Persema, an acronym for Persatuan Sepakbola Malang is an Indonesian

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 based in

Malang Malang (; ) is a landlocked List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of Singhasari, Singhasari Kingdom. It is the second most popul ...

East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...

. They currently compete in the Liga 3.

History

The club was officially established in 1953, with primary funding from Malang's municipal budget. It was part of the

Indonesian Super League Liga 1 ( en, League 1), also known as BRI Liga 1 for sponsorship reasons with Bank Rakyat Indonesia, is the men's top professional football division of the Indonesian football league system. Administered by the PT Liga Indonesia Baru (), Liga 1 i ...

until January 2011 when they hosted LPI's inaugural match and stopped relying on public funds. The other local team,

Arema FC Arema Football Club is an Indonesian professional football club based in Malang, East Java. The club competes in the Liga 1, the top flight of Indonesian Football. They are considered one of the best and most successful football clubs in th ...

, is one of the most successful clubs in ISL. The team's nickname is "Bledeg Biru" while its home stadium is

Gajayana Stadium Gajayana Stadium (Stadion Gajayana) is a multi-purpose stadium in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. Gajayana Stadium is the oldest stadium in Indonesia. This stadium began to become the center of the city in 1924 until 1926. Then in the early 1990s ...

. Persema has never won a trophy during its years in the Indonesian Super League, mostly dwelling in the mid to bottom part of the table. The team was relegated into Indonesia's Division One (third-tier) in 2003. However, after two seasons, Persema bounced back to the second-tier league. Persema eventually gained promotion to the ISL in 2008 and stayed there until its 2011 shift to LPI. Persema is now popular as the club that first hired European-born naturalized players

Irfan Bachdim Irfan Haarys Bachdim (born 11 August 1988) is an Indonesian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Liga 1 club Persis Solo. Early life Irfan father, Noval, is an Indonesian national of Arab descent born in ...

and

Kim Jeffrey Kurniawan Kim Jeffrey Kurniawan (born 23 March 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga 1 club PSS Sleman. Born in Germany, he represented Indonesia at international level. Personal life Kim Kurniawan was born in Germany to ...

whose nominations to the

Indonesia national under-23 football team The Indonesia national under-23 football team (Indonesia: Tim Nasional Sepak Bola Indonesia U-23) is considered to be the feeder team for the Indonesia national football team, represents Indonesia at football in the Olympic Games, Asian Games an ...

in 2011 were cancelled by the

Football Association of Indonesia The Football Association of Indonesia ( id, Persatuan Sepakbola Seluruh Indonesia; 'All-Indonesian Football Association'; abbreviated as PSSI) is the governing body of Football soccer, football in Indonesia. It was founded on 19 April 1930, fif ...

because they chose to play in the breakaway league. Its coach

Timo Scheunemann Timo Scheunemann (born 29 November 1973) is an Indonesian-German youth football coach and manager. He is also a former professional football forward. He used to play professionally in Indonesia's Liga Indonesia and Singapore's S-League. He al ...

is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

who was born and bred in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and has become a father figure in Indonesia for Bachdim and Kurniawan. His ability to speak

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

and Javanese makes him popular among local journalists.

Current squad

Notable former players

Kim Kurniawan Kim Jeffrey Kurniawan (born 23 March 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga 1 club PSS Sleman. Born in Germany, he represented Indonesia at international level. Personal life Kim Kurniawan was born in Germany to ...

Bima Sakti Bima Sakti Tukiman (born 23 January 1976) is a retired Indonesian footballer and current head coach of the Indonesia U16 football team. He was named after the galaxy Milky Way, called "'' Bima Sakti''" in Indonesian language. Club career Dur ...

* Caue Benicio

References

External links

* Football clubs in Indonesia Football clubs in East Java 1953 establishments in Indonesia Association football clubs established in 1953 {{Indonesia-footyclub-stub