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Monday, August 24, 2009

 

The Real Johor FC

Riizal Abdullah

JOHOR FC may not have won the Super League title, or the prestigious Malaysia Cup or for that matter the FA Cup but the club hold a proud record in the M-League.


For one, they are the longest-serving club in the M-League — 12 years to be exact — since making their debut in 1997.

Three years later Johor FC won the Premier League title and earned promotion to the Super League. The same year Johor FC became the first club to reach the Malaysia Cup quarterfinals.

Last year they achieved their best result in the Super League with a third-place finish behind champions Kedah and runners-up Selangor. In the Malaysia Cup, Johor FC narrowly lost out to “kingpins” Selangor in the two-leg semifinals.

This year, Johor FC slipped a rung in the Super League to finish fourth behind champions Selangor, runners-up Perlis and third-place Kedah.

This year’s Malaysia Cup is yet to be played and Johor FC’s chances of going far in the country’s premier football tournament are left to be seen. The Johor club have been drawn in Group C with Perak, MyTeam and Kuala Lumpur.

Like previous club teams, MyTeam are facing financial difficulties and intend to quit the M-League — a move which was shot down by the FA of Malaysia. There are others who have come and gone in the M-League but Johor FC — thanks to “good governance and professional management” are still there plying their trade.

Last Wednesday night, Johor FC reached another milestone by becoming the first club team to win the President’s Cup with a thumping 4-0 win over Terengganu in the final at JCorp Stadium in Pasir Gudang.

Johor FC president Ahamad Mohamad said: “Good governance and good management are vital in running a football team. The development programmes we started five years ago are now bearing fruit.

“I’m proud that despite being only a club team and with limited funds we have been able to achieve where others have either failed or struggled to do.”

Ahamad added that Johor FC will embark on producing “quality local coaches”.

“Azuan Zain (President’s Cup coach) brought a wealth of knowledge and this was reflected in the team’s success. “He shared that with the young boys. I was impressed with what I saw in the final,” said Ahamad.

COMMENT - Johor FC are a football club, privately owned I believe as opposed to Johor who are the state run monolith

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