Penang F.C.

Penang

Akmal Rizal
League	Malaysia Super League
2023	Malaysia Super League, 10th of 14
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Penang Football Club (or simply known as Penang FC) is a

Unofficially founded in 1920, officially as Football Association of Penang on 21 October 1921, the club represents the state of Penang in football tournaments.[5] The team has traditionally worn a blue home kit.

They have a long-standing rivalry with

The club was founded in 1920 unofficially, and officially as Football Association of Penang (FAP) in 1921. Penang is the oldest football team in Malaysia and one of the oldest football clubs in Asia.[9]^[10] The team is based in the state of Penang in the north of Malaysia. Penang have consistently been a decent team throughout their history, producing players such as the country's first Olympian. Penang is the fourth most successful team in Malaysian football history with 16 champions.

Early years (1920 – 1950s)

On 21 October 1921, the club was founded. Almost all the big matches were played at Victoria Green, home of the Chinese Recreation Club. The team enter into the final of the Malaysia most prestigious football tournament, Malaysia Cup's final in 1934, but the team lost to Singapore FA with a heartbreaking score of 1–2.^[11] Penang enter into the final of the last edition of Malaysia Cup before World War II and they lost to the same opponent in 1934.^[12] During the World War II, football competitions were stopped.

Glory days (1950s – 1970s)

An era spanning the 1950s to the 1970s when Penang was among the top teams in inter-state football.

The 1950s saw Penang producing players such as the country's first Olympian,

The late 1960s saw the emergence of Aziz's nephews, the Abdullah brothers—Namat and Shaharuddin. At his peak, Shaharuddin was a prolific goal-getter together with the rising star, Isa Bakar.

Penang made the Malaysia Cup final in 1968 to face mighty Selangor but nobody expected it to be a massacre. Selangor romped home 8–1 in one of the most one-sided finals ever.^[16]

In 1974, Penang heroically knocked Singapore out in the semifinal to face northern rival

Football Association of Malaysia introduced the Malaysia First Division League in 1982. Penang was one of the founding members of the league. The first edition of the league saw Penang become the champion.^[20] In 1983, Penang was the first runner-up of the league. After that, the team faced stagnation until the mid-1990s because failed to win any major trophy.

Resurgence (late 1990s – early 2000s)

The glory days came after the team faced the stagnation period for more than 15 years. Penang enter into the

Although the team got a good start by winning the Charity Shield, but the team only finished mid table in the league and in round two of the FA Cup. Penang finished third in the group stage of the Malaysia Cup and failed to qualify for the second round. In 2004, Penang ranked fifth out of 8 in the league and eliminated in the second round of FA Cup. Yunus Alif's boys won the group stage of Malaysia Cup but lost in second round. The league performance in 2006 is worse than 2005 as the team only ranked sixth. Penang won the first round of FA Cup, but they failed to qualify for the third round. They top the group of Malaysia Cup for two consecutive years but still can't advanced for the third round after losing the second round matches. The next season saw Penang ranked sixth again in the league and lost the first round match of FA Cup. The team lost the quarter final matches of Malaysia Cup. In 2006–07 season of Malaysia Super League, the team ranked tenth throughout the league. Penang finished the journey of FA Cup in round one. Penang finished fifth out of six in the Malaysia Cup group stage. New coach, Mohd Bakar was appointed to replace Josef Herel in the 2007–08 season. The Panthers finished 12th in the league, round two in FA Cup and last in the Malaysia Cup group stage. For the same season until 2012, the club was facing a critical financial condition. The state's footballers had not been paid for four months, and called on the current administration to honour the contracts signed with players. In 2009, Penang FA finished third from the last in the top division league. Penang was knocked out from the FA Cup in round two for two consecutive years. Penang was eliminated from the Malaysia Cup tournament after finished third in the group stage.

Darkest period (2010 – 2012)

In 2010, the darkest period ever in the team history came.

The comeback (2013 – 2015)

Penang FA's legend, Merzagua Abderrazak, took over as the club head coach in 2013. The aim of the club, which was to promote to the Malaysia Premier League, was achieved successfully under the tactician.^[29] Penang won a silverware after an 11-year wait. However, they may have to leave their talismanic Moroccan coach Merzagua Abderrazzak because he needs to obtain an A-level coaching licence in his home country to be able to continue coaching.^[30]

Due to the problem, the club appointed

I-League winning coach, Ashley Westwood signed a two years contract with the club in November 2016 to replace Nenad and Bojan. However, Penang FA terminated their contract with head coach, Ashley Westwood under mutual consent due to poor results in March 2017 and he was replaced by Zainal Abidin Hassan.

Zairil Khir Johari, who took over from Nazir Ariff Mushir Ariff has resigned as president of the Penang Football Association (FA) following a bad season by the Penang Panthers in the 2017 Super League on Oct 9, 2017. PFA trustee Datuk Abdul Rashid Ismail, who was then act as president, were trying to resolve the issue of player's salary pending. Former player Reinaldo Lobo, had reported PFA to Fifa after the club failed to pay him for six months.

Relegated to the Malaysia Premier League (2018 – 2020)

After relegation to

Dr Amar Pritpal Abdullah was elected as Penang FA president after edging out Datuk Seri Ho Kwee Cheng, promises to settle Premier League players’ outstanding salaries amounting to RM3.5mil. Penang FA who only narrowly escaped relegation to the FAM Cup in the 2018 Premier League season searched for stability ahead of the 2019 season under the helm of new management of the team. It was announced later that former Hanelang F.C. head coach Ahmad Yusof to replace the outgoing Zainal Abidin Hassan.

The FA of Penang have set a modest target for the 2019 season, to stay in the Premier League by aiming for a top five finish next season. A move that is designed to bring stability to the team after two horrendous seasons as new management work to settle past problems. Penang state government will be taking up the responsibilities to clear the debt on a budget separate from the one awarded to the Penang FA. The Panthers however are on the hunt for more sponsors to come in to supplement that amount. Penang FA struggle to manage themselves after half of season at poor position (bottom league). Manzoor Azwira has been appointed as a Head Coach to replace Ahmad Yusof. Penang FA back with changes under Manzoor Azwira. He bought new import player like Casagrande and Sergio Aguero and at the end, Penang FA climb to 2nd placed and secure a place to Super League. less than 24 hours after securing promotion to the Super League, Penang FA found themselves back in the Premier League after being docked six points by the FA of Malaysia (FAM) due to a decision by Fifa. This came after a complaint filed by former Penang defender Reinaldo Lobo to Fifa over salary claims.

In 2020 the government of Malaysia stopped all sports activities due to the

Penang ended the 2021 Malaysia Super League season in third place 2 points behind 2nd place Kedah Darul Aman.

Players

First-team squad

As of 7 March 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  MAS Haziq Mukriz 3 DF  MAS Aikmal Roslan 4 DF  GHA Richmond Ankrah (on loan from Selangor) 6 DF  MAS Khairul Akmal 8 MF  MAS Khairu Azrin Khazali 9 FW  BRA Rodrigo Dias 10 MF  BRA Diogo Ferreira 11 MF  MAS Amer Azahar 12 MF  MAS Al-Hafiz Harun 13 MF  MAS Muhaimin Izuddin 14 DMF  MAS Syamer Kutty Abba 15 DF  MAS Fairuz Zakaria 17 DF  BRA Rafael Vitor (captain) 18 DF  MAS Iman Rafaei 20 FW  MAS Rahmat Makasuf

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF  MAS Shafi Azswad 23 GK  MAS Sikh Izhan (on loan from Selangor) 25 GK  MAS Shafiq Afifi 26 DF  MAS Namathevan Arunasalam 28 MF  MAS Azrie Reza 30 FW  MAS Nabil Latpi 32 DF  MAS Aqil Irfanuddin (on loan from Terengganu) 33 MF  MAS Nik Akif 37 DF  MAS Azmeer Aris 46 DF  MAS Adib Raop 80 MF  MAS Izzat Zikri 83 MF  MAS Khairil Anuar 88 MF  MAS Daniel Irfan 99 FW  MAS Aliff Ikmalrizal

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF  MAS Marcus Mah (on loan to Bukit Tambun until 30 November 2023)

Under-23s

As of 2 March 2023^[35]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  MAS Wahiey Amir 4 DF  MAS Thinusean Pillai 5 DF  MAS Zarif Syamil 8 MF  MAS Adib Haqimi 10 MF  MAS Aidil Danial 11 MF  MAS Ilhan Hakim 12 MF  MAS Khariul Ikram 13 MF  MAS Syamel Idzham 14 DF  MAS Haleif Hazreil 17 FW  MAS Haziq Kutty Abba 18 MF  MAS Idrzuwan Daud 19 DF  MAS Mujibur Rahman

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 MF  MAS Shahmi Irfan Talaha 21 MF  MAS Amirul Irfan 22 GK  MAS Ashriq Izzat 23 DF  MAS Aidil Azuan 24 MF  MAS Adam Iskandar 25 MF  MAS Akid Aiman 26 DF  MAS Syameer Zamri 27 MF  MAS Hazwan Hassan 28 DF  MAS Dhia Ramadhan 29 FW  MAS Amirul Ashrafiq 33 FW  MAS Hasri Firzan

Development squads

For further information: Penang F.C. Reserves

Management & coaching staff

Board of directors

Position	Name
Chairman	Daniel Gooi
General Manager	Jeffrey Chew
Board Members	Zakuan Zakaria Faidrol Radzi Norazmi Narawi Azhar Arshad S. Barathi A. Kumaresan
Executive Director	Amar Pritpal Abdullah

Management

Position	Name
Team Manager	Noor Azrul Mansor
Assistant Team Manager	Vacant
Media Officer	Tun Mohammad Fadzrul Redza
Security Officer	Mogan Subramaniam
General Coordinator	Shamsul Mohd Nor

Coaching and technical staff

Position	Name
Technical director	Merzagua Abderrazak
Head Coach	Akmal Rizal
Assistant Head Coach	Kamal Daut
Assistant Coach	Mat Saiful Mohd
Goalkeeping Coach	Mohd Hisham Jainudin
Fitness Coach	Rozy Abdul Majid
Team Doctor	Hardeep Singh Jaginder Singh Parmjit Singh Kuldip Singh
Physiotherapist	Ridhwan Noor Akmal
Team Analyst	Anwar Azahari
Masseur	Megat Loutifie
Kit Man	Sufie Noorazizan
U-23 Team Manager	Razif Radali
U-23 Head Coach	Manzoor Azwira
U-23 Assistant Head Coach	Farkhis Fisol
U-23 Goalkeeping Coach	Azmirulkifli Haji Mohd Isa
U-23 Fitness Coach	Rozy Abdul Majid
U-23 Team Doctor	Azry Azmi
U-23 Physiotherapist	Amirul Ehsan Mahrim
U-23 Security Officer	Esa Alwi
U-23 Media Officer	Zachki Suri
U-23 Kit Man	Hafiz Ismail

Crest and colours

Since the club's foundation in 1921, the club have had two main crests. The first, adopted when the team was founded, its backgrounds colours of the club crest were navy blue and white. At the top left and bottom right of the crest are the capital letters of 'F' and 'A' in navy blue with white background, which are the abbreviation of 'Football Association'. At the bottom left of the crest is a leather ball, which was the early football ball. The Prince of Wales's feathers and its motto, 'Ich Dien' which means 'I serve' were at top left of the crest, both elements were in white colour with navy blue background. The name of the state, 'Penang', is written in capital letter, white colour with navy blue background.

In the early 1990s, the crest underwent some variations as part of an attempt to modernise the previous crest. The capital letters of 'F' and 'A' were changed into three-dimensional form, with navy blue edges and white fill colour. The ball at the bottom left was changed into a modern ball with pentagonal and hexagonal patterns, and the Prince of Wales's feathers on the top left was also modernised with its motto was removed, fill colours for both elements were changed to blue, with white background.

Colours

Penang's traditional home colours are sky blue and yellow which are taken from the colours of the Penang state flag which stand for the sea surrounding the island and peace respectively. Navy blue and yellow have also been used severally. Traditional away kit colours have been either yellow or white. However, in recent years several different colours have been used, such as green, pink and orange.

The current home jersey sports a lighter shade of blue which is a better representation of the blue colour on the state flag. The current away jersey is white while the alternate jersey is black with yellow stripes.

Supporters

Penang's traditional fanbase comes from all over the George Town area including the other suburbs such as

Established in 2017, the Penang Football Fans Club (PFFC) is the official supporter club which is registered under the law of Malaysia.[36] The main mission of PFFC is to unite football supporters in Penang. Besides it will also act as a channel between the fans and the team.

There are also numerous supporters clubs such as Demi Pulau Pinang, Penang Brotherhood, Penang FC Fan Club, Haria Penang 69, Nindia Bandaraya, Brigade 07, Boys Of North and more in the state.^[37] Penang had an average gate of 7,301 in the 2016 competitive campaign. Sometimes, tourists from foreign countries also attended the matches.

As of June 2020, Penang had 134,650 followers on social media, the ninth highest among football clubs in Malaysia.

At matches, Penang fanatic fans sing chants such as "Haria Penang Haria",^[38] "Sehati Sejiwa" which means "One Heart, One Soul" and the state anthem "Untuk Negeri Kita", which means "For our state", to boost their beloved players' morale. Fans also throw toilet rolls to the pitch before the match begins. The well-known and popular slogan among Penang FC supporters is "Haria Penang Haria". It is used as "words of spirit" during and off the game, and as the slogan among supporters.

Rivalries

Kedah Darul Aman is the biggest rival for Penang. Penang fans consider their main rivalries to be with (in order) Kedah, Perak and Perlis. Matches against fellow northern region sides Perlis United, Kuala Muda Naza, Kedah United, Sungai Ara, PBAPP, SDMS Kepala Batas, Bukit Tambun, and Perak YBU have only taken place intermittently, due to the clubs often being in separate divisions.

Derby

Northern Region Derby is the name given to football matches that involves Penang and Kedah.

Up to the late 1950s, almost all the big matches were played at Victoria Green, home of the Chinese Recreation Club, before the completion of the City Stadium in the 1950s.

Penang State Stadium which located in Batu Kawan was also the home ground of the club from 2000 to 2011 and 2016 to 2017. It was built in 2000 with a capacity of 40,000 to host the 8th Sukma Games (Malaysian Games). In 2007, this stadium hosted the Malaysian FA Cup Final.

The

The Jawi Public Field is the training ground of Penang FC located in South Seberang Perai District, Penang.

Previously, The

Sometimes, Penang also train at the Penang Sports Club. It is located in the city of George Town covering a land area of about 16 acres.

Seasons

Since Professional Era

Updated on 16 January 2024.

Note:

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

  1st or Champions   2nd or Runner-up   3rd place   Promotion   Relegation

Notes:'

^1 2020 Season cancelled due to the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic.

Source:^[43][44]

Records and statistics

Domestic records

Penang are the fifth most successful football club in Malaysia for having won a total of 15 Malaysian football titles.

Penang are the team who won first inaugural

The club's highest ever league finish was 1st in the Super League in 1982, 1998 and 2001. Their lowest ever league finish was 6th in the 2012 Malaysia FAM League.

Penang biggest win in Malaysia Cup final was 3–0 against

Asian record

⁰ due to economic trouble in the country.
¹ due to club financial problem.

Player records

Shukor Salleh is the player who played for the club for the longest time which is 20 years. He had only played for Penang in his career. He won the National Sportsman Award in 1977.^[45] Furthermore, he was the second and the last football player after Mokhtar Dahari to be given that award. He was also the first Penang player to be awarded the AFC Century Club award in 1999 and included in the FIFA Century Club for representing the national team at least 100 times in international tournaments.^[46][47][48]

Lutz Pfannenstiel, He holds the record for the only footballer to play professionally in each of the six recognised continental associations by FIFA.^[49][50][51]

In 2017,

Club top scorer (since professional era)

Players who scored 10 or more goals are listed.

Season	Player	Goals
1995	John Hunter	10[55]
1999	Azman Adnan	13[56]
2002	Gustavo Romero	14[57]
2003	Gustavo Romero	11[58]
2004	Vyacheslav Melnikov	16[59]
2005	José Ramirez Barreto	15[60]
2013	Norizam Salaman	12
2014	Lee Gil-hoon	17
2015	Mohd Faiz Subri	10
2019	Julián Bottaro	10
2020	Casagrande	10
2021	Casagrande	12

Club honours

Domestic

Title	Winners	Runners-up
Malaysia Premier League 1 / Malaysia Super League (3)	*1982, 1998, 2001	*1983, 1999, 2000 (3)
Malaysia Premier League 2 / Malaysia Premier League (1)	2020	1992, 2015 (2)
Malaysia FAM League (5)	* 1952, 1955, 1956, 1957, 2013	1961, 1962, 1968 (3)
Malaysia Cup (4)	1953, 1954, 1958, 1974	1934, 1941, 1950, 1952, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1969, 1977 (9)
Malaysia FA Cup (1)	2002	1997, 2000 (2)
Malaysia Charity Shield (1)	2003

Title	Winners	Runners-up
** Malaysia President Cup (1)	2004	2015 (1)

Title	Winners	Runners-up
***Piala Emas Raja-Raja (9)	1951, 1956, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2017	1947, 1955, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1971, 1975, 1983, 1993, 2001, 2008 (13)

Title	Winners	Runners-up
***Piala Agong (3)	1998, 1999, 2000	1983, 2001 (2)

(*inaugural winners) (**

Penang FA Reserves

) (***Persatuan Bolasepak Melayu Pulau Pinang (PBMPP))

Asian

Title	Winners	Runners-up
Aga Khan Gold Cup[note 1] (1)	1976[8]

Personal honours

Player	Honour	Season
Shukor Salleh	National Sportsman of the Year AFC Century Club FIFA Century Club	1977 1999 2021
Merzagua Abderrazak	Malaysia National Football Award Best Import Player [61]	1996
Azman Adnan	Top Goalscorer	1999
Norizam Salaman	Malaysia FAM League Top Goalscorer	2013
Mohd Faiz Subri	FIFA Puskás Award FAM Special Award	2016 2016
Casagrande	Malaysia Premier League Golden Boot	2020

Notable former players

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

• Yeap Cheng Eng
• 
  Aziz Ahmad
• Dave MacLaren
• Namat Abdullah
• Shaharuddin Abdullah
• Mohammed Bakar
• Shukor Salleh
• Ali Bakar
• Isa Bakar
• Desmond David
• Ahmad Yusof
• Lutz Pfannenstiel
• Azman Adnan
• Mohd Hasmawi Hassan
• Chee Wan Hoe
• Merzagua Abderrazak
• Kamarulzaman Hassan
• Ooi Hoe Guan
• Norizam Salaman
• Faiz Subri
• Yong Kuong Yong
• Mafry Balang
• R. Surendran
• M.Yoges
• Azmi Muslim
• Syukur Saidin
• Bobby Gonzales

Finances and ownership

The club is owned by the Penang Chief Minister Incorporated as one of the GLCs, under the chairmanship of Soon Lip Chee, who is also the Penang State Executive Councillor for Youth and Sports. Prior to the privatisation of Malaysian League, the club was owned by the Football Association of Penang (FAP), in which the association also runs the domestic leagues of the states, which is known as FAP League.

FAP was also troubled with debts and players' salary payments were reportedly delayed two to three months over the two years. The delayed salary payments were said to have led some players to take money from bookies to give away games. The poor performance of the Penang team, languishing at the bottom of the Premier League table, also kicked up storm at the Penang State Legislative Assembly in May 2011.

Head coaches

Head coaches since semi-pro era

Years	Name	Achievement
1975-1980	Lim Boon Kheng[62]	1976 Aga Khan Gold Cup champions
1986–1990	M. Kuppan[63]	1974 Malaysia Cup champions
1991–1993	Blagoje Bratić	1992 Division 2 runner-up
1995–1996	Mohd Bakar
1997–1999	Moey Yoke Ham[64]	1997 FA Cup runner-up 1998 Division 1 champions 1999 Division 1 runner-up
2000–2003	Irfan Bakti Abu Salim	2000 FA Cup runner-up 2000 Division 1 runner up 2001 Division 1 champions 2002 FA Cup champions 2003 Charity Shield champions
2003–2004	Yunus Alif
2005	Norizan Bakar
2006–2007	Joseph Herel
2008	Mohd Bakar
2008–2009	S. Veloo
2010	Mohd Bakar Shukor Salleh Reduan Abdullah
2011	Robert Scully Shukor Salleh (caretaker) Ahmad Yusof
January 2012 – November 2012	Jánós Krécská
December 2012 – November 2013	Merzagua Abderrazak	2013 FAM League champions
November 2013 – November 2014	K. Devan
November 2014 – April 2016	Jacksen F. Tiago	2015 Premier League runner-up
April 2016 – May 2016	Manzoor Azwira (caretaker)
May 2016 – November 2016	Nenad Baćina
December 2016 – March 2017	Ashley Westwood
March 2017	Darren Read (caretaker)
March 2017 – October 2018	Zainal Abidin Hassan
October 2018 – March 2019	Ahmad Yusof
March 2019	Kamal Kalid (caretaker)
April 2019 – December 2020	Manzoor Azwira	2020 Malaysia Premier League champions
December 2020 – April 2022	Tomáš Trucha
May 2022	Manzoor Azwira (caretaker)
June 2022 - October 2022	Zainal Abidin Hassan
October 2022 - March 2023	Chong Yee fat
March 2023 - Nov 2023	Manzoor Azwira (caretaker)
Nov 2023 -	Akmal Rizal

Notes

References

External links

• Penang FC official website