Fans turn stadium into a sea of red and white

KUALA LUMPUR: Kelantan fans turned the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil into a sea of red and white for their FA Cup final against Sime Darby last night.

The 23rd edition of the Cup final seemed almost like an all-kelantan affair as 90% of the 100,000-seater stadium was filled up by fans of the Red Warriors.

Although the game was only scheduled to kick off at 8.35pm, the gates were opened as early as at 4pm. And, by 7pm, it was already near capacity.

The east coast side’s supporters were clearly in the mood to party. They came in droves – more than 250 bus loads of supporters came from Kota Baru, some chartered a Red Warriors Express train from Tumpat, thousands came in private vehicles – to make it a really rousing Cup final atmosphere.

This is hardly surprising as the Kelantan Government had announced today a public holiday for the state.

The revelry aside, much still needs to be done in terms of security.

Despite promises that security would be beefed up for the Cup final, the FA of Malaysia (FAM) again failed to live up to their word, failing to control the crowd as some unruly Kelantan fans kicked their Sime Darby supporters out from their allotted seats.

The FAM officials and security personnel could do little to stop the Kelantan fans’ intrusion.

The Sime Darby officials were also furious when the Kelantan supporters took down two of their giant banners.

The Kelantan fans clearly came prepared – with scarves, posters, placards – to spur their players on to win their first-ever FA Cup trophy after two failed attempts in 2009 and 2011.

Even suspended Kelantan FA president Tan Sri Annuar Musa, who is serving a 30-month ban imposed by FAM, was present at the stadium, going around greeting the Kelantan fans before joining them in the spectators’ seat.

Among the more eye-catching banners unfurled by the Kelantan fans were - “Why Always Us”, “FA Cup is ours”, and the Kelantan battle-cry “Gomo Kelate Gomo”.

Some even had their faces painted in their team’s colours and the Red Warriors stole the show by unfurlinga giant red and white wau (kite) which depicted the Kelantan emblem.

There was even a paraplane (a motor-driven flying machine consisting of a parachute and a pair of fabric wings attached to a rigid framework) hovering above the stadium flying a banner urging the Kelantan players to lift the Cup.

The Kelantan fans may have outnumbered their Sime Darby counterparts but at least the club side’s supporters can take comfort from the fact that their team have made history by becoming the first club to make the final.

The noise in the stadium went up a notch when the players took to the pitch for their warm-up sessions.

And the din reached a crescendo when the starting 11 from both sides marched onto the pitch for the kickoff.