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, is one of the most successful clubs in ISL. The team's nickname is "Bledeg Biru" while its home stadium is Gajayana Stadium. 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 because they chose to play in the breakaway league. Its coach Timo Scheunemann is a German who was born and bred inHonours
Domestic leagues
* Perserikatan First Division ** Champions (1): 1989–90 ** Runners-up (1): 1982–83 * Liga Indonesia Premier Division ** Runners-up (1): 2008–09 * Liga Indonesia U-23 ** Champions (1):Domestic Cups
* Soeratin Cup ** Champions (2): 1965, 1996–97 ** Runners-up (2): 2009, 2012Season 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 SanusieReferences
External links
* Football clubs in East Java 1953 establishments in Indonesia Association football clubs established in 1953 {{Indonesia-footyclub-stub