Majlis Perbandaran Petaling Jaya Football Club, or Petaling Jaya Municipal Council Football Club, commonly known as MPPJ FC, is a now defunct Malaysian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club, which was based in

Petaling Jaya ) , website = , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''From top, left to right:Skyline of Petaling Jaya, the 1 Utama Mall integrated with Bandar Utama Station, the Kota Darul Ehsan arch, the Petaling J ...

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

. The club's home ground was the 25,000 capacity

MPPJ Stadium The Petaling Jaya Stadium, also known as the MBPJ Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Kelana Jaya in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. The stadium was opened in 1996 and has a capacity of 25,000. It was built in time for the 199 ...

. The club used to play in the top division of Malaysian football, the

Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League ( ms, Liga Super Malaysia) is the men's top professional football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP), now known as the Malays ...

until its final season in 2005–06 Malaysia Super League. The club is known as the first club among other football team in Malaysia to win the prestigious

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup ( ms, Piala Malaysia), formerly known as ''Malaya Cup'', is an annual association football, football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popular ...

in 2003. The club also has managed to become the champions of 2004 Malaysia Premier League and won the 2004

Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Cup Piala Sumbangsih (English: Malaysia Charity Cup), also known as Piala Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah ( en, Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Cup), is the Malaysian super cup competition. It is the curtain raiser match to the new Malaysian football season, pitting ...

. The club was owned by the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council which now known as

Petaling Jaya City Council The Petaling Jaya City Council ( ms, Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya, abbreviated MBPJ) is the city council which administers the city of Petaling Jaya in the state of Selangor, Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The ...

(MBPJ). The club's nickname is The Black Widows and the club regular kit colours was blue and white for shirts, shorts and socks.

History

Beginnings, ascent and success

In the 1990s, MPPJ FC moved up along the ranks of the lower leagues, winning the Selangor state league in 1999. From 2000 to 2002, the club played in the nationwide amateur championship

FAM Cup The FAM Cup (Malay: Piala FAM) was a knock-out tournament for teams in both the Malaysia M3 League and the Malaysia M4 League in Malaysia. The tournament was a cup format, but from 2008 to 2018 was held as a third-tier league tournament and used ...

. MPPJ FC was promoted to the second division of Malaysian football, the

Malaysia Premier League 2 Liga Perdana 2 or Liga Perdana Dua ( en, Premier League 2 or Premier League Two) was the nation's second-tier professional football league in Malaysia that operated from 1998 to 2003. The league was formed and established in 1998 as second-tie ...

for 2002 season. The pinnacle of their success was when the club won the

in 2003, beating

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

3–0 with a hat-trick by the arrow-shooting, 50-goal a season, saint ('el Santo') of MPPJ FC, Juan Manuel Arostegui. In doing so, they became the first club side to win the competition (all previous winners had been sides representing state football associations). In the next year's Malaysia Cup, the club failed to defend their title when they were knocked out at the group stage. But MPPJ FC continued their ascent in the league when they were promoted to the top tier league, the newly founded

in 2005. In their first year, they finished 5th of the 8-team league.

Decline and demise

From the top of Malaysian football, MPPJ FC suffered a startling and abrupt demise following financial problems in 2006, which were rumoured to be the result of irregularities involving the municipality. At the start of the season, the club were nicknamed by media and fans as the '

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

' of Malaysia, with big budgets towards players transfers and salaries, and also attracting big name players (local and foreign) into the team. But as the season went on, the club failed to deliver on and off the pitch, with MPPJ FC only placed 5th of the 8-team league, the same as previous year. With key players deserting the team due to non-payment of salaries and bonuses, Malaysia witnessed a tumultuous end to the only club side in Malaysia which ever won the

, when MPPJ FC pulled out of the league and failed to register for the 2007 season even after the extended deadline was given to confirm participation by 31 August 2006.http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2006&dt=0205&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Sukan&pg=su_01.htm MPPJ tidak berganjakhttp://www.thestar.com.my/Story/?file=%2F2006%2F8%2F8%2Fsports%2F15074573&sec=sports Troubled MPPJ face uphill task to stay in Malaysia Cup hunthttp://www.thestar.com.my/Story/?file=%2F2006%2F7%2F12%2Fsports%2F14805150&sec= MPPJ on the revival trail By the start of 2006–07 Malaysia Super League the club has ceased to exist and has left the top-tier league to compete with odd number of 13 out of 14 clubs. As of 2016, the City Council has only managed a youth sports development including football under the name of MBPJ which compete mainly in youth competition across Selangor and Malaysia.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/my/features/untold-stories-southeast-asian-clubs-selangor-mppj Untold Stories, Southeast Asian Clubs: Selangor MPPJ

Former head coaches

Reduan Abdullah Reduan Abdullah is a retired Malaysian football player, and a current coach for UiTM FC in Malaysia Super League. As a player, Reduan played as a midfielder, and closely associated with Selangor FA team in the Malaysia Cup competition in the ...

(1999–2003, 2005) *

Dollah Salleh Dollah Salleh (born 10 October 1963) is a Malaysian football coach and former player. He is well-known to MSL fans as Pablo Dollah. One of Malaysia's most decorated players, he has also been manager of Malaysia's national team. Playing care ...

(2003–2004) *

Michael Feichtenbeiner Michael Feichtenbeiner (born 9 July 1960) is a German football manager. Early career After playing for amateur teams of TV Gültstein, SV Vaihingen and FV Germania Degerloch, Feichtenbeiner started coaching in VfB Stuttgart as youth coach. A ...

(2005–2006) * B. Sathianathan (2006) ''(interim)'' * Toni Netto (2006) * Khan Hung Meng (2006)

Honours

Domestic competitions

League

Malaysian League The Malaysian League or also known as the M-League (Malay: ''Liga Malaysia'' or ''Liga-M'') is a terminology used to describe the professional association football league in Malaysia. The terminology was mainly used to describe the league and it ...

Malaysian Semi-Pro Football League Division 1 Liga Semi-Pro Divisyen 1 ( en, Semi-Pro League Division 1) was the top-tier semi-pro football league in Malaysia that operated from 1989 until 1993. The league was managed by Football Association of Malaysia. Liga Semi-Pro was official establis ...

Malaysia Premier League The Malaysia Premier League ( ms, Liga Premier) was the second-tier professional Association football, football league in Malaysia. The league replaced the former second-tier league, Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The ...

/ Malaysia Premier League 1 /

: Winners: - *;

Malaysian Semi-Pro Football League Division 2 Liga Semi-Pro Divisyen 2 ( en, Semi-Pro League Division 2) was a second-tier semi-pro football league in Malaysia that operated from 1989 until 1993. The league was managed by Football Association of Malaysia. Liga Semi-Pro was official establi ...

: Winners (1):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Cups

Malaysia FA Cup The Malaysia FA Cup ( ms, Piala FA) is an annual national knock-out football tournament in Malaysia. The cup was first held in 1990. The competition was previously managed by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), before being transferred to Fo ...

: Winners: - *;

: Winners (1): 2003 *;

: Winners (1): 2004 * Sultan of Selangor's Cup : Winners (1): 2004

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MPPJ F.C. Defunct football clubs in Malaysia Malaysia Cup winners