Malaysian football league system

History

Football arrived in Malaysia (Malaya at that time) with the British. The locals soon picked up the game, and before long it was the country's leading sport. Towards the end of the 19th century, football was one of the central pillars of most sports clubs in Malaya. But it was not structured. Even when the Selangor Amateur Football League took shape in 1905 – which ensured proper administration and organisation – the competition was confined only to clubs in Kuala Lumpur.

In 1933, Football of Malaysia was founded as Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) which managed the local football scene at that time. By 1954, FAM joined FIFA as a member in AFC.

About the system

The system consists of a pyramid of leagues, bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation. A certain number of the most successful clubs in each league can rise to a higher league, whilst those that finish at the bottom of their league can find themselves sinking down a level. In addition to sporting performance, promotion is usually contingent on meeting criteria set by the higher league, especially concerning appropriate facilities and finances.

In theory it is possible for a lowly local amateur club to rise to the pinnacle of the Malaysian game and become champions of the Malaysia Super League. As the main leagues in Malaysia consist of three tiers, it is possible for a new team to become a champions in just three years if they perform well within the pyramid.

The top three levels contain one division each and are nationwide in scope. Below this, the levels have progressively more parallel leagues, which each cover progressively smaller geographic areas. Many leagues have more than one division. At the lower levels the existence of leagues becomes intermittent. There are also leagues in various parts of the country, which are not officially part of the system as they do not have formal agreements with the football associations and are run by independent organizers. These are mostly held in forms of carnival style, where the league's duration is just a couple of days of months. Clubs from state leagues may, if they feel they meet the appropriate standard of play and have suitable facilities, apply to join a league which does form part of the system.

The top two levels of the Malaysian football league system are operated by the Football Malaysia LLP, which consists of Malaysia Super League and Malaysia Premier League. All clubs in these two leagues are fully professional.

The third levels of the Malaysian football league system are operated by the Football Association of Malaysia, which consists of the Malaysia FAM League. All clubs in FAM League are semi-professional.

The fourth levels of the Malaysian football league system consist of leagues that run in parallel. The leagues which are managed by FAM are the Liga Bolasepak Rakyat and Malaysia IPT Football League. All clubs in Liga Bolasepak Rakyat and Malaysia IPT Football League are amateur. The fourth level also consists of Malaysia States League, which are organized by 14 different states' football associations, and runs in parallel to the one that are run by the FAM. It is a semi-professional league consisting of amateur, professional, and company clubs from all over the respective states in Malaysia which compete in their own regional state league. It has multiple divisions within it.

There are other levels after this, which the leagues run within their regional, city, district or sub-district area. They are lesser known, and most of the teams are amateur levels which may join the upper-tier level if they want to go further with their team.

National level competition

In the national pyramid, there are three leagues, the Super League, Premier League and the FAM League. Super League and Premier League currently consist of 12 teams each. FAM League currently consist 18 teams each in two groups. Each year, two worst placed clubs in the Super League and Premier League are relegated to lower-tier league while two top placed clubs in the Premier League and FAM League are promoted to higher-tier league. While currently there are no relegation rules for the FAM League, some clubs which may pulled or failed to register to continue the next season league may pulled from the league and play in the state league for various reason such as financial problem.

The clubs competing in the FAM League are the best or top placed clubs promoted from the state league when FAM offers an additional place when necessary. Clubs that are successful in their state leagues can rise higher in the pyramid, being promoted to the FAM League, and eventually to higher levels.

A club which received a promotion to FAM League may came from multiple different leagues such as Liga Bolasepak Rakyat, state league and IPT Football League which all were managed by a different management which has been sanctioned by FAM.

State level competition

A state level competition were competed in 13 different states and three federal territories in Malaysia. While some states have an active league with a multiple divisions, some others might be in dormant or might only have a short duration cup competition in place. The reason for a lack of proper league system in some states and federal territories were because lack of proper management, marketing and funding from the football association in charged.

District level competition

A district level competition were competed among clubs in the district located in each of states in Malaysia. It is runs by the district football association. Only certain district currently has known and active league or cup competition in place.

Promotion and relegation rules for the top four levels

1. Malaysia Super League (level 1, 12 teams): The bottom two teams are relegated.
2. Malaysia Premier League (level 2, 12 teams): The top two automatically promoted. The bottom two are relegated.
3. Malaysia FAM League (level 3, 18 teams): The top two teams are automatically promoted. Currently there are no relegation in this league. Sometimes, teams might withdraw for financial reason and might be given permission to play in States League.
4. Liga Bolasepak Rakyat, States League and Malaysia IPT Football League (level 4, various teams each, running in parallel): The champions in each division might get promoted to the Malaysia FAM League if they want to play at the national level as long as they fulfill the requirements in terms of club preparation, account balance and other rules set by FAM.

Cup eligibility

Being members of a league at a particular level also affects eligibility for Cup, or single-elimination, competitions.

The system

The table below shows the current structure of the system. For each division, its official name, sponsorship name (which differs from its historic name) and number of clubs is given. At levels 1–3, each division promotes to the division(s) that lie directly above it and relegates to the division(s) that lie directly below it. Below that level, individual league articles detail promotion and relegation arrangements.

Levels one and two in the pyramid, the top two division of Malaysian football, are run by the Football Malaysia LLP, and the winners of the top division are regarded as the champions of Malaysia. Level three is run by FAM. Level four consists of multiple leagues run in parallel, such as Liga Bolasepak Rakyat and Malaysia IPT Football League, which are managed by FAM, while the States League are managed by their respective states football associations.

Unlike most countries that play football as a main game, the league system in Malaysia still consists of representatives from state associations, clubs from companies, ministry or government agency.

Malaysia Super League

The Malaysia Super League (Liga Super Malaysia) is a Malaysian professional league for association football. It is 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 (FAM). The league is contested between 12 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Malaysia Premier League. The 12 clubs participating in this top flight league need to pass a set of requirements and verification process, particularly related to professionalism and infrastructure feasibility.

Malaysia Premier League

The Malaysia Premier League (Liga Perdana Malaysia) is the second-tier football league in Malaysia. The league is currently named Astro Premier League Malaysia (Astro Liga Perdana Malaysia in Malay). It was previously called the TM Malaysia Premier League because of the sponsorship of Telekom Malaysia.

Malaysia FAM League

The Malaysia FAM League (Liga FAM Malaysia in Malay, and formerly the Malaysia FAM Cup) is the third-tier football league in Malaysia. The tournament used to be a cup format, but it changed in 2008 as it was held as a league tournament and changing to its current name. Malaysia FAM Cup was established in 1952 as a secondary knockout competition to the more prestigious Malaya Cup, the competition were held between the state teams including Singapore, Police, Army, and Prisons Department of Malaysia in its early days. Starting in 1974, the state teams were barred from entering the competition and only the club sides could enter.

Liga Bolasepak Rakyat

The Liga Bolasepak Rakyat is the fourth-tier football league in Malaysia. The league, which is an amateur-level competition, was established in 2015 with aims to create a bigger base at the grassroots level and eventually provide an alternative route for footballers under the age of 28 to make the grade. Currently there are a total of 111 teams out of more than 150 possible districts in the country. The teams were divided into eight zones.

Piala Presiden

The Piala Presiden is the amateur football competition in Malaysia for under-21 players. Since its inception in 1985, the Piala Presiden has been the major tournament for under-21 and under-23 players. In 2009, the format of the competition was changed, with only under-20 players eligible to be fielded for the tournament. In 2015 the format of the competition reverted to the original format, with under-21 players and three over age players eligible to play.

Piala Belia

The Piala Belia is the amateur football competition in Malaysia for under-19 players. Since its inception in 2008, the Piala Belia has been the major tournament for under-19 players. In 2009 to 2011, the competition was combined with the Piala Presiden. In 2015 the format of the competition changed to the league format.

Former system

Before the current known system, the Malaysian football league system underwent multiple iteration changes since its introduction in 1979 and officially as the country's men's football league competition in 1982 with the introduction of league trophy for the winners.

Amateur league system (1982-1988)

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 trophy 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.

Below is the Malaysian amateur football league system in from 1982 to 1988.

Semi-Pro league system (1989-1993)

In early days, the Malaysian football league system consisted of an amateur league before the changes in 1989, when it was known as the Malaysian Semi-Pro Football League (MSPFL) from 1989 to 1993.

Initially the only teams allowed to participate in the league were the state FA's sides, 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).

The inaugural season of MSPFL consisted of nine teams in Division 1 and eight teams in Division 2. The Malaysian Police joined Division 2 in 1990. Games were played on a home and away basis for about four months roughly between the end of April or early May and the end of August or early September. For the first season three points were awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss, but in subsequent seasons this was changed to a 2, 1, 0 basis. At the end of the League competition the top three placed teams in both divisions received prize money while two were relegated/promoted and a playoff was staged between the eighth placed team in Division 1 and the third placed team in Division 2. The top six teams in Division 1 and top two in Division 2 also proceeded to the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Cup.

In 1992, FAM created another amateur league for local clubs in Malaysia to compete, which is called the Liga Nasional The league was managed by FAM outside entity, Super Club Sdn. Bhd. Some of the clubs which compete in the league are Hong Chin, Muar FA, PKNK from Kedah, DBKL, PKNS, BSN, LPN, BBMB, Proton, PPC and PKENJ. Unfortunately, the league only ran for a couple of seasons before it folded. Some of the clubs were then evolved and joined the main league, such as PKENJ, which became JCorp and now as JDT.

In 1989 to 1993, the Malaysian Semi-Pro Football League, the football league in Malaysia, was divided into two levels:

Professional football league system (1994-1997)

Between 1994 and 1997, there was no second level league as the top two leagues were combined. 1994 was when Malaysian football league turned professional. The MSPFL essentially became the Malaysian Premier League (Liga Perdana in Malay), a National League was added, and a second cup competition, Malaysia FA Cup, joined the existing Malaysia Cup.

With the formation of professional football league in 1994, Malaysia FAM Cup was held again as yearly competition after being absent from 1986 to 1990 and 1992 to 1993.

The newly formed professional football league was almost in peril when a bribing and corruption scandal was discovered between 1994 and 1995. 21 players and coaches was sacked, 58 players were suspended and 126 players were questioned over corruption by Malaysian authorities.

In 1997, promotion from Malaysia FAM Cup to the professional M-League was introduced for the first time. Johor FC and NS Chempaka FC were the first two sides to be promoted that year.

Malaysian league system (1998-2003)

In 1998 to 2003, the football league in Malaysia was divided again into two levels:

Below is the Malaysian football league system from 1998 to 2003.

In recent years, top Malaysian club teams have also been admitted to the league competition. The restriction for state FA's team from being relegated was lifted in order to promote a healthy competition in the league.

2004 system revamp

The league was revamped to be a fully professional league in 2004 following the decision by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to privatize the league, but it was not fully privatized. As a result, MSL Sendirian Berhad (or MSL Proprietary Limited) was created to oversee the marketing aspects of the league top-tier league at that time.

In 2005, Malaysia FAM Cup became a third-tier competition and the format of the competition was changed to include a two-group league followed by the traditional knockout format.

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

Below is the Malaysian football league system revamp in 2004.

At the end of the season, the top team from each group of the Premier League was promoted to the Malaysia Super League. The teams which finished at the bottom of each group were relegated to the Malaysia FAM League. The two group champions also faced off to determine the Malaysia Premier League Championship.

2007 system

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

Below is the Malaysian football league system in 2007.

For the 2006-07 season, the Malaysia Premier League was reorganised into a single league of 11 teams instead of being a competition involving two separate groups of teams.

2009 system

In 2008, FAM has changed the Malaysia FAM Cup to the league format which served as a third-tier league in the Malaysian football league system and become as Malaysia FAM League starting from 2009 season.

Below is the Malaysian football league system in 2009.

2013 system

Below is the Malaysian football league system in 2013.