Burnley Cup or Piala Razak is a defunct youth football competition for under-19 players in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
.
History
On 25 January 1961, Mr.
Choo Seng Quee
Choo Seng Quee Joseph (; 1 December 1914 – 30 June 1983), popularly known as Uncle Choo, was a Singaporean footballer and football coach. He was coach of the Indonesia, Malaya/Malaysia and Singapore national teams. He is widely recognised a ...
,
Malaya national football team
The Malaya national football team was the national team of the Federation of Malaya. The national team was active until 1962 and then it was replaced by Malaysia national football team, since the 1963 Merdeka Tournament.
Competitive record
...
coach departed to England to study football training techniques. That trip was made under a personal arrangement by
FAM president
Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...
with a
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
bursary. When Mr. Choo Seng Que arrived in England, he was sent by the
English Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and ...
as guests to
Burnley F.C and
Sheffield F.C. After a six-month coaching course in England, on 14 June 1961 when he was about to return to
Malaya
Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia:
Political entities
* British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
, he was awarded two trophies to be given to the
FAM to hold local football tournaments for youths; the Burnley Cup for under-19 and the Sheffield Cup for under-15.
In 1973, the Burnley Cup tournament was replaced by the Razak Cup (''Malay'':Piala Razak), after
Tun Abdul Razak
Tun Haji Abdul Razak bin Dato' Hussein ( ms, عبد الرزاق بن حسين, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 11 March 1922 – 14 January 1976) was a Malaysian lawyer and politician who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of Malaysia f ...
, former
FAM President and
Malaysia Prime Minister. The tournament is now known as the
President's Cup
The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...
.
The missing cup
Efforts have been made to locate the Burnley Cup as FAM admitted that they have not seen the youth trophy since it was last won in 1972. While earlier guesses was the trophy could be with the last tournament winner (at first assumed to be with the state of Sarawak),
a senior journalist refuted that assumption by sharing a complete set of statistics on past results of the Burnley Cup.
The final edition of the Under-19 tournament was said to be held in Sultan Nasiruddin Shah Stadium in Kuala Terengganu, where Terengganu and Penang were both declared joint winners after a tie.
Despite the new leads, FAM was still unable to trace its whereabouts, with insiders suggesting the trophy could be with the
Museums Department. However, based on the museum's records, the Burnley Cup was never gifted to them, and only the
HMS Malaya Cup was given to their custody in 1968.
Datuk Yap Nyim Keong, the Selangor skipper whose team won the cup in 1970, as well as a former FAM assistant secretary, said a trophy would generally be retained by the winning team before it was returned to the organisers for the following editions.
Tournament results
The following results was compiled by senior journalist Devinder Singh.
See also
*
Borneo Cup
Borneo Cup (Malay: Piala Borneo) is a football tournament held in East Malaysia and Brunei. It was founded in 1950s and abolished in 1989. The tournament was played in Borneo since the 1950s, perhaps earlier. Before the establishment of Malaysi ...
References
{{Football in Malaysia
Football in Malaysia
Football cup competitions in Malaysia
History of football in Malaysia