WHAT WENT WRONG?

Felcra FC become the latest victim of financial constraints

IN today’s modern game where cash is king, football has become a business. Many M-League teams have come and gone over the years due to budget constraints and also factors in relation to match-fixing and corruption.

The latest notable local club to fold up is Felcra FC who announced two days ago that they were withdrawing from the MLeague due to financial problems.

Felcra had done well to finish second in the Malaysian Premier League (MPL) this season.

The withdrawal decision by the Felcra management came as a bitter blow to the Felcra players who helped the club win promotion to the Malaysian Super League (MSL).

Here are some of the M-League clubs that have folded over the years after experiencing ups and downs.

NS BETARIA

The club grabbed attention when they were promoted to the 2012 MPL after winning the thirdtier FAM Cup in the previous season.

But Betaria were queried following several questionable results in the MPL in the next two seasons. Betaria finished last in the 2013 season and soon after withdrew from the following season’s FAM Cup.

It is understood that the FA of Malaysia (FAM) had told them to withdraw for unknown reasons.

MUAR MUNICIPAL COUNCIL (MP MUAR), JOHOR BAHRU CITY COUNCIL (MBJB

FC), AND JOHOR FC

MP Muar made their debut in the MPL in 2010 and their best finish was fifth in the following season. As for MPJB, the club earned their MPL spot after finishing runners-up in the FAM League in 2011. However, they fared badly, finishing last in the MPL a year later.

Johor FC were third in the MSL in the 2005-06 and 200708 seasons and were two-time semi-finallists in the Malaysia Cup.

However, after the completion of the 2012 season, all clubs from the Southern state, except for Johor FC and Johor, withdrew as part of the FA of Johor’s restructuring plan.

Johor FC became Johor Darul Ta’zim while Johor were renamed as Johor Darul Ta’zim II.

Johor Darul Ta’zim owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, however, disclosed then that he had closed down several Johorbased clubs in the past due to match-fixing allegations.

PUBLIC BANK FC Coach E. Elavarasan was behind the success of Public Bank who played for two seasons in the MSL before the club folded due to shortage of funds.

The club played in the MSL in 2004 after they won the Premier League II crown the previous season.

Public Bank, who had the services of former national players V. Murugan and Lim Chan Yew, along with Argentine striker Gustavo Fuentes, finished runners-up in their maiden MSL season.

They, however, failed to maintain the momentum in the following season and finished seventh. Public Bank were fined RM50,000 and were barred from all competitions, except the Selangor League, after they decided to withdraw from the league.

Their shareholders were unhappy that their investments were going to the football club and thus the team were disbanded.

MK LAND FC

The Selayang-based club lasted only for two years in the MPL before ceasing operations after the 2005 season.

With the services of Marlos Alex James, a striker from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the team just missed out on a promotion spot after finishing second in Group B of the MPL in 2004.

In 2005, they failed to achieve their target of MSL promotion and the management decided to disband the team. They were subsequently fined RM50,000 by FAM.

In an interview, the now-retired James, who went on to become the 2013 MSL Golden Boot winner with Armed Forces, said MK Land provided him the stepping stone in the M-League. MELAKA TELEKOM FC (TMFC) TMFC’s best achievement was in 2006 when they were second in the MSL and semi-finalists in the Malaysia Cup.

The club made their Premier II debut in 1999 before finishing runners-up to Kedah three years later to earn promotion to 2003 Premier I and, after just one season, were relegated to the newlyformed MPL in 2004.

They came straight back up after losing the 2004 MPL final 3-2 to Selangor for their MSL debut in 2005, where TMFC remained there for three years until their self-enforced withdrawal before the 2007-08 season.

Telekom Malaysia folded the football club as they wanted to realign their position towards the development of sports.

UBP-MYTEAM MyTeam rose from a television reality series highlighting budding football talents to become a full-fledged professional club in 2006 when they merged with Perak’s United Plantations Berhad, who were then playing in the MPL.

UPB-MyTeam earned promotion to the MSL in their debut season when they emerged runners-up in the MPL in 2006-07 season before finishing 11th the next two seasons in the top flight, besides making the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Cup in 2008 and FA Cup in 2009.

The team were having financial problems and the budget for the 2008-09 season was slashed from RM5.5 million to less than RM2 million. The club withdrew the following season due to failure to settle financial obligations.

Coach Bojan Hodak left in 2009 as he did not receive his salary for several months. The club are best remembered for producing players who went on to represent the country.

Among them are Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, Nazrin Nawi and Azamuddin Akil.

PETALING JAYA MUNICIPAL COUNCIL (MPPJ FC) Just three years after creating history by becoming the first club team to win the Malaysia Cup (in 2003), MPPJ were handed a twoyear suspension and fined RM50,000 for failing to confirm their participation for the 200607 MSL.

Dubbed as the “Chelsea” of Malaysia, MPPJ were bogged down by internal problems in the 2005-06 season (they finished fifth).

They spent RM14 million in their final season by securing several notable signings but they could not settle the salaries of players on time.

As a result, Argentine Juan Manuel Arostegui and Zimbabwe’s Ben Newton left the team towards the end of that season.

PENANG WATER SUPPLY CORPORATION (PBAPP FC) PBAPP FC earned promotion to the MPL in 2014 after finishing second in the FAM Cup the previous year.

The club, established in 2012, took a brave stand by not hiring foreigners for their maiden campaign. It turned out to be disastrous as they lost eight times in the opening 11 matches that led them to engaging foreigners.

However, it was too late to salvage their season as they finished bottom of the standings with only one win and six draws from 22 matches. PBAPP played for one year on their return to the FAM Cup the following season before deciding to close shop.

SIME DARBY

The club were formed in 2010 and went on to achieve commendable results before they decided to quit the M-League after earning promotion to the MPL following their success of winning the FAM Cup the previous season.

Under coach Ismail Zakaria, Sime Darby became the first club-side to reach the FA Cup final in 2012, which they lost 1-0 to Kelantan, before securing promotion to the MSL in 2013.

OTHERS

Among the other clubs that have folded in recent years are Kuala Muda Naza (MPL champions in 2007-08), KL Plus (MPL runners-up in 2007-08), Nibong Tebal FA (FAM Cup champions in 2004), Proton FC (FAM Cup champions in 2007) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (FAM Cup runners-up in 2009).