2018 Malaysia Premier League

100Plus Malaysia Premier League
Season2018
Dates1 February – 27 July 2018
ChampionsFelda United
2nd Second Division title
PromotedFelda United
Felcra
RelegatedTerengganu II
Matches played110
Goals scored325 (2.95 per match)
Top goalscorerCasagrande
(19 goals)
Biggest home winSabah 4–0 Terengganu II
(2 February 2018)
Kuantan 4–0 UKM
(23 February 2018)
MIFA 4–0 UiTM
(14 April 2018)
Sarawak 5–2 Terengganu II
(21 July 2018)
Johor Darul Ta'zim II 4–0 UKM
(27 July 2018)
Biggest away winPDRM 2–6 Felda United
(6 February 2018)
Highest scoring8 goals
PDRM 2–6 Felda United
(6 February 2018)
Longest winning run7 matches
Felda United
Longest unbeaten run12 matches
Felcra
Longest winless run8 matches
Johor Darul Ta'zim II
Longest losing run4 matches
UKM
← 2017
2019 →
All statistics correct as of 27 July 2018.

The 2018 Malaysia Premier League, known as 2018 100Plus Malaysia Premier League for sponsorship reasons,[1] was the 15th season of the Malaysia Premier League, the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia since its establishment in 2004.

Team changes

A total of 12 teams contested the league, including 6 sides from the 2017 season, four relegated from the 2017 Malaysia Super League and four promoted from the 2017 Malaysia FAM League.

To Premier League

Promoted from FAM League[2]

Relegated from Super League[3][4]

From Premier League

Promoted to Super League[5]

Relegated to FAM League[6]

Notes:

^1 Originally Sime Darby were promoted along with UKM as finalists of the 2017 Malaysia FAM League final, but after Sime Darby announced their withdrawal from the Premier League participation, Felcra, the next highest team in the FAM League table, were invited as replacement.[7]
^2 FELDA United were relegated to Premier League after failing to receive the FAM License to compete in the Super League; while T-Team were relegated to Premier League after their absorption to Terengganu, rebranding as Terengganu II and change of their status as reserve team to Terengganu. Negeri Sembilan and PKNP, 2 highest teams in the Premier League with FAM License, were promoted to Super League in their place.[8]

Disbandment of Kuantan FA

After failing to settle bad debt with former players for last season campaign,[9] 4 months failing to pay current team wages.[10] and unable to turn up for a league fixture against PDRM,[11] FMLLP decided to disqualify Kuantan from the rest of the campaign.[12] Because of their disqualification, all points that were won by other teams against Kuantan will not count and the league was left with 11 teams out of initial 12 with teams that were due to play Kuantan were given a bye week. It is the first time this has ever occurred in the professional level of Malaysian football where a team is disallowed to compete after breaking the rules and regulations with the season on-going.

Kuantan stated that Marcerra (the team that bought their license) wanted to take over the bad debts amounted to RM 3.5 million and clear all the overdue payment from last season.[13] But it seemed fruitless as after 4 months into the league campaign, the problem was still unsettled as the current squad players decided to leave the team[14] and opted to join teams in the FAM league. Kuantan were awarded RM 500,000 annual grant but minus RM 200,000 for fined after failing to complete their registration papers.[15]

Stadium and locations

class=notpageimage|
Locations of teams in the 2018 Malaysia Premier League teams
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Felcra Shah Alam Shah Alam Stadium 80,372
Felda United Jengka Tun Abdul Razak Stadium 25,000[16]
Johor Darul Ta'zim II Pasir Gudang Pasir Gudang Corporation Stadium 15,000[17]
MIFA Petaling Jaya Petaling Jaya Stadium 25,000[18]
PDRM Shah Alam Shah Alam Stadium 80,372
Penang Batu Kawan Penang State Stadium 40,000[19]
Sabah Kota Kinabalu Likas Stadium 35,000[20]
Sarawak Kuching Sarawak State Stadium 26,000[21]
Terengganu II Kuala Terengganu Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium 15,000
UiTM Shah Alam UiTM Stadium 10,000[22]
UKM Selayang Selayang Stadium 11,098

Personnel and sponsoring

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

Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor(s)
Felcra Brazil Tarcísio Pugliese[23] Malaysia Shahrom Kalam Uhlsport FELCRA, HeMAT
Felda United Malaysia B. Sathianathan[24] Malaysia Shukor Adan FBT FELDA, Hotel Tenera
Johor Darul Ta'zim II Mexico Benjamin Mora[25] Malaysia Shakir Shaari Nike Forest City
MIFA Malaysia K. Devan[26] Liberia Kpah Sherman Puma MIFA, MAHSA University
PDRM Malaysia Zulhamizan Zakaria[27] Malaysia Fauzi Majid Line 7 ODR Lubricants
Penang Malaysia Zainal Abidin[28] Malaysia Azrul Ahmad Puma
Sabah Malaysia Jelius Ating[29] Malaysia Rawilson Batuil Carino Sawit Kinabalu, Sabah Energy Corp, Asian Supply Base
Sarawak Australia Ian Gillan[30] Malaysia Hairol Mokhtar Starsport
Terengganu II Malaysia Mustaffa Kamal[31] Malaysia Hasbullah Awang[32] Kobert Chicken Cottage
UiTM Malaysia Wan Mustaffa Wan Ismail[33] Malaysia Afif Asyraf Puma Soaring Upwards, UiTM Holdings
UKM Malaysia Sulaiman Husin[34] Malaysia Asnan Ahmad SkyHawk Kopi Pak Belalang, Fusionex

Coaching changes

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

Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming coach Date of
appointment
Terengganu II Indonesia Rahmad Darmawan Resigned 23 November 2017 Pre-season Malaysia Mustaffa Kamal 27 November 2017
PDRM Malaysia Fauzi Pilus End of contract 31 October 2017 Malaysia Zulhamizan Zakaria 28 November 2017
Sarawak Malaysia Pengiran Bala End of caretaker role 1 December 2017 Australia Ian Gillan 2 December 2017
MIFA Malaysia Jacob Joseph End of contract 31 October 2017 Malaysia K. Devan 3 December 2017
Felcra Malaysia Rosle Md. Derus Reassigned as assistant coach 22 December 2017 Brazil Tarcísio Pugliese 22 December 2017
Kuantan Malaysia Zulhamizan Zakaria Resigned 28 November 2017 Malaysia Ismail Zakaria 1 December 2017
PDRM Malaysia Zulhamizan Zakaria End of contract 31 July 2018 5th Malaysia Fauzi Pilus 1 August 2018
Johor Darul Ta'zim II Mexico Benjamin Mora Promoted to JDT I 10 August 2018 4th Croatia Ervin Boban 11 August 2018

Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to four each team including at least one player from the AFC country.

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

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC player Former player 3
Felcra Brazil Léo Carioca Brazil Endrick Brazil Casagrande Indonesia David Laly[35]
Felda United Brazil Thiago Junio[36] Brazil Gilberto Fortunato[36] Brazil Thiago Fernandes[37] Philippines Iain Ramsay[37]
Johor Darul Ta'zim II Brazil Bruno Soares[38][39] Argentina Nicolás Fernández France Harry Novillo Singapore Hafiz Sujad[40]
Brazil Murilo Damasceno
Argentina Lucas Ontivero
MIFA Brazil Elizeu Liberia Kpah Sherman[41] France L'Imam Seydi South Korea Bae Beom-geun
PDRM Montenegro Argzim Redžović[42] South Korea Shim Un-seob[43] Romania Petrisor Voinea[44] Japan Shunsuke Nakatake[45]
Penang Nigeria Ugo Ukah[46] The Gambia Sanna Nyassi[47] Nigeria Chidi Edeh South Korea Kang Seung-jo[48] Denmark Ken Ilsø[49][50]
Sabah Zambia Francis Kasonde[51] Serbia Rodoljub Paunović Puerto Rico Pito Ramos[52] Japan Keisuke Ogawa South Korea Heo Jae-nyeong[51]
South Korea Lee Kil-Hoon[51]
Sarawak Serbia Nebojsa Marinkovic Croatia Mateo Roskam Montenegro Miloš Raičković South Korea Kim Chi-gon
Terengganu II Haiti Andrew Jean-Baptiste[53] Haiti Sébastien Thurière[54] Nigeria Akanni-Sunday Wasiu[55] Japan Bruno Suzuki South Korea Lee Jun-hyeob[56]
UiTM The Gambia Mamadou Danso Kyrgyzstan Venyamin Shumeyko Nigeria Okereke Timothy South Korea Noh Sang-min Japan Kota Kawase
Argentina Lucas Pugh[57]
Ivory Coast Dechi Marcel
Ivory Coast Dao Bakary
UKM Nigeria Waheed Oseni Morocco Redouane Zerzouri Nigeria Michael Ijezie South Korea Nam Se-in[58] Uganda Atuheire Kipson[59]
  • Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
  • ^3 Foreign players who left their clubs or were de-registered from playing squad due to medical issues or other matters.

Naturalisation

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

Team Player 1 Player 2
Felda United ScotlandMalaysia Stuart Wark3 AustraliaMalaysia Curran Singh Ferns3
Johor Darul Ta'zim II EnglandMalaysia Samuel Somerville3 New ZealandMalaysia Ernest Wong3
Sarawak AustraliaMalaysia Shazalee Ramlee3

Notes:

^3 Carrying Malaysian heritage.
^4 Participated in the Malaysia national team squad.

Results

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Felda United (C, P) 20 12 7 1 44 24 +20 43 Promotion to 2019 Malaysia Super League
2 Felcra 20 9 7 4 30 24 +6 34 Withdraw from league for next season
3 MIFA (P) 20 9 5 6 36 26 +10 32 Promotion to 2019 Malaysia Super League
4 Johor Darul Ta'zim II 20 8 6 6 28 23 +5 30
5 PDRM 20 8 5 7 28 31 −3 29
6 Sabah 20 7 7 6 35 26 +9 28
7 UKM 20 6 4 10 26 32 −6 22
8 Sarawak 20 6 4 10 27 35 −8 22
9 UiTM 20 6 4 10 23 36 −13 22
10 Penang 20 5 6 9 20 30 −10 21
11 Terengganu II 20 4 5 11 22 34 −12 17
Updated to match(es) played on 30 December 2018. Source: FAM, FMLLP
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Result table

Home \ Away FCR FEL JDTII MIF PDRM PEN SAB SWK TRGII UIT UKM
Felcra — 1–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 3–1 1–0 2–0 3–1 1–0 2–1
Felda United 1–1 — 2–2 0–3 2–2 3–0 1–0 3–2 3–2 2–0 0–0
Johor Darul Ta'zim II 1–2 1–4 — 0–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–2 4–0
MIFA 1–2 2–3 1–1 — 2–3 3–2 1–1 2–2 1–0 4–0 3–1
PDRM 1–3 2–6 0–0 2–0 — 1–0 3–2 1–0 0–0 1–2 2–2
Pulau Pinang 2–1 1–1 2–0 0–2 3–1 — 2–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 2–1
Sabah 3–0 1–1 1–1 3–2 2–0 0–0 — 1–1 4–0 3–1 1–3
Sarawak 2–3 1–3 0–2 1–0 2–1 1–1 3–2 — 5–2 0–2 2–1
Terengganu II 1–1 0–2 2–1 1–2 1–2 1–1 1–2 1–1 — 2–3 1–0
UiTM 1–1 1–4 0–2 0–2 1–3 3–1 0–3 3–2 2–3 — 2–0
UKM 2–0 1–2 1–0 3–3 1–2 3–1 3–2 2–1 1–2 0–0 —
Updated to match(es) played on 27 July 2018. Source: FAM
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Positions by round

LeaderRelegation to 2019 Malaysia FAM LeagueDisqualifiedQualified to 2018 Malaysia Cup
Team ╲ Round1234567891011121314151617181920
Felda United31111111111111111111
Felcra57445442222232222222
MIFA78556657784323445333
Johor Darul Ta'zim II6691112111112111111888666654
PDRM81012810976563344333565
Sabah12222234335555554446
UKM101271011121211101010999777977
Sarawak446743234566668881088
UiTM23333565647777101010799
Penang1158977888789101199981010
Terengganu II1211111291099999111110111111111111
Kuantan99106881010DQDQDQDQDQDQDQDQDQDQDQDQ
Source: [citation needed]

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of matches played on 27 July 2018.[60]

Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name.

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Brazil Casagrande Felcra 19
2 Malaysia Bobby Gonzales Sarawak 14
Puerto Rico Hector Ramos Sabah
Liberia Kpah Sherman MIFA
Brazil Thiago Fernandes Felda United
6 Nigeria Akanni-Sunday Wasiu Terengganu II 12
7 Brazil Gilberto Fortunato Felda United 10
8 Croatia Mateo Roskam Sarawak 9

Top assists

Players sorted first by assists, then by last name.

Rank Player Club Assists
1 Brazil Endrick Felcra 10
Argentina Nicolás Fernández Johor Darul Ta'zim II
3 Philippines Iain Ramsay Felda United 9
4 South Korea Bae Beom-geun MIFA 8
5 Malaysia Maxsius Musa Sabah 7

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Result Date
Brazil Gilberto Fortunato Felda United PDRM 6–2 (A) 6 February 2018
Brazil Casagrande Felcra Sarawak 3–2 (A) 10 February 2018
Montenegro Žarko Korać Kuantan UKM 4–0 (H) 23 February 2018
Brazil Casagrande Felcra Terengganu II 3–1 (H) 21 May 2018

Notes:
(H) – Home; (A) – Away

Own goals

Rank Player For Against Date Goals
1 Malaysia Daudsu Jamaluddin Kuantan UiTM 10 February 2018 1
Malaysia Fazly Mazlan Johor Darul Ta'zim II Terengganu II 16 April 2018 1
Haiti Andrew Jean-Baptiste Terengganu II Sarawak 21 July 2018 1

Clean sheets

Rank Player Club Clean
sheets
1 Malaysia Farizal Harun Felda United 5
Malaysia Muhaimin Mohamad MIFA
Malaysia Sheril Anuar PDRM
4 Malaysia Soffuan Tawil UiTM 4
5 Malaysia Suhaimi Husin Terengganu II 3
Malaysia Rozaimie Rohim Sabah
7 Malaysia Robson Rendy Rining Sabah 2
8 Malaysia Iqbal Suhaimi Sarawak 1
Malaysia Abdul Gafur Samsudin UKM

See also

References

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