Sabah squad called Rhinos again
KOTA KINABALU: After a twoyear hiatus, the state senior squad - Sabah Football Club (Sabah FC) - have restored The Rhinos as their official nickname and team mascot.
The announcement was made at the launching of the state squad football jerseys, which was done live virtually through Sabah FC official Facebook page yesterday.
Team manager Marzuki Nasir said bringing back the iconic name was right as it was synonymous with the state senior football squad.
“The supporters feel closely associated with the name The Rhinos, from the era of Matlan Marjan right to when we made it to the Malaysia Cup final.
“The fans want the state squad to be known as The Rhinos and we are well aware of that. So, we decided to discuss it with the management and they agreed to restore the name,” said Marzuki during the launching hosted by Farish Aziz and with special appearance of ‘Aunty Patrin’.
For the record, Sabah started using The Rhinos to represent them starting in the mid-90s, which coincided with their golden era that saw them emerge as FA Cup champions as well as winning the Premier League title, which was then the top-tier football league in the country.
Sabah was also known as The Sabahawks from 2010 to 2014 before reverting to using The Rhinos from 2015 to 2018.
And more recently, Sabah again changed their name and decided to adopt ‘Tambadaus’ as the team nickname and mascot from 2019 to 2020.
During the period, Sabah went on to win the Premier League title, which is now the country’s second division football competition, in 2019.
It eventually saw the state squad end a 23-year title drought and more importantly, the achievement won them the promotion to the Super League 2020.
However, their return to top flight was less impressive, finishing 10th to narrowly escape the drop in the Covid-19 pandemic-disrupted 2020 Super League campaign.
Earlier on, Sabah FC launched their Lotto-branded official jersey for the 2021 campaign, where the red-coloured home kit is known as ‘The Rhinos’ while the away kit is known as the ‘Blue Kinabalu’.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Hj Noor, acting Sabah Football Association (Safa) president Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and Sabah FC CEO Khairul Firdaus also sent their words of encouragment to the team.
Hajiji hoped that the new management as well as the players would give their fullest commitment to achieve excellence in the new season.
Bung Moktar, on the other hand, expressed his confidence of the current squad to provide strong challenge in the Malaysian League.
“I’m confident and believe with Sabah FC’s performance. Based on the preparation and good planning of the team, we will be able to produce mature displays during the season,” he said.
As for Khairul, he assured that Sabah FC would give their utmost best in every match and he believed the determination to do even better would only grow with the fans’ backing.
“It doesn’t matter what our background are, a magistrate, a lawyer, bus driver, artist, explayer or whoever we may be, I want you all to refer the team as ‘my team, our team’,” he said.
Sabah FC will open the new league season away to Malacca United at the Hang Jebat Stadium on March 6.