Persema, an acronym for Persatuan Sepakbola Malang is an Indonesian

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 ...

club based in

Malang Malang (; , ), historically known as Tumapel, is an inland 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 the Singhasari, Singhasari K ...

East Java East Java (, , ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost third 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 border its northern ...

. They currently compete in the Liga 4.

History

The club was officially established in 1953, with primary funding from Malang's municipal budget. It was part of the Indonesian Super League 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 association football, football club based in Malang Regency, Malang, East Java. The club competes in the Liga 1 (Indonesia), Liga 1, the top flight of Football in Indonesia, Indonesian Footba ...

, 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 G ...

. Persema has yet to secure a trophy throughout its tenure in the Indonesian Super League, consistently occupying mid to lower positions in the standings. The team faced relegation to Indonesia's Division One (third-tier) in 2003. However, within two seasons, Persema successfully returned to the second-tier league. Subsequently, Persema earned promotion to the ISL in 2009 and remained in the league until shifting to the LPI in 2011. Persema is now popular as the club that first hired European-born naturalized players Irfan Bachdim and Kim Jeffrey Kurniawan whose nominations to the Indonesia national under-23 football team in 2011 were cancelled by the

Football Association of Indonesia The Football Association of 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. The PSSI joined FIFA in 1952 and the Asian F ...

because they chose to play in the breakaway league. Its coach Timo Scheunemann is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

who was born and bred in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and has become a father figure in Indonesia for Bachdim and Kurniawan. His ability to speak Indonesian and Javanese makes him popular among local journalists.

Honours

Domestic leagues

* Perserikatan First Division ** Champions (1): 1989–90 ** Runners-up (1): 1982–83 *

Liga Indonesia Premier Division Liga Indonesia Premier Division (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ''Divisi Utama Liga Indonesia'') was the second-tier of the Indonesian football league system, football competition system in Indonesia, organized by PSSI. The competition starte ...

** Runners-up (1): 2008–09 * Liga Indonesia U-23 ** Champions (1):

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Domestic Cups

* Soeratin Cup ** Champions (2): 1965, 1996–97 ** Runners-up (2): 2009, 2012

Season by season records

Notable former players

* Bima Sakti * Siswanto * Muhammad Kamri * I Komang Putra *Sukasto Effendi * Irfan Bachdim * Kim Kurniawan * Caue Benicio * Jairon Feliciano Damásio * Robert Mark Gaspar * Seme Pierre Pattrick * Brima Pepito Sanusie

References

External links

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