PETALING JAYA – Petaling Jaya City FC, once regarded as one of the best-run teams in the Malaysia Super League, has been absent from the local football scene since its disbandment in 2022.
The club’s decision to withdraw was not due to financial reasons, but rather to concerns about the direction of the restructured Malaysian Football League (MFL), which did not align well with the club’s goals.
This restructure involved increasing the foreign import quota from five to nine players, as set by the MFL in 2022.
Formerly known as the Malaysian Indian Football Association when competing in the FAM League (third tier) and Malaysia Premier League, PJ City made its Super League debut in 2019 and competed with 100% local players throughout its four years of participation.
Despite not fielding foreign players like their rivals who use the maximum quota, the Phoenix squad provided a decent challenge in the Super League throughout its time in the competition, finishing eighth in 2019, seventh in 2020 and 2021, and ninth in its final season.
With financial backing from QNET Group, Asia’s leading wellness and lifestyle company, the club once proudly collaborated with English Premier League giants Manchester City, which was a source of pride for local football fans at the time.
PJ City FC, with its 100% local policy, served as a key player hub for the Harimau Malaya team, showcasing top talents such as Darren Lok, Kogileswaran Raj, V. Ruventhiran, and Kalamullah Al-Hafiz Mat Rowi, all of whom regularly donned the iconic black and yellow jersey.
Former club president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal maintains that, despite the club’s disbandment, he never saw it as a failure.
He highlights that establishing the club alongside QNET Group served as an eye-opener for football clubs nationwide, showing how corporations can effectively manage them.
“I beg to differ that QNET Group had a setback with PJ City. I think PJ City was the best thing that happened in Malaysian football in recent times.
“What QNET Group wanted to do was create a kind of message to the masses out there that corporate sponsors should come on board and adopt a football team, and that was their view.
“Second, we tried to send the message that we don’t need foreign players and should instead use our own local players. Surprisingly, we managed to be the only team in the country not to get relegated with local players.
“It’s just that our budget was becoming too costly because we thought that everybody would follow our way of localisation in football, but nobody did as they started getting more foreign players into their team.
“Once our players became too good, other big teams began to buy them. So, the players chose to play for them, and our budgets increased to bring in replacements, which is why we had to disband the team,” he said at the 2024 TNB-QNET Selangor Hockey League launch here yesterday.
At the same time, the former Selangor FC president expressed his appreciation for QNET Group’s efforts in developing sports in the country and further revealed that the company may venture back into football in the years to come.
“QNET took advice from me and started looking into other avenues, such as hockey, as something that they should invest in as there are more locals there.
“PJ City was a good team because we have beaten some of the top teams in the country that were never beaten. But we couldn’t sustain it as the budget was getting higher and higher.
“QNET may venture back into football, but they will definitely do it only after getting advice from the experts. But one thing is for sure, they are committed to the development of team sports across the nation,” Subahan added.
QNET Group has been the main corporate sponsor aside from Tenaga Nasional Bhd for the Selangor Hockey League since 2015, making it one of the top state hockey leagues in the country.
The group was also one of the main sponsors for the FIH Men’s World Cup last year and the prestigious Asian Champions Trophy in 2016.
It was reported that QNET Group also sponsored the Malaysia Hockey Confederation RM1.5 million a year for national hockey development for three years in 2020. – April 21, 2024