The MPT Myanmar National League ( my, မြန်မာ နေရှင်နယ် လိဂ်; abbreviated MNL) is the premier national professional
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 ...
league of Myanmar. In 2009, the league replaced the
Myanmar Premier League, which consisted only of 14
Yangon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
-based
football clubs
A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all ...
, with eight professional clubs representing different regions across the nation.
On 16 May 2009, the league launched its inaugural two-month tournament, the
Myanmar National League Cup 2009
MNL Cup Grand Royal 2009 is the inaugural knock-out club football tournament of the Myanmar National League. The tournament, held at the Aung San Stadium and the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon between 16 May and 5 July 2009, was contested by all eight ...
in preparation for the first full season in 2010.
Despite its national ambitions, the league held the MNL Cup 2009 matches in the country's two main stadiums in Yangon due to the lack of adequate facilities elsewhere. On 5 July 2009,
Yadanabon FC
Yadanarbon Football Club ( my, ရတနာပုံ ဘောလုံး အသင်း ) is a Burmese professional football club based at the Bahtoo Stadium in Mandalay. The club was a founding member of the Myanmar National League in 2009. ...
defeated
Yangon United FC in the MNL Cup final to become the first-ever MNL Champions.
The league added three clubs for the
2010 season and one more club joined for the 2011 season, bringing the total to twelve clubs.
Two more clubs representing the Chin and Shan States will participate in the MNL season starting in January 2012.
Promotion and relegation will be added by the 2014 season as the MNL looks to expand once again.
History
Origins
In the past, professional football competition in Myanmar has only existed in a limited form. All premier leagues up to this point have been made up of Yangon-based football clubs, most of which were affiliated with government Ministries. It was only after 1996, when the Premier League ( my, ပထမတန်း) was relaunched as the
Myanmar Premier League that non-government clubs were invited to join the league. Still, the league was based only in Yangon, and never caught the imagination of Burmese football fans, who follow European football with near religious fervor.
The
Myanmar Football Federation
The Myanmar Football Federation (MFF) ( my, မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ ဘောလုံး အဖွဲ့ချုပ်) is the governing body of football in Myanmar. The MFF oversees the Burmese men's national team, the women ...
sought approval from the government to launch a nationwide league in February 2008, and finally received permission to set up private clubs in December 2008. Each club was permitted to sign at most five foreign players and one foreign coach. The government granted each club tax exemptions for an initial three-year period, while each club owner must provide a minimum initial investment of Ks.200 million (approximately US$200,000). It was expected that the annual operating cost for each club would be about Ks.500 million (US$500,000).
[ The investment apparently covers costs such as salaries, transportation and equipment, but does not include the club stadiums, which are all nationalized.]
Myanmar Derby
Myanmar Derby or The Classic Match of Myanmar is the matchup between Yangon United
Yangon United Football Club ( my, ရန်ကုန် ယူနိုက်တက် ဘောလုံးအသင်း ) is a Burmese football club, based at Yangon United Sports Complex, in Yangon, Myanmar. Owned by Tay Za, a prominent Bu ...
and Yadanarbon. It is the matchup that presents Myanmar football in the modern era. The name was given to the encounter of two teams due to the hype and massive atmosphere around the match. The first encounter between them happened in the 2009 MNL Cup season. On 18 June 2009, Yadanarbon and Yangon United met at Thuwunna Stadium
The Thuwunna Youth Training Center Stadium ( my, သုဝဏ္ဏ လူငယ် လေ့ကျင့်ရေး ကွင်း), simply known as the Thuwunna Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Yangon, Myanmar. It is the venue o ...
, Yangon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
. Before the match, Yadanarbon was the leader in the table after 3 matches of the season while Yangon followed in second with one less point. Yadanarbon made the lead by 2–1 in the first forty-five minutes but Yangon bounced back to draw by the 2–2 result at the end. The match was full of the exciting and dramatic moments. Then, it was considered one of the most classic matches in Myanmar League history. The Yangon United versus Yadanarbon matchup was dubbed as " Myanmar Derby" ever since then.
Yangon Utd dominance
The Yangon Utd Dominance refers to the 2011 to 2013 season, which Yangon United
Yangon United Football Club ( my, ရန်ကုန် ယူနိုက်တက် ဘောလုံးအသင်း ) is a Burmese football club, based at Yangon United Sports Complex, in Yangon, Myanmar. Owned by Tay Za, a prominent Bu ...
won Myanmar National League in three consecutive seasons as the first club in the league history.
The first invincible
In 2019 season, Shan United under Mr. Aung Naing head coach Myanmar, had become the first club in the league history that completed the season with an unbeaten record. Shan United finished at the top of the final standing with 12 wins and 10 draws. They have earned a second invincible season, this time with Mr. Han Win Aung. They have won 15 matches and drew three.
Champions
''(For Burmese Champions before 2009, see Myanmar Premier League)''
Wins by club
The Invincibles
Unbeaten champions:
* Shan United in 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
and 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
Clubs
Name Change
Delta United changed their name to Ayeyawady United
Ayeyawady United Football Club ( my, ဧရာဝတီယူနိုက်တက် ဘောလုံးအသင်း) is a Burmese football club, based at Pathein Stadium in Pathein, Myanmar. The club was a founding member of the Myanma ...
to represent the Ayeyawady Division
Ayeyarwady Region ( my, ဧရာဝတီတိုင်းဒေသကြီး , , ; formerly Ayeyarwady Division and Irrawaddy Division), is a region of Myanmar, occupying the delta region of the Ayeyarwady River (Irrawaddy River). It is b ...
.
Okkathar United changed their name to Hantharwaddy United to represent the Bago Division
Bago Region ( my, ပဲခူးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Pegu Division and Bago Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar, located in the southern central part of the country. It is bordered by Magway Region a ...
.
Mahar United changed their name to Sagaing United to represent the Sagaing Division
Sagaing Region ( my, စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and lo ...
.
2022 Locations and Stadiums
(*) – not ready to play. MNL clubs that have not had their home stadia ready to host home matches currently use Aung San Stadium
The Bogyoke Aung San Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium, located in downtown Yangon, Myanmar. It was built as an athletic ground in 1906, which was completed in 1909 and named as Burma Athletic Association Ground, where many sports were held ...
and Thuwunna Stadium
The Thuwunna Youth Training Center Stadium ( my, သုဝဏ္ဏ လူငယ် လေ့ကျင့်ရေး ကွင်း), simply known as the Thuwunna Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Yangon, Myanmar. It is the venue o ...
in Yangon.
Records
All-time top scorers
Figures for active players (in bold).
Most appearances
Figures for active players (in bold) .
Player statistics
*Youngest player: Myat Kaung Khant
Myat Kaung Khant ( my, မြတ်ကောင်းခန့်; born 15 July 2000) is a Burmese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Liga 1 club Persikabo 1973 and the Myanmar national team.
Myat Kaung Khant wa ...
( Yadanarbon) — 17 years, 6 months and 0 days (15 January 2018, Yadanarbon 5–2 Ayeyawady United, 2018 Myanmar National League)
*Oldest player: Phoe Chit ( Sagaing United) — 38 years,(17 August 2019, Dagon
Dagon ( he, דָּגוֹן, ''Dāgōn'') or Dagan ( sux, 2= dda-gan, ; phn, 𐤃𐤂𐤍, Dāgān) was a god worshipped in ancient Syria across the middle of the Euphrates, with primary temples located in Tuttul and Terqa, though many attes ...
5-2 Sagaing United, 2019 Myanmar National League)
* Youngest scorer: Myat Kaung Khant
Myat Kaung Khant ( my, မြတ်ကောင်းခန့်; born 15 July 2000) is a Burmese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Liga 1 club Persikabo 1973 and the Myanmar national team.
Myat Kaung Khant wa ...
( Yadanarbon) — 17 years, 6 months and 0 days (15 January 2018, Yadanarbon 5–2 Ayeyawady United, 2018 Myanmar National League)
* Oldest scorer: Phoe Chit ( Sagaing United) — 38 years,(17 August 2019, Dagon
Dagon ( he, דָּגוֹן, ''Dāgōn'') or Dagan ( sux, 2= dda-gan, ; phn, 𐤃𐤂𐤍, Dāgān) was a god worshipped in ancient Syria across the middle of the Euphrates, with primary temples located in Tuttul and Terqa, though many attes ...
5-2 Sagaing United, 2019 Myanmar National League)
* Fastest scorer: Nyi Nyi Min (Dagon
Dagon ( he, דָּגוֹן, ''Dāgōn'') or Dagan ( sux, 2= dda-gan, ; phn, 𐤃𐤂𐤍, Dāgān) was a god worshipped in ancient Syria across the middle of the Euphrates, with primary temples located in Tuttul and Terqa, though many attes ...
) - 2 minutes (17 August 2019, Dagon 5-2 Sagaing United)
* Most consecutive matches scored: Yadanarbon - 21 Matches
* Most consecutive unconceded matches: 7 matches
** Kyaw Zin Htet (Yangon United
Yangon United Football Club ( my, ရန်ကုန် ယူနိုက်တက် ဘောလုံးအသင်း ) is a Burmese football club, based at Yangon United Sports Complex, in Yangon, Myanmar. Owned by Tay Za, a prominent Bu ...
, 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
)
* All time most clean sheets: 630 minutes — Kyaw Zin Htet
* Most goals in a season: 28 goals — Cezar Augusto (Yangon United
Yangon United Football Club ( my, ရန်ကုန် ယူနိုက်တက် ဘောလုံးအသင်း ) is a Burmese football club, based at Yangon United Sports Complex, in Yangon, Myanmar. Owned by Tay Za, a prominent Bu ...
, 2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
)
* Most assists in a season: 9 goals — Hein Htet Aung, Lwin Moe Aung (2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
)
*Most titles won: 6 times — David Htan
David Htan ( my, ဒေးဗစ်ထန်; born 13 May 1990) is a Burmese professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Myanmar national football team and Shan United F.C.
Style of play
Despite lacking in height, he has a good pos ...
(Yangon United
Yangon United Football Club ( my, ရန်ကုန် ယူနိုက်တက် ဘောလုံးအသင်း ) is a Burmese football club, based at Yangon United Sports Complex, in Yangon, Myanmar. Owned by Tay Za, a prominent Bu ...
- 4 times, Shan United - 2 times)
*Most seasons appeared: 13 seasons — David Htan
David Htan ( my, ဒေးဗစ်ထန်; born 13 May 1990) is a Burmese professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Myanmar national football team and Shan United F.C.
Style of play
Despite lacking in height, he has a good pos ...
(2009-2022)
*All-time record for highest football transfer fee Myanmar players: Ks.15 million— Zaw Min Tun
Zaw Min Tun ( my, ဇော်မင်းထွန်း; born 20 May 1992) is a Burmese professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Malaysia Super League club Penang and the captain of the Myanmar national team. He was the bronz ...
(2014)
Awards
Prize money
* Champion: Ks.10,00,00,000/-
* Runner-up: Ks.7,50,00,000/-
* Third Place: Ks.5,00,00,000/-
Top scorers
Coach of the Year
Player of the Year
Titles won
Managers
Winning managers
Competition format and sponsorship
Competition
There are 12 clubs in the Myanmar League. During the course of a season, which lasts from January to October, each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 22 games. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then head-to-head, then goal difference
Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...
, and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned champion. If points are equal, the head-to-head, the goal difference and then goals scored determine the winner. If still equal, teams are deemed to occupy the same position. If there is a tie for the championship, for relegation, or for qualification to other competitions, a play-off match at a neutral venue decides rank. The two lowest placed teams are relegated into the MNL-2
The MNL-2 is the second-tier football league of Myanmar. The official name is MNL-2 League. The inaugural season began in 2013.
History
The MNL-2 was founded in 2013 as part of MFF's effort to extend competitiveness into the nation's football sy ...
and the top two teams from the MNL-2 are promoted in their place.
Qualification for Asian competitions
In the past the champions will play in AFC Champions League
The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...
playoffs and AFC Cup
The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying s ...
for the champions of General Aung San Shield
General Aung San Shield (formerly ''MFF Cup'') is the top football knockout tournament in Myanmar.
On 26 March 2014, MFF League Committee Meeting decides the knock-out cup (General Aung San Shield) winner would compete in ''Toyota Mekong Champion ...
. Due to reforms from the AFC for the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup format, there will be no more a direct qualification spot for the AFC Champions League
The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...
for that Myanmar Champion, for the time being.
Sponsorship
The Myanmar League has been sponsored since 2009 until 2010 and has been sponsored again since 2015. The sponsor has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. The list below details who the sponsors have been and what they called the competition:
Since 2013, 100PLUS has been the sponsor of Myanmar Football Federation
The Myanmar Football Federation (MFF) ( my, မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ ဘောလုံး အဖွဲ့ချုပ်) is the governing body of football in Myanmar. The MFF oversees the Burmese men's national team, the women ...
and MNL. The sponsorship is extended to 2020 to support major football events in the country, the various football teams within the national setup, football tournaments for youth development and the local professional competitions.
Match balls
* The 2009–2018 season uses the Nike
Nike often refers to:
* Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory
* Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment
Nike may also refer to:
People
* Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...
.
* The 2019–2020 season uses the Molten
Melting, or fusion, is a physical process that results in the phase transition of a substance from a solid to a liquid. This occurs when the internal energy of the solid increases, typically by the application of heat or pressure, which inc ...
.
Youth League
Like the reserve league, the youth league is open to all the youth teams of all professional clubs in Thailand.
Other tournaments
;Domestic tournaments
*General Aung San Shield
General Aung San Shield (formerly ''MFF Cup'') is the top football knockout tournament in Myanmar.
On 26 March 2014, MFF League Committee Meeting decides the knock-out cup (General Aung San Shield) winner would compete in ''Toyota Mekong Champion ...
(2010–present)
*MFF Charity Cup
The MFF Charity Cup is Myanmar football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Myanmar National League season and the holders of the General Aung San Shield at Aung San Stadium. If the Myanmar National League champions als ...
(as MFF Opening Cup 2012–2015) (2016–present)
;International tournaments
*AFC Champions League
The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...
(2014–present)
*AFC Cup
The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying s ...
(2011-present)
*Mekong Club Championship
The Mekong Club Championship was an ASEAN club competition for men's association football clubs. Five teams entered as respective domestic league winners from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The championship was sponsored by Toyota ...
(2016–present)
Ranking Asian
AFC Club Ranking
See also
* Myanmar Premier League
* Myanmar Women League
The Women's League (WL) ( my, မြန်မာ အမျိုးသမီး လိဂ်) is a Myanmar professional league for women's football clubs. At the top of the Myanmar football league system, it is the country's primary football co ...
* MNL-2
The MNL-2 is the second-tier football league of Myanmar. The official name is MNL-2 League. The inaugural season began in 2013.
History
The MNL-2 was founded in 2013 as part of MFF's effort to extend competitiveness into the nation's football sy ...
References
External links
Official website
Soccer Myanmar Website
{{AFC Leagues
1
Top level football leagues in Asia
Sports leagues established in 2009