The Malaysian League, also known as the M-League ( Malay: ''Liga Malaysia'' or ''Liga-M''), is a terminology used to describe the

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. The terminology was mainly used to describe the league and its divisions associated within the

Malaysian football league system The Malaysian football league system, also known as the Malaysian football pyramid, is a series of League system, interconnected leagues for men's association football, football clubs in Malaysia. The system has a hierarchical format with promoti ...

History

Origin

In 1967, the Malaya Cup ( Malay: ''Piala Malaya'') was renamed as the

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup (), formerly known as Malaya Cup, is an annual football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popularity as the country's oldest cup tournament, i ...

( Malay: ''Piala Malaysia''), but the amateur ethos continued until the foundation of a nationwide league introduced by the

Football Association of Malaysia The Football Association of Malaysia (commonly abbreviated as FAM; ) is the national governing body of football in Malaysia, headquartered at Wisma FAM. The FAM is also one of the founding members of both the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) a ...

(FAM) in 1979 (through a revamp of the format for the

Era of Liga Malaysia (1979–1989)

A Malaysian football league competition involving the representative sides of the state football associations was first held in Malaysia in 1979. When it began, it was intended primarily as a qualifying tournament for the knockout stages of the Malaysia Cup where teams competed in a one-round league before advancing to the knockout stages. The top four teams at the end of the league will face off in two semi-finals before the winners advance to the finals. In 1981, the quarter-finals stage were introduced where eight teams qualified from the preliminary stage. However, it was not until 1982 that a league trophy was introduced for Liga Malaysia to recognise the winners of the preliminary stage as the league champions which then officially started the era of a nationwide

football league The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

in Malaysia at an amateur level. Since then, the Malaysia Cup has been held after the conclusion of the league each year, with only the best-performing teams in the league qualifying for the tournament. Over the years, the league competition gained important stature in its own right.

Era of Liga Semi-Pro (1989–1993)

In the early days, the Malaysian football league system consisted of a single division amateur league before changes were made in 1989 when it was fully known as

Liga Semi-Pro Liga Semi-Pro () was a semi-pro football league in Malaysia that operated from 1989 until 1993. The league was managed by the Football Association of Malaysia. During its inaugural season, 17 teams participated in the league, divided in two di ...

from 1989 to 1993. The league was divided into two divisions, Liga Semi-Pro Divisyen 1 and

Liga Semi-Pro Divisyen 2 Liga Semi-Pro Divisyen 2 () was a second-tier semi-pro football league in Malaysia that operated from 1989 until 1993. The league was managed by the Football Association of Malaysia. Champions Below is the list of the semi-pro league second ...

. The inaugural season of the Liga Semi-Pro consisted of nine teams in Divisyen 1 and eight teams in Divisyen 2. The

Royal Malaysian Police The Royal Malaysia Police (often abbreviated RMP) (; Jawi: ), is a (primarily) uniformed national and federal police force in Malaysia. The force is a centralised organisation, and its headquarters are located at Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur. The ...

joined Divisyen 2 in 1990. Games were played on a home and away basis for about four months roughly between the end of April or early May and the end of August or early September.

Early era of Liga Perdana (1994–1997)

Liga Perdana was formed and established in 1994 to succeed the Liga Semi-Pro and became Malaysia's first fully professional football league and was the top-tier football league in the country at that time. At this time the league was interchangeably referred as the Malaysian League or M-League.

Era of Liga Perdana 1 and Liga Perdana 2 (1998–2003)

In 1998, Liga Perdana was divided into two divisions, consisting of

Liga Perdana 1 Liga Perdana 1 or Liga Perdana Satu () was the nation's top-tier professional football league in Malaysia that operated from 1998 to 2003. The league was formed and established in 1998 to succeed the Liga Perdana (1994–97) after FAM decision ...

and Liga Perdana 2. During this time both divisions were just referred to as the Malaysian League as a whole. In the 1998 season, Liga Perdana 1 consisted of 12 teams while Liga Perdana 2 had 8 teams. 10 teams that previously qualified for the Malaysia Cup that also competed in the 1997 Liga Perdana were automatically qualified to for that season's

. The other two spots were filled by a playoff round of the 5 lowest teams in the 1997 Liga Perdana and the Malaysian Olympic football team, ''Olympic 2000''. The lowest four teams from the playoff round were then put into Liga Perdana 2 alongside the

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

, the

Malaysian Armed Forces The Malaysian Armed Forces (: MAF; ; Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ), are the armed forces of Malaysia, consists of three branches; the Malaysian Army, Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The number of MAF active personnel is 113,000 ...

, Negeri Sembilan Chempaka F.C and PKN Johor. At this time, the league still consisted of semi-professional teams where each team was allowed to register 25 players where 12 players must be a professional for Liga Perdana 1 and a minimum of six professional players in Liga Perdana 2. Both leagues continued until 2003 when the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) decided to privatise the league from the 2004 season onwards when the

Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League (), known simply as the Super League (), is the men's top professional Football in Malaysia, football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnersh ...

was formed. Teams in Liga Perdana 1 and Liga Perdana 2 were put through a qualification stage and playoffs to be promoted into the brand new Malaysia Super League. Teams that failed to progress in the qualifications were put into the new second-tier league, the

Malaysia Premier League The Malaysia Premier League () was the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia. It replaced the Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The Malaysia Premier League was contested by 12 clubs. The season usually ra ...

Era of Malaysia Super League and Malaysia Premier League (2004 onwards)

After 2004, the Malaysian League term is mainly used to describe the top-two divisions in the

as a whole rather than just the top-tier division in the country.

Logo history

There have been multiple different iterations of the Malaysian League logo. The first logo was used during the era of Dunhill sponsorship. The new logo which replaced it was when

Telekom Malaysia Telekom Malaysia Berhad or simply TM is a Malaysian telecommunications company that was founded in 1984. Beginning as the national telecommunications company for fixed line, radio, and television broadcasting services, it has evolved to become ...

sponsored the league in 2005. The last logo used was in 2011 when Astro Media first sponsored the Malaysian League. From 2012, no logo was created for the league as the Malaysia Super League and the Malaysia Premier League had its own logos. File:Liga Malaysia Logo 2011.jpg, The Malaysian League Logo which was used for the 2011 Malaysian League season.

History

Origin

Era of Liga Malaysia (1979–1989)

Era of Liga Semi-Pro (1989–1993)

Early era of Liga Perdana (1994–1997)

Era of Liga Perdana 1 and Liga Perdana 2 (1998–2003)

Era of Malaysia Super League and Malaysia Premier League (2004 onwards)

Logo history

Records

League championship

See also

External links

References