in 1978. He moved to Brighton & Hove Albion the same year. Phillips joined West Bromwich Albion...

2010-   Shahriman Abdullah

Coaches

Year Manager
1989-90   Frank Upton
Frank Upton
Frank Upton was an English professional football player and manager.-Playing career:Upton, a hard tackling central defender, began his football career with Nuneaton Borough. He moved to Northampton Town in March 1953, making his league debut the same season...

1990-92   Roy Lorenson
1992-95   Oldřich Sedláček
1995-96   Kelly Tham
1996-97   Ron Smith
Ron Smith
Ron or Ronald Smith may refer to:*Ron Smith , American poet born in Georgia*Ron Smith , British comic artist*Ron Smith , Canadian author, poet and publishing house founder...

1998   Ken Shellito
Ken Shellito
Kenneth John Shellito is a former English football player and manager who now works in a coaching role for the Asian Football Confederation, based in Kuala Lumpur...

1999   Justin Ganai
1999   Ken Worden
2000-01   David Woodfield
2001-04   Peter Butler
2004-05   Jose Antonio Rocha Garrido
2005-06   Justin Ganai
2007-08   Drago Mamic
2008-09   Wathiq Naji Jasim
2009   Mohd Asyraaf Fong Abdullah
2010   Gary Phillips
Gary Phillips
Gary Phillips is a retired football goalkeeper who was last attached to Hemel Hempstead Town as manager.He started his career as a schoolboy at Southampton before moving to non-League Chalfont St Peter in 1978. He moved to Brighton & Hove Albion the same year. Phillips joined West Bromwich Albion...

2010-   Justin Ganai

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK