Sarawak FA
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| Sarawak FA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Persatuan Bolasepak Sarawak | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Bujang Senang, Ngap Sayot | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1974 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Sarawak Stadium Kuching, Sarawak |
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| Capacity | 40,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman |   Nyipa Tinggang |
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| Manager | Pengiran Bala |
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| League | Malaysian Super League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Football Association of Sarawak (Malay: Persatuan Bolasepak Sarawak) enters a team in Malaysian football competitions to represent the state of Sarawak. The team is based in Kuching.
Albeit being one of the most supported teams in Malaysia, they have never won the prestigious Malaysia Cup, but have won the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Charity Shield once. The team also advanced to the second phase of the Asian Cup Winners' Cup (now AFC Champions League) in 1999. Sarawak is currently playing at the Malaysian top flight league, the Malaysian Super League (MLS).
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[edit] History
Sarawak's football history may have started after World War I and was then known as Sarawak Amateur Football Association (SAFA). The current team was founded in 1974 as the Persatuan Bola Sepak Sarawak (FAS) by Datuk Haji Taha Ariffin, with assistance from the Sarawak Government. During the 1970s, Sarawak football was in decline and the management went bankcrupt. It was in 1974 when Taha and his compatriots established the association, rewrite the constitution and made a major overhaul over the old management. With the establishment of Piala Sarawak (Sarawak Cup), the association progressed greatly and later organized Piala Borneo (Borneo Cup) to equip the future team with skills and experience needed.
After the success of Piala Sarawak and Piala Borneo, Sarawak sent their first team for the President Cup (formelry known as the Burnley Cup) before participating in their first ever Malaysia Cup competition in 1979. The Malaysia Cup competition is already a major prestigious football event in the country, with Selangor FA holds the record of winning the Cup 28 times.
The team progressed slowly until 1988 when Sarawak's flamboyant coach, Awang Mahyan Awang Mohamad introduced the slogan Ngap Sayot and entered their first ever Malaysia Cup semifinal. With the entire team made up from Sarawakians, they marched past Malaysia's great teams such as Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Pahang. However, they failed to reach the final due to an unfortunate event at the old stadium (Stadium Negeri Sarawak), which forced the second-leg match to be repeated at the Singapore. In 1989, Sarawak was again appeared to make their first final in the competition but later marred by the referee's misjudgement during their quarter-final match in Kuala Lumpur. The incident nearly strained the national integration and forced FAS to withdraw their affiliation from the FA of Malaysia. This event has led both FAs to reach an agreement in Kuching, in which FAS returned and Sarawak prepares for the next seasons.
Perhaps Sarawak's greatest period of success was in the late 1980s and mid 1990s, under the management of Awang Mahyan and Alan Vest. During these times, the team arose from being an underachiever to success, mainly due to their strong teamwork and never-say-die attitude. With the additions of foreign players in early 1990s, Sarawak has strengthened their dominations by winning the FA Cup, the Premier League and the Charity Shield; concluded by their first ever final in Malaysia Cup. After the FA Cup final in 2001, Sarawak became inconsistent and took several years to climb back on th right track.
[edit] Themes and nicknames
The current theme for the team is Encang Sarawak Encang, which literally means "Go Go Sarawak" used since 1996. Other themes used were Ngap Sayot, Tebang Balau and recently, Ngap Ajak.
As for the nickname, the team is known as Bujang Senang, named after a legendary, notorious and mythical killer crocodile which (is thought to) reside at the Batang Lupar river in the Sri Aman Division of Sarawak. The team was also known as the Black Cats during the 1980s.
[edit] Rivalries
Sarawak share a healthy rivalry with Selangor. Although it is not the type of derby you see in the North London derby or the Merseyside derby, Sarawak fans consider the Selangor fans their main rivals. This is mainly due to "who's loyalty and support is greater" factor to their clubs. This could be seen when mathches played between the two teams. Due to Sarawak's geographical advantage, Sarawak always seem to have the upper hand when playing at home, in Kuching. Sarawak (fans) also have rivalries with Brunei, Perak, Perlis and Kedah, but it is not as great as the one with Selangor.
[edit] Ground
The team's current ground is the 40,000 seater Sarawak Stadium at Petra Jaya, Kuching, Sarawak. The team previously played at the Jubilee Gound (Padang Jubli) at Padungan Road, Kuching from their formation until the mid-80s before moving to the legendary State Stadium (the old Stadium Negeri, next tho the current ground). They played there until 1997 when they moved to the current Sarawak Stadium as the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship drew its curtain.
[edit] 2005/2006 Squad
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No new squad players and numbers for the 2006/2007 yet as the MSL starts in December.
[edit] Achievements
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- 1997
- Piala Malaysia (Malaysia Cup): Finalist
- 1999 (beaten by Brunei 1-2)
- Piala FA (FA Cup): 1
- 1992 (beat Kuala Lumpur 2-1)
- Finalist 1996 (beaten by Kedah 0-1), 2001 (beaten by Selangor 0-1)
- 1992 (beat Kuala Lumpur 2-1)
- Piala Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah (Charity Shield): 1
- 1998 (beat Selangor 3-2)
- Borneo Cup: 5 (actual counts unknown)
[edit] Former Coaches
- Mohamad Poasa Sahar (1979-1981)
- Wan Edrus Wan Alwi (1982)
- Alan Bradshaw (1983)
- Chow Kwai Lam (1984)
- Mohamad Che Su (1985-1987)
- Awang Mahyan Awang Mohamad (1988-1989)
- Abdul Wahet Uji (1990-1991, 2005)
- Alan Vest (1992-1998)
- Abdul Jalil Rambli (1999-2003, mid 2005-2006)
- Trevor James Morgan (2004)
[edit] Famous Past Players
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[edit] External links
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| Negeri Sembilan FA | Melaka Telekom | Perak FA | Perlis FA | Selangor MPPJ | Penang FA | Pahang FA | Selangor FA | Kedah FA | Malacca FA | Johor FC | Terengganu FA | Sarawak FA | Brunei DPMM | |
