Perlis FA State Football Team ( ms, Pasukan Bola Sepak Negeri Perlis), also known as Perlis FA, is a football team based in

Kangar Kangar ( Northern Malay: ''Kangaq''; Jawi: كڠار) is the state capital and the largest town in Perlis, Malaysia. It has a population of 48,898 and an area of 2,619.4 ha. It is located next to the Thailand border, in the northernmost point ...

Perlis Perlis, ( Northern Malay: ''Peghelih''), also known by its honorific title Perlis Indera Kayangan, is the smallest state in Malaysia by area and population. Located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, it borders the Thai provinces o ...

, Malaysia which is run and managed by the Perlis Football Association (PFA). The team was founded in 1963 and is currently suspended by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

from playing in the Malaysian football league. Before their suspension, the team played in the

2019 Malaysia Premier League The 2019 Malaysia Premier League is the 16th 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 8 side ...

. Year 2019 was the first ever year that Perlis did not enter any tournament in Malaysian League since 1963. It was one of the 14 Malaysian state teams of the Malaysian football structure before the Malaysian football league demanded all teams competing in the country's top two leagues to be run as or changed to professional clubs by 2021. It is also important to note that Perlis FA is a football team that is not run as a professional football club, but rather a team that was funded and run by a Malaysian state football association that relied mostly on state government grants. How the team was run was much like all the other Malaysian state football teams competing in the old Malaysian football system before the year 2021 too. To outsiders who are not familiar with the Malaysian football system or league (before the year 2020), the team is simply known as Perlis FA because it was run by the Perlis Football Association. To those who follow Malaysian football on the other hand, the team was simply known as Perlis or Perlis State Football Team. There were plans to get the team privatised after an individual known as Ahmad Amizal Shaifit Ahmad was elected as PFA president in 2018, but the move did not materialised because the association had fallen into financial crisis the following year (in 2019). The financial crisis had resulted to the team being suspended by FIFA for failing to settle salary arrears of players and coaches and their participation in the Malaysian football league was subsequently cancelled. Stories of the financial crisis faced by the team were also widely reported by the Malaysian media at the time.

History

Founded in 1963, the team has a long-standing rivalry with

Kedah FA Kedah Darul Aman Football Club ( ms, Kelab Bola Sepak Kedah Darul Aman) is a football club based in Alor Setar, Kedah, that competes in the Malaysia Super League. They are the only team in the history of Malaysian football to have won two tr ...

, the two northern teams collectively known as the Northern Derby. Their home is the 20,000-seat

Tuanku Syed Putra Stadium Tuanku Syed Putra Stadium or Stadium Utama Kangar is a multi-purpose stadium in Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia. It is currently used mostly for association football matches. The stadium holds 20,000 people and opened in 1995. See also * Sport in Mal ...

and it was built in 1995 after replacing Dato' Sheikh Ahmad Stadium. Perlis had their first major success in the 2004 season, when they won the

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 ...

that year. They went on to win the Malaysian top tier league, the

Malaysian 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 Malaysi ...

, in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. It would be the only time to date that the team would win the Malaysian top division. They also went on to win another Malaysia Cup in 2006. Interestingly the team never won the

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 ...

, although they were beaten finalist three times in 2003, 2006 and 2007. The team had also won the Malaysian Charity Shield (which is also known as the

Piala Sumbangsih 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 ...

) twice in 2007 and 2008. As for continental tournaments, 2006 was their debut playing in the

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 ...

. They did qualify for the 2010 edition of the

but withdrew from the competition.

Shahidan Kassim Era

Perlis FA's most successful era to date was during the time when

Shahidan Kassim Shahidan bin Kassim ( Jawi: شهيدان بن قاسم; born 17 June 1951) is a Malaysian politician who served as Minister of Federal Territories in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob fro ...

was president of the Perlis Football Association (PFA) from 1998 to 2013. Affectionately known as 'Pak Dan' by the people of Perlis, he who is also a Malaysian politician and former Malaysian federal minister from Tambun Tulang, Perlis was instrumental in transforming Perlis into a force to be reckoned with in the Malaysian football arena. His tenure as PFA president however came to an end after the team, being a Malaysian state football team, has been struggling financially towards the end of his tenure of as the association's president. Perlis FA have so far not won any trophy after winning the Malaysia Charity Shield in 2008.

FIFA Suspension

The team is currently serving a two-year FIFA suspension for failing to settle salary arrears of players and coaches in 2019. It was however not clear whether FIFA had suspended PFA as the Malaysian state team or the PFA as the association which governs football in the Malaysian state of Perlis because both entities had used the same name before this. With some Perlis-based clubs such as Perlis United FC and Northern Lions FC are still competing and participating in the Malaysian football league after the suspension, the FIFA suspension could be interpreted as a suspension on PFA as the team and not PFA as the association.

Life After FIFA Suspension

Future Name of the Team

Following the currently ongoing suspension by FIFA and the new rules set by the Malaysia football league management, it is unlikely that the team will be known as Perlis FA after the year 2021. With Malaysian football league demanding all teams competing in the country's top two leagues to be run as or changed to professional clubs by 2021, Perlis FA will have to use another name other than the Perlis FA name if the team were to compete in the Malaysia football league again after their FIFA suspension. This was because from year 2021 onwards, any team which are not run as a club or is being run as an association (in other words, teams which are not privatised) are no longer allowed to compete in Malaysia's top two tier leagues by the Malaysia football league management. Should the team had not fallen into financial crisis in 2019 and managed to get themselves privatised in 2020, the team was most likely to be known as Perlis Northern Lions FC because in 2019, the team had used a crest which bears the name Perlis Northern Lions on their kits and official social media platforms, although they did not operate as a privatised football club at the time, before the FIFA suspension.

Stadium

Tuanku Syed Putra Stadium or Stadium Utama Kangar is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

, Perlis, Malaysia. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 20,000 people and opened in 1995.

Crest and colours

Perlis play their home matches wearing primarily yellow shirts, which sometimes had some touch of blue colour added on their designs. The team also play their home matches wearing either yellow or blue shorts and either yellow, blue or white socks. The colours for the kit worn by the Perlis FA state football team when they play their home matches are inspired by the colours of the Malaysian state of

flag, which is yellow and blue.

Supporters

The Perlis FA state football team have a supporters' group known as the ''Ultras Perlis – Brigate Gialloblu (BGB Perlis)'' which was established in 2011. The supporters' group is known to be one of the most passionate set of supporters in the country. When attending matches played by Perlis FA, the group could be recognised by their black outfits while sporting yellow and blue scarfs (also known as the mafla in football). Claiming to support the team through thick and thin, they can also be seen chanting and singing to support their team from a section of the Perlis FA's home stadium, the Tuanku Syed Putra Stadium, (known to them as the 'curva') during Perlis FA's home matches played at the stadium.

Players

First-team squad

U-19 team

Management team

{, class="wikitable" , - ! style="background:yellow; color:blue; text-align:center;", Position !! style="background:yellow; color:blue; text-align:center;", Name , - , - , First team manager, , , - , Assistant manager, , , - , First team head coach, , , - , Assistant head coach I, , , - , Assistant head coach II, , , - , Goalkeeper coach, , , - , Fitness coach, , , -

Honours

Domestic

{, class="wikitable" , - !style="background:; color:; text-align:center;", Title !style="background:; color:; text-align:center;", Winners !style="background:; color:; text-align:center;", Runners-up , - , VAlign=Top,

(2) , VAlign=Top, 2004, 2006 , VAlign=Top, 2005 , - , VAlign=Top, Division 1/ Premier 1/ Super League (1) , VAlign=Top, 2005 , VAlign=Top, 2009 , - , VAlign=Top, Division 2/ Premier 2/ Liga Premier (1) , VAlign=Top, 1989 , VAlign=Top, , - , VAlign=Top,

FAM League 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 ...

, VAlign=Top, , VAlign=Top, 2015 , - , VAlign=Top,

Piala FA 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 ...

, VAlign=Top, , VAlign=Top, 2003, 2006, 2007 , - , VAlign=Top,

Malaysia Charity Shield 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 ...

(2) , VAlign=Top, 2007, 2008 , VAlign=Top, 2005

Friendly international

* Scissors Cup (India) : Runners-up (1): 1995

Club records

''Update on 29 November 2018.''
*Note : *P = Played, W = Win, D = Draw, L= Loss, F = Goal for, A = Goal against, D = Goal difference, Pts = Points, Pos = Position {, class="wikitable" style="border:2px solid #000080; font-size:90%; text-align:center;" , - ! rowspan="2" style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500; width:60px;", Season ! colspan="10" style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500;", League ! colspan="3" style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500;", Cup ! rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500;", Other ! colspan="2" style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500;", Asia , - ! style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500; width:150px;", Division ! style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500; width:20px;", ! style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500; width:20px;", ! style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500; width:20px;", ! style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500; width:20px;", ! style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500; width:20px;", ! style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500; width:20px;", ! style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500; width:20px;", ! style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500; width:20px;", ! style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500; width:20px;", ! style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500; width:130px;", Charity ! style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500; width:130px;", Malaysia ! style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500; width:130px;", FA ! style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500; width:130px;", Competition ! style="background:#000080; color:#FFD500; width:130px;", Result , - !

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

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

, 28 , 9 , 5 , 14 , 37 , 46 , align=center, -9 , 32 , 10th , – , Group stage , 1st round , 4th Scissors cup , style="background:silver;", Runner-up , – , – , - !

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, 28 , 10 , 6 , 12 , 30 , 29 , align=center, +1 , 36 , 10th , – , Group stage , 2nd round , – , – , – , – , - !

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, 28 , 13 , 6 , 9 , 42 , 36 , align=center, +6 , 45 , 6th , – , Semi-finals , 2nd round , – , – , – , – , - !

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Premier 1 The Beechcraft Premier I is a light business jet aircraft manufactured by the Beechcraft division of Hawker Beechcraft. The aircraft was designed to compete with the Cessna CitationJet series of aircraft.

, 22 , 7 , 4 , 11 , 33 , 39 , align=center, -6 , 25 , style="background:#FFCCCC;", 11th , – , Not qualified , 2nd round , – , – , – , – , - !

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

! Premier 2 , 18 , 9 , 2Draw were followed by penalty shootouts for an additional point. , 7 , 36 , 26 , align=center, +10 , 31 , 4th , – , Group stage , 2nd round , – , – , – , – , - !

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, 22 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 24 , 27 , align=center, -3 , 25 , 9th , – , Group stage , 1st round , – , – , – , – , - !

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, 22 , 9 , 4 , 9 , 31 , 31 , align=center, +0 , 31 , 6th , – , Quarter-finals , 2nd round , – , – , – , – , - !

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, 26 , 11 , 8 , 7 , 31 , 23 , align=center, +9 , 41 , 7th , – , Group stage , 1st round , – , – , – , – , - !

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, 24 , 13 , 6 , 5 , 40 , 23 , align=center, +17 , 45 , style="background:#deb678;", 3rd , – , Semi-finals , style="background:silver;", Runner-up , – , – , – , – , - !

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 ...

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

, 21 , 10 , 6 , 5 , 41 , 30 , align=center, +11 , 36 , style="background:#deb678;", 3rd , – , style="background:gold;", Champions , 3rd round , – , – , – , – , - !

, 21 , 14 , 3 , 4 , 43 , 19 , align=center, +24 , 45 , style="background:gold;", 1st , style="background:silver;", Runner-up , style="background:silver;", Runner-up , 2nd round , – , – , – , – , - ! 2005–06 !

, 21 , 8 , 6 , 7 , 26 , 25 , align=center, +1 , 30 , 4th , – , style="background:gold;", Champions , style="background:silver;", Runner-up , – , – ,

Group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

, - ! 2006–07 !

, 24 , 13 , 4 , 7 , 47 , 25 , align=center, +22 , 43 , 5th , style="background:gold;", Champions , Quarter-finals , style="background:silver;",

Runner-up {{Short pages monitor