Penang FA

History

The club was founded in 1920 Unofficially, Official as Football Association of Penang in 1921 (Malay: Persatuan Bola Sepak Pulau Pinang). Penang FA is the second oldest football team in Malaysia. The team is based in the state of Penang in the north of Malaysia. Penang have consistently been a decent team throughout their history, producing players such as the country's first Olympian. Penang is the fifth most successful team in Malaysian football history with 14 champions.

Early years (1920–1950s)

On 21 October 1921, the club was founded. Almost all the big matches were played at Victoria Green, home of the Chinese Recreation Club. The team enter into the final of the Malaysia most prestigious football tournament, Malaysia Cup's final in 1934, but the team lost to Singapore FA with a heartbreaking score of 1–2. Penang enter into the final of the last edition of Malaysia Cup before World War II and they lost to the same opponent in 1934 with the same score. During the World War II, football competitions were stopped.

Glory days (1950s–1970s)

An era spanning the 1950s to the 1970s when Penang was among the top teams in inter-state football.

The 1950s saw Penang producing players such as the country's first Olympian, Yeap Cheng Eng, Yeang Kah Chong, Tan Swee Hock, Wong Kam Poh, Yap Hin Hean, Liew Fee Yuen, Lee Ah Loke, the Pang brothers and more. Since the early 1950s, Aziz Ahmad was Penang's top goal-getter in 1953 and 1954. He scored the winning goal when Penang defeated Singapore 3–2 in the 1953 Malaya Cup final in Ipoh. Penang won 3 Malaysia Cup champions (1953, 1954 and 1958) and 4 FAM Cup champions (1952, 1955, 1956 and 1957).

Some of the well-known FAP officials then were Loh Hoot Yeang, who was president for many years, A.S. Mohamad Mydin, Tan Cheng Hoe, Yaakob Syed and Haris Hussain.

Datuk David Choong was president in 1962 when Penang made the FAM Cup final, but lost 3–4 to Selangor in a pulsating contest on May 12 before a capacity crowd at the City Stadium.

In October 1963, Penang trounced Perlis 13–0 in a Malaysia Cup tie at the City Stadium.

Aziz took over as captain when Cheng Eng retired. The early 1960s also saw a glittering array of "stars".

By 1965, veterans such as Siang Teik and Aziz made way as Penang rebuilt. M. Kuppan took over as captain with Yeap Kim Hock, James Raju and Ibrahim Mydin the only other survivors.

For the first time, Penang also preferred the services of four British Airmen based at the RAF Support unit which was based at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Butterworth base which participated in the local league. They were John Leather, Clive Warren, Vic Probert and Alan Peacock.

The late 1960s saw the emergence of Aziz's nephews, the Abdullah brothers—Namat and Shaharuddin. At his peak, Shaharuddin was a prolific goal-getter.

Penang made the Malaysia Cup final in 1968 to face mighty Selangor but nobody expected it to be a massacre. Selangor romped home 8–1 in one of the most one-sided finals ever.

In 1974, Penang heroically knocked Singapore out in the semifinal to face northern rival Perak in the final. Namat Abdullah led Penang to a 2–1 victory in what was to be the state's last Malaysia Cup final victory. Penang stepped into the final of Malaysia Cup on 1977 as they lost the match to Singapore.

Stagnation (1980s–mid-1990s)

Football Association of Malaysia introduced the Malaysia First Division League in 1982. Penang was one of the founding members of the league. The first edition of the league saw Penang become the champion. In 1983, Penang was the first runner-up of the league. After that, the team faced stagnation until the mid-1990s because failed to win any major trophy.

Resurgence (late 1990s–early 2000s)

The glory days came after the team faced the stagnation period for more than 15 years. Penang enter into the FA Cup final for the first time in the team history on 1997 and they lost to Selangor. After the disappointment, Penang won the 1998 Malaysia Super League. The team failed to defend the champion as they only manage to get runner-up in 1999. The 2000 FA Cup saw Penang lost to Terengganu after a nail-biting penalty shootouts. Penang was the runner-up of the top division league in 2000. After two consecutive years as the runner-up of Malaysia Super League, Penang become the champion of the league in 2001. Penang FA historically won the FA Cup for the first time on 2002 thanks to the goal scored by Gustavo Romero on the 65 minutes. Penang first attempt into the Charity Shield saw the team won the trophy after they beat Selangor.

Walking downhill and financial crisis (2003–2009)

Although the team got a good start by winning the Charity Shield, but the team only finished mid table in the league and in round two of the FA Cup. Penang finished third in the group stage of the Malaysia Cup and failed to qualify for the second round. In 2004, Penang ranked fifth out of 8 in the league and eliminated in the second round of FA Cup. Yunus Alif's boys won the group stage of Malaysia Cup but lost in second round. The league performance in 2006 is worse than 2005 as the team only ranked sixth. Penang won the first round of FA Cup, but they faild to qualify for the third round. They top the group of Malaysia Cup for two consecutive years but still can't advanced for the third round after losing the second round matches. The next season saw Penang ranked sixth again in the league and lost the first round match of FA Cup. The team lost the quarter final matches of Malaysia Cup. In 2006–07 season of Malaysia Super League, the team ranked tenth throughout the league. Penang finished the journey of FA Cup in round one. Penang finished fifth out of six in the Malaysia Cup group stage. New coach, Mohd Bakar was appointed to replace Josef Herel in the 2007–08 season. The Panthers finished 12nd in the league, round two in FA Cup and last in the Malaysia Cup group stage. For the same season until 2012, the club was facing a critical financial condition. The state's footballers had not been paid for four months, and called on the current administration to honour the contracts signed with players. In 2009, Penang FA finished third from the last in the top division league. Penang was knocked out from the FA Cup in round two for two consecutive years. Penang was eliminated from the Malaysia Cup tournament after finished third in the group stage.

Darkest period (2010–2012)

In 2010, the darkest period ever in the team history came. Reduan Abdullah's squad had only collected 10 points and finished at the bottom of the league. Penang was relegated from the top flight after 18 consecutive spells in the top flight of Malaysian football. The club continued to decline and in 2011 the worst fears were reached when they were relegated to FAM League after the team struggled in the second division with only collected 4 points after 22 matches. Janos Krecska was appointed as coach in 2012. The team finished mid-table in the third tier end of the year.

The comeback (2013–2015)

Penang FA's legend, Merzagua Abderrazak, took over as the club head coach in 2013. The aim of the club, which was to promote to the Malaysia Premier League, was achieved successfully under the tactician. Penang won a silverware after an 11-year wait. However, they may have to leave their talismanic Moroccan coach Merzagua Abderrazzak because he needs to obtain an A-level coaching licence in his home country to be able to continue coaching.

Due to the problem, the club appointed K. Devan as the new head coach. Under his guidance Penang claimed the third spot of the Premier League and qualified into Malaysia Cup after absent for four years. Penang finished last place in the group stage with four points after six matches. K. Devan's contract was not renewed and he was signed by Negeri Sembilan.

Jacksen F. Tiago took over from K. Devan as the head coach of Penang for the next season. His skills and strategies to be somehow a success to the squad when showing good performance facing with major teams in the pre-season match; Sime Darby, Johor Darul Takzim, Perak, Selangor, Kelantan. The most notable were the matches versus Selangor and Kelantan which ended with the score of 2–0 favouring the home team. Penang also stepped into the quarter final of Malaysia FA Cup after 13 years. A dramatic finish in the 2015 league campaign saw Penang FA win the runner-up on Malaysian Premier League after so much struggle in 2014 and claimed a ticket to the top flight.

In the top flight (2016–present)

Promoted after finishing second in the 2015 Malaysia Premier League, Penang beefed their squad with several youngsters from the Harimau Muda project and signed three new imports. The Panthers were hopeful of at least staying in the MSL but things did not go so well as Penang soon found themselves stuck in the relegation zone that led to the 'resting' of Jacksen F. Tiago. The appointment of MSL winning coach Bojan Hodak as chief executive officer and Nenad Bacina as head coach to replace Jacksen offered some promise for the second half of the season but Penang still struggled to find consistency. It wasn’t until the final day of the season, in the final minute at that, did Penang save their top flight status thanks to the goal from Faizat Ghazli.

I-League winning coach, Ashley Westwood signed a two years contract with the club in November 2016 to replace Nenad and Bojan. However, Penang FA terminated their contract with head coach, Ashley Westwood under mutual consent due to poor results on March 2017 and he was replaced by Zainal Abidin Hassan.

Crest

Since the club's foundation in 1921, the club have had only one main crest. The backgrounds colours of the club crest are navy blue and white. At the top left and bottom right of the crest are the capital letters of 'F' and 'A' in three-dimensional in white colour with blue background which are the abbreviation of 'Football Association'. At the bottom left of the crest is a ball in navy blue and white colour with white background. The name of the state, 'Penang', is written in capital letter, white colour with navy blue background.

Colours

Penang FA's traditional home colours are sky blue and yellow which are taken from the colours of the Penang state flag which stand for the sea surrounding the island and peace respectively. Navy blue and yellow have also been used severally. Traditional away kit colours have been either yellow or white. However, in recent years several different colours have been used, such as green, pink and orange.

The current home jersey sports a lighter shade of blue while the away jersey is white with blue stripes. The lighter shade of blue is a better representation of the blue colour on the state flag.

Support

Penang's traditional fanbase comes from all over the Georgetown area including the other suburbs such as Jelutong, Air Itam, Tanjung Bungah, Bayan Lepas and even from the mainland. Penang's hardcore supporters are the so-called Ultras Panthers supporters, also known as UP11. Ultras Panthers was founded in 2011. In every match the Penang team played, they will be found in a group standing at the supporters area. The main colours for these supporters are usually in blue with a blue-yellow scarf and banners just like the Penang's team kits colours. These supporters always bring drums and large colorful flags to the stadiums.

There are also numerous supporters clubs such as Demi Pulau Pinang, Penang FA Fan Club, Haria Penang 69, Nindia Bandaraya, Brigade 07 and more in the state. Penang FA had an average gate of 7,301 in the 2016 competitive campaign. Sometimes, tourists from foreign countries also attended the matches.

At matches, Penang fanatic fans sing chants such as "Haria Penang Haria", "Sehati Sejiwa" which means "One Heart, One Soul" and the state anthem "Untuk Negeri Kita", which means "For our state", to boost their beloved players' morale. Fans also throw toilet rolls to the pitch before the match begins. The well-known and popular slogan among Penang FA supporters is "Haria Penang Haria". It is used as "words of spirit" during and off the game, and as the slogan among supporters.

Rivalries

Penang do not have a traditional rivalry on the scale of the Singapore-Selangor rivalry. Kedah is the biggest rival for Penang. Penang fans consider their main rivalries to be with (in order) Kedah, Perak and Perlis. Matches against fellow northern region sides KSK Tambun Tulang F.C., Kuala Muda Naza F.C., Kedah United F.C., Sungai Ara F.C., PBAPP F.C., SDMS Kepala Batas F.C. and Perak YBU F.C. have only taken place intermittently, due to the clubs often being in separate divisions.

Derby

Northern Region Derby is the name given to football matches that involves Penang and Kedah. Both of them were located in the northern region of Malaysia. City Stadium or Penang State Stadium and Darul Aman Stadium are packed by fans from Kedah and Penang during derby matches. The match usually creates a lively atmosphere, with numerous banners unfolded before the start of the game.

Friendships

Although Penang's main rivals mostly are from the northern region of Malaysia, especially Kedah, but there is also a strong supporter of friendship with Kedah and there are good relations with the fans of Perlis and Perak. "This is Utara", which means "This is the northern region", is a slogan which shows their good friendships.

Home ground

Up to the late 1950s, almost all the big matches were played at Victoria Green, home of the Chinese Recreation Club, before the completion of the City Stadium in the 1950s.

The City Stadium has a capacity of 25,000 people. The oldest stadium still in use in Malaysia, it was built in 1948 to provide a venue for sports activities in George Town, especially as a football pitch. It is also well-known for the vociferous home support, dubbed the "Keramat Roar". In 2012, the state football team then returned to the City Stadium after using the Penang State Stadium in Batu Kawan from 2000 to 2011.

The Penang State Stadium in Batu Kawan is the current home stadium of Penang FA. The stadium has a capacity of 40,000 people. It was built in 2000 to host the 8th Sukma Games (Malaysian Games). In 2007, this stadium hosted the Malaysian FA Cup Final.

Training ground

The USM Sports Centre is the training ground of Penang FA located in the campus of University of Science, Malaysia in Penang. The complex consists of several grass pitches. The stadium is also the home ground for the reserve team, as well as the home ground for USM FC. The sports centre also consists of a gymnasium and swimming pool.

Sometimes, Penang also train at the Penang Sports Club. It is located in the city of Georgetown covering a land area of about 16 acres.

Club records

Updated on 22 October 2016.

Note:

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

Source:

Domestic records

Penang are joint equal with Pahang for having won a total of 14 Malaysian football titles.

Penang are the team who won first inaugural Malaysia League 1982 and FAM Cup 1952.

The club's highest ever league finish was 1st in the Super League in 1982, 1998 and 2001. Their lowest ever league finish was 6th in the 2012 Malaysia FAM League.

Penang biggest win in Malaysia Cup final was 3–0 against Singapore FA in 1954. Penang heaviest lost in Malaysia Cup final was 1–8 against Selangor FA in 1968.

Asian record

⁰ due to economic trouble in the country.
¹ due to club financial problem.

Player records

Shukor Salleh is the player who played for the club for the longest time which is 20 years. He had only played for Penang in his career. He won the National Sportsman Award in 1977.

In 2017, Mohd Faiz Subri became the first Asian to win the FIFA Puskás Award. He was awarded for his physics-defying free kick that clinched a goal during the Malaysian Super League match against Pahang at the City Stadium on 16 February 2016.

Club top scorer (since professional era)

Players who scored more than 7 goals are listed.

Domestic

(*inaugural winners)

Finances and ownership

The club is owned by the Football Association of Penang under the presidency of Zairil Khir Johari, who is also the the Member of Parliament for the seat of Bukit Bendera, Penang and a member of the opposition Democratic Action Party. The association also runs the domestic leagues of the states, which is known as FAP League. The club was owned by Eastern and Oriental from 2006 to 2007. Allianz University College of Medical Science was the owner and main sponsor for the club in 2012.

The sources of funds mostly come from the state government. Penang Tourism Board is the club main sponsor for the 2017 season. Other sponsors include SPOL Kinematics Tex, 139 Associates and Gorilla Energy Drink. Legea will be the club's kit manufacturer from 2017-2019.

Penang faced their biggest financial crisis from 2010–2011, due to poor management under the leadership of Datuk Seri Mohamed Zahrain Hashim. FAP was also troubled with debts and players' salary payments were reportedly delayed two to three months over the two years. The delayed salary payments were said to have led some players to take money from bookies to give away games. The poor performance of the Penang team, languishing at the bottom of the Premier League table, also kicked up storm at the Penang State Legislative Assembly in May 2011.

First-team squad

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

Development squads

For further information: Penang FA Reserves