Melaka United F.C.

Melaka United Football Club

Full name	Melaka United Football Club
Nickname(s)	Hang Tuah Pelanduk (The Mousedeer)
Short name	MUFC
Founded	1924; 100 years ago (1924), as MAFA
Dissolved	2022; 2 years ago (2022)
Ground	Hang Jebat Stadium
Capacity	40,000
Owner	Melaka Football Association
League	Malaysia Super League
2022	Malaysia Super League, 10 th of 12 (ejected)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Melaka United Football Club (/məˈlɑːkə/) was a Malaysian defunct football club based in Malacca that competed in the Malaysia Super League. They were owned by Kenteam Sdn Bhd, which is one of main nitrile glove producers in Malaysia. The club's home ground has been the Hang Tuah Stadium, before moving to Hang Jebat Stadium in Paya Rumput, Krubong in 2005. The club represented the state of Malacca in Malaysian football competitions. They reached the top division in Malaysian football after back-to-back promotions as champion of the 2015 Malaysia FAM League and 2016 Malaysia Premier League.^[1][2][3]

The club was formerly referred to as Malacca or officially as Malacca Amateur FA and Malacca FA. Malacca FA biggest achievement in Malaysia football was becoming the Malaysian League champion in 1983, led by Asian Football Hall of Fame, Soh Chin Ann.

The club's nickname was Hang Tuah, the name being synonymous with strength and intelligence.

Melaka United's regular kit colours were green and white for shirts, shorts and socks.

History

Origins

Malacca has sent a football team to play in Malaya Cup since its inaugural season in 1921.^[4] In 1924, the team has been registered and now managed by the newly formed governance body of Malacca football, the Malacca Amateur Football Association (MAFA).^[5] Since then, the football team has been competing in Malaya Cup and FAM Cup consistently. MAFA biggest achievement when they reached the final 1957 and 1958 FAM Cup led by Robert Choe.^[6][7]

The era of amateur football league

In 1979, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) changed the format of Piala Malaysia when they introduced the league stage that acts as the qualifying round for the knockout stage of Piala Malaysia.^[8][9] It was intended primarily as a qualifying tournament for the final knock-out stages of the Piala Malaysia where teams compete in a one-round league before advanced to the knock-out stage.^[8]

The football league in Malaysia has only officially started in 1982, after the introduction of league winners trophy. The league has been known as Liga Malaysia.^[10][11] Malacca football team continued to compete in the league and has become the champion of the league during its second season in 1983? which has been the only time the Malacca team become a champion of the top-tier league in Malaysian football.

The era of semi-pro football league

Over the years, the league competition has gained important stature in its own right. From 1982 until 1988 the league has an amateur status and continues its purpose as qualifying round for Piala Malaysia. Only in 1989 it is changed to a new format as Liga Semi-Pro (MSPFL), introduced by FAM as a way towards fully professional status. The inaugural season of MSPFL consisted of nine teams in Division I and eight teams in Division II.^[12] Malacca has been put in Division II from 1989 to 1992 seasons.

Era of professional football

MSPFL was the nation's top-tier league until it was succeeded by the Liga Perdana (1994–97). In its inaugural season, 16 teams competed. The teams were based from all states in Malaysia including Malacca, Kuala Lumpur and addition of two teams from Singapore and Brunei.^[13]

In 1998, Liga Perdana was divided into two divisions consist of Liga Perdana 1 and Liga Perdana 2.^[14][15] During 1998, Liga Perdana 1 consist of 12 teams while Liga Perdana 2 had 8 teams.^[14] Malacca competed in Liga Perdana 2 from 1998 until 2000, before achieving promotion to Liga Perdana 1 for 2001 season.^[16]

At this time the league still consisted of semi-pro team where each team was allowed to register 25 players (minimum of 12 professionals for Liga Perdana 1 and 6 professional for Liga Perdana 2).^[14]

Malacca competed in Liga Perdana 1 from 2001 until 2003.^[17][18] Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) decided to privatise the league for 2004 season onwards, when the Liga Super was formed.

Teams in Liga Perdana 1 and Liga Perdana 2 were put through a qualification and playoffs to be promoted into the Liga Super. Malacca failed to qualify and was put into a new second-tier Liga Premier for the 2004 season.^[19]

Playing in Malaysia Premier League

The club has been in an up and down performance in Malaysia Premier League since the league inception. They played for three seasons and were promoted to the top-tier Malaysia Super League.^[20][21][22]

Brief year in Malaysia Super League

After a successful season in second division, the club has been promoted to the top-tier division, the Liga Super for 2006-07 season.^[23] The club has splurged a big budget to buy players while removing majority of squsd from the previous winning season, in order to create a more competitive team.

Back to second division

A slump in performance has caused the club struggling and fighting for relegation in their three seasons of Malaysia Premier League, from 2008 until 2010, before the dark era. The club has been relegated to the Malaysia FAM League for 2011 season.^[24][25][26]

Years of struggle in Malaysia FAM League

The club has been relegated from 2010 Malaysia Premier League to the Malaysia FAM League, despite being one of the bigger clubs within it.^[27][28] The club continued to compete and had been a consistent team in third-tier league for five straight seasons.^{[29][30][31][32][33]}

A comeback from lower league

The club made a comeback to second-tier league, Malaysia Premier League, in 2016 after being promoted as champions of 2015 Malaysia FAM League. Before winning the FAM League, the club had experienced a 32-year trophy drought, where the last time Melaka United won the Malaysian top-tier league was in 1983. It was the league stage that served as the qualifying round for the Malaysian Cup.^[34] During that time, national footballer Soh Chin Ann was playing for Malacca^[35][36]

The club has achieved promotion to Liga Super after becoming the champion of the Malaysia Premier League just one year after winning the Malaysia FAM League.^[1][3]

Back to top division league

After the promotion to the top division, Melaka United management has made a number of changes, including the new squad selection. On 14 November 2016, Melaka United has announced the appointment of Eric Williams to replace Mat Zan Mat Aris as the new head coach for the club.^[37] Eric Williams has previously managed the Myanmar Yangon United F.C. in the 2014 season.^[37] The club has also only retained ten players from previous season and has recruited nine new players.^[38][39]

The club has set a high target for 2017 season, including to reach the top five in the league standings.^[40] On 18 February 2017, the club has managed to win their first match in Liga Super, almost 10 years after their last win in the top division in 2006–07 season.^[23][41]

Dissolution

Melaka United announced the decision to dissolve the club in 2022, after failing to pay the players and coaches. The debt was thought to be more than RM 3 million. Melaka F.C. become a new team to represent the state of Malacca for 2023 onwards, though they will not inherit the honours and titles won by Melaka United.

Stadium

Melaka United last played at Hang Jebat Stadium. The capacity of the stadium is 40,000. In addition to the football field, the stadium also consists of a running track.

The club has previously been using the Hang Tuah Stadium as their home ground.It was still used as a training ground and home stadium for development and youth squad, which mostly competed in Piala Presiden and Piala Belia.^[42][43][44]

Crest and colours

Crest

Melaka United has historically utilised one primary crest before the introduction of football league in Malaysia. The first, adopted when the club was founded, was the image of A Famosa, historical remains from the colonial age in Malacca. It was used during the club's amateur era and remained for more than half-century.

Since the introduction of football league, the club has evolved from amateur years and has adopted a new crest which featured an image of Malacca tree, which the city was named after.

Since the end of 2013, the club has had a rebranding to Melaka United, where a new version crest was introduced.

Colours

Melaka United have always worn green and white shirts as their home kit as it was an iconic colour for the club.

Melaka United's away colours were usually all white with green trim, or various combinations of blue, red, yellow and white, as it represents the colour of Malacca's flag.

Colours and kit evolution

Home

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Away

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Supporters

"Ultras Taming Sari" (UTS) was mainly known for supporting Melaka United.^[45] The group was one of many ultras supporters created under the branches of Ultras Malaya.^[45]

Melaka United was one of the most supported clubs in Malacca. Melaka United's traditional fanbase come from all over the Central Malacca District, Alor Gajah and Jasin area.

Ownership and finances

The Malacca football team has been founded since 1921, and the management of the club has been taken over by the foundation of Malacca Amateur Football Association in 1924.^[4][5] The club has been thriving with the financial backing from the state government and sponsors.

In 2014 the management went through a restructuring process to become the Melaka United Soccer Association^[46]

Sponsorship

Season	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
1979	Admiral	None
1980	Umbro	None
1981	Schwarzenbach	None
1982–84		Schwarzenbach
1985		Gold Flake
1985	Diadora	None
1986	Topper	Topper
1987	RW	None
1988		Dunhill
1989	Asics	Dunhill / EON
1990	Lotto
1991–92	Cheetah
1993	Cheetah & Umbro
1994–97	Mizuno	Dunhill
1998		Dunhill / Gibca Holdings
1999–00	J-King	Dunhill
2001	Mikasa	Dunhill / Mikasa
2002–03	Kronos	Dunhill / Kronos
2004	Admiral	Dunhill / Admiral
2005	Admiral & Garoos	Celcom
2005	Lotto	TM Net / Creative
2006	Figos	TM / Cubic
2006	Joma	TM
2007	Ambros	Celcom / Metaforce
2009	Kika & Shemsy	Streamyx
2010	Shemsy	TM
2011	Kappa	Interpacific
2012	Ambros	Ambros
2013	Arora	None
2014	Kronos	Mamee / KAJ
2015		Mamee
2016		Edra / Mamee
2017		Edra CGN / Tag Marine
2018	Warrix Sports	EDRA CGN
2019		EDRA CGN / KLIP
2020	Al-Ikhsan [47]	Olympex
2021		EDRA CGN/ Mamee
2022		Ken Team

Players

First-team squad

As of 28 December 2022^[48]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 5 CB  MAS Annas Rahmat 6 DF  PHI Justin Baas 8 MF  MAS Wan Zaharulnizam 11 FW  GHA Emmanuel Oti 12 FW  NGA Ifedayo Olusegun 14 MF  MAS Fakhrullah Rosli 15 MF  MAS Khairul Anwar 16 MF  MAS Fadhil Idris 17 FW  MAS Hazim Abu Zaid 18 DF  MAS Wan Amirul Afiq

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 MF  MAS Syahrul Azwari 20 FW  MAS Faizal Talib 21 FW  MAS Harith Naem 22 GK  MAS Norazlan Razali 24 MF  MAS Syukri Baharun 25 MF  MAS Faris Shah 26 MF  MAS Hamran Peter (on loan from Penang) 28 MF  MAS Muhd Hazrin Jamil 30 GK  MAS Asyraaf Omar 35 DF  MAS Hasbullah Abu Bakar

Development squad

Under-21s

As of 5 June 2020^[49]

No.	Name	Nationality	Position	D.O.B
Goalkeeper
1	Muhammad Rabbani Ros Romzi		GK	1999
19	Muhammad Ridzuan Azali		GK	2000
22	Muhammad Izzul Azry Abu Mansor		GK	2000
Defenders
2	Mohamad Syafiq Che Haron		RB / LB	2001
3	Muhammad Faiz Abdullah		LB / LWB	2000
4	Muhammad Firdaus Mazlan		CB	2000
5	Aiman Irfan Azman		CB	2000
6	Abu Bakar		CB	1999
13	Muhammad Haiqal Rostam		LB	1999
14	Mohamad Fitri Azhar		CB	13/11/99
18	Azmil Hamer		RB / RWB	2000
28	Muhammad Zul Fikri Jamilulhayat		RB / RWB	2000
Midfielders
8	Redha Iskandar Mahizal Azim		CM, AM	8/6/97
11	Muhammad Ammar Shamsuri		RW / RM	1999
12	Mohammad Hafizie Ismail		LW / LM	2000
16	Pavinish a/l Siriteven		CM / DM	2000
21	Muhammad Hanif Afandi A.Hadi		AM / CM	10/8/99
29	Muhammad Nursyazwan Nizu		DM / CM	2000
30	Muhammad Haiqal Ashraf Saifol		CM	2000
Forwards
7	Akmal Mohamad Marzukin		ST	1999
9	Muhammad Firdaus Sadelan		ST/LW	2000
24	Nur Rifdi Fakhrullah Mohd Razali		ST	2000
61	Muhammad Hazim Abu Zaid		ST	17/1/2001

Under-19s

As of 5 June 2020^[50]

No.	Name	Nationality	Position	D.O.B
Goalkeeper
1	Muhammad Asyraf Danial Norizan		GK	2002
18	Muhamad Fazrul Haqimi Jamil		GK	2001
22	Esairaj a/l Karupiah		GK	2001
Defenders
2	Muhammad Akmal Alias		CB	2001
3	Muhammad Amirul Ariffin Mezal		LB / LWB	2002
4	Amri Mohd Adnan		CB	2002
5	Muhammad Syazman Jerfy		CB	2002
12	Muhammad Shahharul Md Suhaimi		RB / RWB	2001
14	Muhammad Aiman Abdullah		RB / RWB	2001
16	Matan Raaj a/l Murugan		CB	2001
17	Affan Danial Suzaimi		CB	2002
23	Zakir Mukhriz Zaidi		LB / LWB	2002
26	Mohammad Zarif Syamil Mohd Zamani		CB	2002
28	Elegeswaran a/l Balakrisnan		CB/DM	2002
29	Muhammad Aiman Rahmat Jailani		CB/DM	2001
30	Muhd Syahkhir Muhd Razali		RB / RWB	2001
Midfielders
6	Akmal Arif Mohd Aris		CM	2002
8	Abdul Raziq Abdul Rahim		CM	2001
11	Mohamad Norazizi Mohd Khalid		LW / LM	2001
13	Muhammad Arif Hafiz Mohd Farid		LW / LM	2002
15	Muhammad Luqmanul Hakeem Norizam		RW / RM	2002
19	Haziq Farhan Mohd Jasmi		RW / RM	2002
20	Nor Huzairieen Noreffendy		DM / CM	2002
21	Hilmi Rahim Azian		CM	2001
24	Muhammad Za'im Hakim Zakaria		LW / LM	2002
25	Muhammad Luquman Syadiq Rozaidi		DM / CM	2001
27	Muhammad Nabil Uzair A.Zainal		AM / LW / RW	2002
Forwards
7	Muhammad Hafiz Jaafar		ST	2002
9	Muhammad Farhan Kudzaime		ST	2002
10	Muhammad Syahmi Shamsudin		ST	2001

Head coaches

Coach	Years	Honours
Marco Bilic	1992
Remeli Junit	1996
Mahathir Taha	1997
Mohd Shah Alias Norbit	1998
G. Torairaju	1999
Remeli Junit	2000–01	Runner up 2000 Liga Perdana 2
Ong Kim Swee	2005
E. Elavarasan	2005–06	Runner up 2005–06 Liga Premier
K. Devan	2007
Ramli Junit	2007–08
Mohd Nick Sham Abdullah	2008–09
Abdul Rahim Abdullah	2009–10
Mahathir Taha	2010
Manja Man	2011
G. Selvamohan	2012
Mohd Asri Ninggal	January 2013 – April 2013
Hashim Abdullah	April 2013
Ladislav Totkovič	November 2013 – April 2014
Mat Zan Mat Aris	September 2014 – October 2016	Winner 2015 Liga FAM Winner 2016 Liga Premier
Eric Williams[37]	November 2016 – June 2017
Eduardo Almeida	June 2017 – May 2018
E. Elavarasan	May 2018 – November 2018
Zainal Abidin Hassan[51]	14 November 2018 – 17 January 2022
Risto Vidaković	22 January 2022 – 12 April 2022

Records

Name	Period	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA	GD	Win %
Mat Zan Mat Aris	Sept 2014 – Oct 2016	46	30	9	7	92	51	+41	065.22
Eric Williams	November 2016 – June 2017	14	3	5	6	12	26	−14	021.43
Eduardo Almeida	June 2017 – May 2018	17	7	2	8	15	59	−44	041.18
E. Elavarasan	May 2018 – November 2018	19	8	7	4	42	26	+16	042.11
Zainal Abidin Hassan	14 November 2018 – 2022	21	9	5	7	34	28	+6	042.86

Team managers

Year	Manager
1999–2002	Datuk Ibrahim Durum
2005	Datuk Chua Peng Song
2006–2008	Karim Yaacob
2008–2009	Mohd Yazid Khamis
2009–2010	Abdul Malik Kassim
2011–2013	Datuk Mohd Yunos Husin
April 2013–November 2013	Datuk Wira Idris Haron
November 2013 – 2022	Datuk Mohd Yusoff Bin Hj Mahadi

Technical staff

As of 14 November 2018^[update][52]

Position	Name
President	Justin Lim
Deputy president	Mohd Yusoff Mahadi
General secretary	Asri Ninggal
Treasurer	Saiful Mat Sapri
Vice-president	Noor Azman Rahman Mohd Ashiq Abd Samad Fadzil A. Bakar Yong Yoon Pin
Team manager	Muhammad Akram Abdullah
Technical director	Richard Sinapan

Honours

Domestic competitions

League

• Liga Malaysia / Liga Semi-Pro Divisyen 1 / Liga Perdana / Liga Perdana 1 / Liga Super

Winners (1): 1983

• Liga Semi-Pro Divisyen 2 / Liga Perdana 2 / Liga Premier

Winners (1): 2016

Runners-up (2): 2000, 2005–06

• Piala FAM / Liga FAM

Winners (1): 2015

Runners-up (2): 1957, 1958

Cups

• Piala FA

Winners: -

• Piala Malaysia

Winners: -

• Piala Sumbangsih

Winners: -

Preseason competitions

• Malacca TYT Cup

Winners (1): 2022^[53]

Performance in AFC competitions

• Asian Club Championship / AFC Champions League: 1 appearance

1986: Southeast Asia Qualifying/ASEAN Champions Cup–4th place^[54]

Season	Competition	Round	Club	1st Leg	2nd Leg	Aggregate
1985–86	Asian Club Championship	Qualifying Round / Southeast Asia (ASEAN Champions Cup)	Krama Yudha Tiga Berlian	2–0 (Loss)		4th place
			ADP FC	1–0 (Win)
			Bangkok Bank F.C.	5–1 (Loss)
			Tiong Bahru CSC	0–0 (Draw)

Club record

• Pld = Played, W = Won, D = Drawn, L = Lost, F = Goals for, A = Goals against, D = Goal difference, Pts= Points, Pos = Position

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

Season	League										Cup			Asia
	Division	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	D	Pts	Pos	Sumbangsih	Malaysia	FA	Competition	Result
2001	Liga Perdana 1	22	6	4	12	25	38	–13	22	11th	—	—	2nd round	—	—
2002	Liga Perdana 1	26	8	3	15	28	48	–20	27	11th	—	Group stage	1st round	—	—
2003	Liga Perdana 1	24	5	5	14	24	53	–29	20	11th	—	Group stage	1st round	—	—
2004	Liga Premier	24	6	9	9	32	38	–6	27	7th	—	—	3rd round	—	—
2005	Liga Premier	21	3	1	17	17	50	–33	10	8th	—	—	1st round	—	—
2005–06	Liga Premier	21	13	4	4	48	24	+24	43	1st	—	Group stage	1st round	—	—
2006–07	Liga Super	24	2	3	19	24	72	–48	9	13th	—	Quarter-finals	—	—	—
2007–08	Liga Premier	24	8	2	14	29	43	–14	26	9th	—	Group stage	Quarter-finals	—	—
2009	Liga Premier	24	3	9	12	17	32	–15	18	11th	—	Group stage	1st round	—	—
2010	Liga Premier	22	4	3	15	31	68	–37	15	11th	—	Not qualified	1st round	—	—
2011	Liga FAM	20	7	5	8	45	40	+5	26	6th	—	Not qualified	1st round	—	—
2012	Liga FAM	16	5	1	10	20	25	–5	16	7th	—	Not qualified	1st round	—	—
2013	Liga FAM	20	10	3	7	30	30	0	33	6th	—	Not qualified	1st round	—	—
2014	Liga FAM	22	8	4	10	34	37	–3	28	6th	—	Not qualified	1st round	—	—
2015	Liga FAM	16	11	3	2	30	13	+17	36	1st	—	Not qualified	1st round	—	—
2016	Liga Premier	22	15	5	2	48	25	+23	50	1st	—	Group stage	2nd round	—	—
2017	Liga Super	22	6	6	10	33	46	–13	24	8th	—	Quarter-finals	3rd round	—	—
2018	Liga Super	22	9	4	9	33	38	–5	31	7th	—	Group Stage	3rd round	—	—
2019	Liga Super	22	9	6	7	34	30	+4	33	6th	—	Quarter-finals	2nd round	—	—
2020	Liga Super	11	4	2	5	13	16	–3	11	9th	—	Round of 16	2nd round	—	—

Source:^[55][56]

Individual player awards

Malaysian League Golden boot winners

Season	Player	Goals
2016	Ilija Spasojević	24

Malaysian League top goalscorers

Season	Player	Goals
1995	Norizam Ali Hassan	11
2003	Sufian Shamsubari	8
2004	Emir Dzafic	10
2009	Fauzzi Kassim	7
2015	Nurshamil Abd Ghani	15
2016	Ilija Spasojević	24
2017	Marko Šimić	12
2018	Yahor Zubovich	12
2019	Patrick Reichelt	11
2020	Uche Agba	6

Notable former players

This list of prominent former players includes those who received international caps while playing for the team, made significant contribution in terms of appearances or goals, or to the sport either before they played for the team, or after they left. It is not complete or all inclusive, additions and refinements will continue to be made over time.

• Robert Choe
• Soh Chin Ann
• Dollah Salleh
• Lim Teong Kim
• V. Murugan
• Lim Teong Kim
• Ong Kim Swee
• Shamsurin Abdul Rahman
• Shukor Adan
• Amri Yahyah
• Safiq Rahim
• Azizan Baba
• Nurshamil Abd Ghani
• Ilija Spasojević
• Marko Šimić

Affiliated clubs

• Melaka
• SAMB

References

External links

• Melaka United at Football Malaysia