Sabah Football Club ( ms, Kelab Bolasepak Sabah) is a football

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album '' kelsea'' Brands and enterprise ...

with ownership by Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd. The football club competes in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

's football league representing the state of Sabah in

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java Isl ...

. They currently compete in Malaysia's top division professional football league, the

Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League ( ms, Liga Super Malaysia) is the men's top professional football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP), now known as the Malay ...

. The team's home matches are played at the 35,000 capacity

Likas Stadium Likas Stadium (Malay: ''Stadium Likas'') is a multi-purpose stadium in Likas, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. It is mainly used for association football and athletics and it is located within Likas Sports Complex. It has been the home stadium o ...

Kota Kinabalu , image_skyline = , image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wism ...

, the capital city of Sabah. The team won the

Malaysia FA Cup The Malaysia FA Cup ( ms, Piala FA) is an annual national knock-out football (soccer), football tournament in Malaysia. The cup was first held in 1990. The competition was previously managed by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), before bein ...

in 1995, the Malaysian

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

(top tier) in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

, and the

Malaysia Premier League The Malaysia Premier League ( ms, Liga Premier) was the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia. The league replaced the former second-tier league, Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The Malaysia Premier Leagu ...

(second tier) in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. In 1995, the team also advanced to the second round of the

Asian Cup Winners' Cup The Asian Cup Winners' Cup was an association football competition run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The competition was started in 1991 as a tournament for all the domestic cup winners from countries affiliated to the AFC. The winne ...

after beating

An Giang An Giang () is a province of Vietnam. It is located in the Mekong Delta, in the southwestern part of the country. Geography An Giang occupies a position in the upper reaches of the Mekong Delta. The Hậu Giang and Tiền Giang branches of t ...

V-League V-League or V.League may refer to: * V.League (Japan), a professional volleyball league * V-League (South Korea), a professional volleyball league * V-League (Philippines), a collegiate volleyball league * V.League 1 The V.League 1 ( vi, Gi� ...

by 3–1 on

aggregate Aggregate or aggregates may refer to: Computing and mathematics * collection of objects that are bound together by a root entity, otherwise known as an aggregate root. The aggregate root guarantees the consistency of changes being made within the ...

, subsequently losing to Bellmare Hiratsuka (now

Shonan Bellmare is a Japanese professional football club based in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Hirats ...

) of

J-League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

by an aggregate score of 1–7. Before being privatised in 2021, the team was one of the 14 Malaysian state teams of the Malaysian football structure before the Malaysian football league demanded all teams competing in the country's top two leagues to be run as or changed to professional clubs by 2021. Throughout the team's existence after the year 1962 and before the year 2021, the team was simply known as Sabah FA or Sabah FA State Football Team and during those years it was a football team that is not run as a professional football club, but rather a team that was funded and run by a Malaysian state football association that relied mostly on state government grants. How the Sabah FA State Football Team was run was much like all the other Malaysian state football teams competing in the old Malaysian football system before the year 2021 too. Hence to outsiders who are not familiar with the Malaysian football system or league (before the year 2020), the team was simply known as Sabah FA because it was run by the Sabah Football Association (SaFA). To those who follow Malaysian football on the other hand, the team is simply known as Sabah, even before it was privatised.

History

From the 1950s until 1963, Sabah competed as North Borneo football team in the

Borneo Cup Borneo Cup ( Malay: Piala Borneo) is a football tournament held in East Malaysia and Brunei. It was founded in 1950s and abolished in 1989. The tournament was played in Borneo since the 1950s, perhaps earlier. Before the establishment of Malays ...

together with Sarawak football team and

Brunei national football team The Brunei national football team (; recognized as Brunei Darussalam by FIFA), nicknamed ''Tebuan'' (The Wasps), is the national team of Brunei, controlled by the Football Association of Brunei Darussalam. The team was founded in 1959 and jo ...

. Following the

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondary ...

of the

Federation of Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malaysia ...

, the North Borneo Football Association (NBFA) changed its name to Sabah Football Association (Sabah FA). Sabah qualify into the

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup ( ms, Piala Malaysia), 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 nation's ol ...

for the first time in 1977 and enter the competition in 1978.

Amateur and semi-pro era

Sabah was a well known team during the Malaysian football amateur and semi-pro era as state team produced many quality players namely the trio of James Wong,

Hassan Sani Hassan Sani (born 31 August 1958) is a former Malaysian football player. Career Overview He played for Sabah and Kuala Lumpur in the Malaysian League and Malaysia Cup in the late 1970s and in the 1980s. Hassan start representing Malaysia i ...

and

Peter Rajah Peter Rajah (1951 – 14 November 2014) was a Malaysian footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Sabah and the national team. Rajah was a member of the Malaysian team who qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, which Malaysia did not part ...

. These players during their time led Sabah to become one of Malaysian football's most feared teams during the 80's. One fine example was during the 1979 Malaysian League where Sabah started slowly. After a run of 8 matches, they stood with 3 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses but, during the later stages they stepped up a gear or five by winning all their remaining 8 matches with most of them by huge margins, including an incredible 8–0 thrashing of Sarawak, 11–0 hammering of

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

and the 6–1 beating of

Terengganu Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', Jawi: ), formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu, is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l- Īmān'' ("Abode of Faith" ...

. At the end of the season, Sabah finished as runners-up behind

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and became the highest scoring team with 49 goals in 12 games, which is an average of 3 goals per game. In 1991, Sabah striker Matlan Marjan became the first Malaysian to score a double against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in 'A' international matches on 12 June 1991.

Professional era

When professional football was introduced by

Football Association of Malaysia The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM, ms, Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaysia) is the national governing body of football in Malaysia responsible for organising the Malaysia national football team within the country. The Football Association o ...

(FAM), Sabah also made a reputation of being one of the Malaysian League's most competitive teams. Quality professional players were produced from the ranks during the 1990s, most notably Matlan who helped Sabah finish as runners-up during 1993 and 1994

, and who at one time was appointed as the national team captain by the then Malaysian national team coach

Claude Le Roy Claude Le Roy (born 6 February 1948) is a French football manager and former player, who gained prominence at international level as coach to the Senegal and Ghana national teams. He was most recently the manager of the Togo national team. Ma ...

. The positive results gained from the beginning of professional era however was cut short by the

match fixing In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...

scandal that rocked Malaysian football in 1994. The scandal almost destroyed Sabah and Malaysian football in general. Matlan was the one of several players found guilty for being involved in the scandal. As a punishment for their involvement in match fixing, he and the other players were banned for life by FIFA from being involved in football and banished from the state of Sabah by the state government under the Restricted Residence Act. After the scandal, Sabah began its rebuilding process to regain their reputation in Malaysian football. Sabah won their first professional trophy, the

in 1995. In the 1996 season, Sabah won their first league title and went through to the final of the

for the first time but were beatened by

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

on penalties.

David Rocastle David Carlyle Rocastle (2 May 1967 – 31 March 2001) was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder in the roles of a playmaker and a winger. He spent the majority of his career at Arsenal where he was nicknamed "Rocky". Ro ...

, Sabah reached the final of the 1998 Malaysia FA Cup. With The 2000 season could be considered as Sabah's worst since joining the Malaysian professional league. They were relegated to the second division and could not get past the group stages of the Malaysia Cup. However, Sabah quickly regained its performance in the 2001 season where they finished as runners-up behind

Johor FC Johor Darul Ta'zim Football Club or simply JDT is a professional football club based in Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. The club was founded in 1972 as PKENJ FC and currently competes in the top division of Malaysian football, the Malaysia Supe ...

. In the 2002 season, Sabah lining up players of calibre such as

Zainizam Marjan Zainizam Marjan (born 11 May 1980) is a Malaysian footballer who was a midfielder for Sabah FA in the Malaysia Premier League. He is a former member of Malaysia national football team and the younger brother of Sabah and Malaysia top strike ...

Khairul Azman Mohamed Khairul Azman bin Mohamed (born 5 March 1968) is a former Malaysian footballer who was a goalkeeper for Pahang, Sabah and the Malaysia national team. Career Khairul started his football career with Pahang youth team in 1985. At that time he ...

and foreign striker

Josiah Seton Josiah Seton (born March 23, 1979) is a Liberian footballer ( striker). He is a member of the Liberia national football team. Seton previously played for Sabah FA Sabah Football Club ( ms, Kelab Bolasepak Sabah) is a club football, football ...

, finished third in the league and again managed to get through to the final of Malaysia Cup by beating Selangor Public Bank and Perak. Sabah however finished as runners-up yet again by losing to the same team that beat them in 1996 final, Selangor. This time, Sabah lost by 'golden goal' scored by

Mohd Amri Yahyah Mohd. Amri bin Yahyah , nicknamed "Wak Am" is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays for Manchester City. He has also represented the Malaysian national team. Amri plays mainly as a forward but can also play as an attacking midfielder ...

. In 2003, Sabah again finished third in Liga Premier One. Sabah again reached the final of Malaysia Cup. This time they lost to club-side

Selangor MPPJ Majlis Perbandaran Petaling Jaya Football Club, or Petaling Jaya Municipal Council Football Club, commonly known as MPPJ FC, is a now defunct Malaysian football club, which was based in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. The club's home ground was the 25 ...

by 0–3, with

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

from Juan Manuel Arostegui.

Early years in the Malaysian Super League

When the

(MSL) was introduced in 2004, Sabah struggled to be competitive against other teams in the top league. Sabah only managed to stay in Super League for two seasons as they were relegated to

(MPL) for the 2005/06 season. After the relegation to 2nd tier league, Sabah continued to struggle for promotion to get back into the top division. They lost to

Pahang Pahang (; Jawi: , Pahang Hulu Malay: ''Paha'', Pahang Hilir Malay: ''Pahaeng'', Ulu Tembeling Malay: ''Pahaq)'' officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific ''Darul Makmur'' (Jawi: , "The Abode of Tranquility") is a sultanate and ...

in the 2006/07 season play-off for a place in 2007/08

All local players seasons

After 6 years playing in the 2nd tier MPL, Australian coach Gary Phillips was able to guide Sabah to promotion in 2010 – his first season in charge. After poor results which have affected Sabah's performance in the 2011 league and also the cup, Gary Phillips was replaced by Justin Ganai to save Sabah from relegation zone. Justin improved Sabah performance in 2011 Malaysia Cup where the team reached the quarterfinals. He was retained as head coach for the 2012 MSL season but step down as the league game were 2 games left. Sabah also relegated back to MPL after lose to

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically as Queda, is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km2, and it consists of the mainla ...

in play-off match by which Pahang (was MPL side) won the play-off. Salt was added to the wound as the relegation was followed by them failing to qualify to the group stage of the

2012 Malaysia Cup The 2012 Malaysia Cup ( Malay: ''Piala Malaysia 2012'') was the 86th edition of Malaysia Cup. The competition began on 24 August 2012 and ended on 20 October 2012 with the final, held at Shah Alam Stadium. A total of 16 teams took part in the comp ...

Foreign players returns

Sabah started their 2013 season back in MPL as their main defenders, Sipitang duo

Ronny Harun Ronny Harun (born 19 January 1984 in Sipitang, Sabah) is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays for Petaling Jaya Rangers in the Malaysia FAM League. His primary position is as a left back but he can also play as a centre-back. Club c ...

and

Mafry Balang Mafry Balang (born on 26 March 1984 in Sipitang, Sabah) is a Malaysian footballer who plays for Sabah in Malaysia Premier League. He plays mainly as a centre back, although he can operate occasionally as a defensive midfielder. Mafry spent ...

left for Borneo rival Sarawak and Bongawan young striker

Rozaimi Abdul Rahman Muhammad Rozaimi bin Abdul Rahman (born 6 October 1992) is a retired Malaysian professional footballer who plays as a striker. He previously played for the defunct Sarawak, Sabah, Selangor, Kedah and Johor Darul Ta'zim II. Rozaimi is a ...

was loaned out to

Harimau Muda A Harimau Muda A was the club name for the former Malaysia Under-22 National Football Team, representing Malaysia in international football competitions such as the AFC U-22 Asian Cup, Champions Youth Cup as well as other under-22 international ...

. 2013 season was led by Northern Irishman,

David McCreery David McCreery (born 16 September 1957) is a Northern Irish former international footballer who played professionally for Newcastle United and many other clubs during his long career. He mostly played in midfield, but was very versatile, and d ...

and they end up in 5th place but still available for Malaysia Cup play-off by which they lose heavily 0–4 to

Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...

Shah Alam Stadium The Shah Alam Stadium (Malay: ''Stadium Shah Alam'') is a multi-purpose stadium located in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. It is used mostly for football matches but also has facilities for athletics. The stadium is the officially home of Red Gi ...

. McCreery left at the end of the season with disappointment. The year 2014 saw a major changes in the team's sponsorship by which local brand Carino was signed as their kit supplier and Ararat Sports plus BSA as their sponsors. During this season, Sabah ex-player and also a legend in 90's,

Milomir Šešlija Milomir Šešlija, also known as Milo (born 21 July 1964) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player who is the manager. Playing career Šešlija began playing football for Yugoslav First League side Željezničar. After spend ...

become their head coach replacing McCreery in the hot seat. National striker, Rozaimi and winger/midfielder Maxsius Musa also returned after their loan to Harimau Muda A and

Harimau Muda B Harimau Muda B was the club name for the former Malaysia Under-21 National Football Team and was managed by the Football Association of Malaysia. The national team played as a club under the name Harimau Muda B which took part in Malaysia Premi ...

respectively finished. But to no avail, they finished 8th out of 12 in the MPL, missed the Malaysia Cup group stage for third consecutive seasons and also kicked out from FA Cup in the early stage. This was worse than the 2013 season. Milomir's contract was not renewed at the end of the season. Just after 2014 season finished, another major changes was made by which

George O'Callaghan George Paul O'Callaghan (born 5 September 1979) is an Irish former football player and manager. O'Callaghan started his career with Port Vale in 1995, he made 41 appearances for the club before joining Cork City in 2002. He spent five years ...

was signed as their Technical Director and Justin is back as temporary head coach. Sabah FA

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

TC Goh also came as team manager by which he and O'Callaghan makes a big signings. Carino remained as their kit supplier but only for the women team, futsal team, President Cup and U19 team. Adidas, Globaltech, UZMA, Grace One, BSA and Ararat Sports are their current sponsors. Sabah FA successfully signed twice African Player of The Year,

El Hadji Diouf El Hadji Ousseynou Diouf (; born 15 January 1981) is a Senegalese former professional footballer. Throughout his career, Diouf played as a winger or a forward. Having started his professional football career in France with Sochaux, Rennes ...

and his compatriot

Abdoulaye Faye Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye (born 26 February 1978), known as Abdoulaye Faye, is a Senegalese former footballer who played as a defender. Faye began his career playing for ASEC Ndiambour and Jeanne d'Arc in his native Senegal before moving to French ...

followed by Irish-born Libyan footballer,

Éamon Zayed Éamon Zayed ( ar, أیمن زايد; born 4 October 1983) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is currently the head coach of Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC in USL League One. Born in the Republic of Ireland, he r ...

and Singaporean striker

Fazrul Nawaz Fazrul Nawaz bin Shahul Hameed (born 17 October 1985) is a Singapore international footballer who play as a striker for Singapore Premier League club Tampines Rovers . Club career Geylang United Fazrul went to a trial by Geylang United for Pr ...

. Fazrul and O'Callaghan were released early in the season few weeks before

kick off. Fazrul was replaced with

Joel Chianese Joel Joseph Chianese (born 15 February 1990) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or forward. Career Sydney FC Chianese made his senior debut in the first game of the 2011 Asian Champions League as a su ...

during the mid-season transfer window in April and O'Callaghan was replaced with

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisb ...

ex-head coach

Mike Mulvey Mike Mulvey (born in Manchester) is an Australian-English football manager, who is currently the Technical Director of South West Queensland Thunder. He had previously been in charge of clubs in Australia, Thailand and Malaysia. Mulvey is bes ...

in February 2015. Both Chianese and Mulvey are Australian. After 3 games working as technical director, Mulvey was appointed as the new head coach while Justin went back to the President Cup team. During this current season, fans began to return and fill the home stadium. But as the seasons passing by, Sabah lose mostly of their matches during the second half of the season. Diouf's dissatisfaction with Sabah FA management plans, along with his dismissal during few of Sabah's matches thus allowing youngster Leopold Alphonso and Rawilson Batuil respectively to skip the team. Promising start of 2015 season end with huge disappointment for the team as they sit at 7th place, missing Malaysia Cup automatic slot and also the play-off. TC Goh, Mulvey and big name players such as Diouf, Zayed, Faye and Chianese plus local golden boy, Rozaimi Abdul Rahman left at the end of the season due to no contract renewal.

Asian & ASEAN player quota introduced

Following much efforts and various reorganisation made on the team, Sabah FA was crowned as the champion of the

2019 Malaysia Premier League The 2019 Malaysia Premier League is the 16th season of the Malaysia Premier League, the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia since its establishment in 2004. Team changes A total of 12 teams contested the league, including 8 sid ...

for the first time since they last lifted the old first division title back in 1996. Having early secured various imports such as Brazilian Luiz Júnior, South Korean defender Park Tae-soo and Serbian midfielder Luka Milunović in the 1st leg transfer before securing another two important players such as Angolan striker Aguinaldo da Veiga together with Turkmenistan midfielder

Ahmet Ataýew Ahmet Didarovich Atayev or Ahmet Didarowiç Ataýew (Turkmen Cyrillic: Ахмет Дидарович Атаев; rus, links=no, Ахмед Дидарович Атаев, Akhmed Didarovich Atayev; born 19 September 1990) is a Turkmen footballer wh ...

in the 2nd leg transfer that was combined with Serbian striker

Rodoljub Paunović Rodoljub Paunović (Serbian Cyrillic: Родољуб Пауновић; born 20 June 1985) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a forward. Club career Sabah In June 2017, Paunović signed for Malaysia Premier League side Sabah for ...

and various local talents, the team able to won thirteen matches from a total of 19 matches thus qualifying the

2020 Malaysia Super League The 2020 Malaysia Super League ( ms, Liga Super Malaysia 2020), known as the CIMB Bank Liga Super Malaysia 2020 for sponsorship reasons, was the 17th season of the Malaysia Super League, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia. Joh ...

Malaysian Football League Privatisation Era

Starting from the 2021 season, all clubs competing in the 2021 Malaysia Super League and the Malaysia Premier League, must be privatised as required by the Football Association of Malaysia(FAM) . Sabah Football Club Sdn. Bhd. was formed in order to fulfill the condition in order to compete in the 2021 season of Malaysia Super League. Local Businessman Dato' Verdon Bahanda was official appointed as the chief executive officer(CEO) of Sabah Football Club Sdn. Bhd. on the 12th of November 2020.

Crest and colours

Being a Malaysian state football team competing in the Malaysian football league system before 2021, the team wore kits with the crest of the Sabah Football Association (SaFA) on them, whenever they play any competitive match. In November 2020 and following the privatisation of the club, Sabah FC displayed the club's new official logo on its Facebook page which was chosen following a competition to create the Sabah FC's logo. During the time, Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd in its statement informed that the logo was created by an individual named Firzaruddin Zainal Abiddin. Apart from fulfilling the design requirements, the logo was chosen in the competition based on the one voted by the most fans as fans at the time get to vote on which logo they like on the team's Facebook page.

Stadiums

* Penampang Stadium * Tawau Stadium Likas Stadium is the current home ground for Sabah F.C.

Penampang Penampang ( ms, Pekan Penampang) is the capital of the Penampang District in the West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 93,616 in 2010, with ethnic Kadazan as the majority. It contains, or is synony ...

Stadium is occasionally used for afternoon matches, usually when Likas Stadium was renovated or if floodlights require maintenance. Tawau Sports Complex is a regular venue that is only used sometimes for the Malaysia Premier League.

Kit manufacturers and main sponsors

Club culture

Supporters

* Bola Sepak Sabah * Football Fans of Sabah * Kelab Penyokong Sabah Rhino * North Borneo Ultras (NBU) * Sabah Football Fans Club * SabahRhinos.com since 1997 * Tawau City Hoodlum (TCH) * The Rhinos Troops * Sabah Diehard * The Voice of Rhinos#12 * RedBois City (RBC) * Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS)

Mascot

Sabah FA first mascot was the Rhino since mid-1990s. In 2010 SAFA rebranded the struggling team mascot to Hawk which was controversial as Kuala Lumpur FA at that time was also known as the ''Hawks''. Sabah FA reinstated its name as the Rhinos starting from 2015. In 2019, Sabah FA once again rebranded as Tambadau. During 2021 privatization process, Sabah FC was chosen as the new club name and Rhino once again became the official mascot.

Rivalry

Sabah FC neighbouring rival is

Sarawak FA Sarawak FA State Football Team ( ms, Pasukan Bola Sepak Negeri Sarawak) was a defunct football team which represented the Malaysian region (formerly state) of Sarawak from 1974 to 2020 in the Malaysian football league. It was one of the 14 Ma ...

with both claiming the title of 'the best in Borneo' and referred to as the Borneo Derby.

Broadcasting

Radio coverage of regular season matches are broadcast on Sabah FM 89.9 in

Malay language Malay (; ms, Bahasa Melayu, links=no, Jawi: , Rencong: ) is an Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spoken in East Timor and parts of the Philippines ...

Honours

Club records

''Note'': * Pld = Played, W = Won, D = Drawn, L = Lost, F = Goals for, A = Goals against, Pts= Points, Pos = Position Source:

Performances in AFC competitions

: 1 appearance ::

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

: Round of 16

Squad

Sabah F.C.

(C) An uppercase (C) (parenthetical C) may refer to: * Copyright symbol (©) * * , indicating NSA-controlled cryptographic/classified items See also * Circle-c (disambiguation) * Copyright symbol (disambiguation) * C (disambiguation) C is the ...

Transfers and contracts

In

Pre-season Mid-season (HIDE)

Out

Pre-season Mid-season

Current coaching staff

Development squad

U21 squad

Current coaching staff

U19 squad

Current coaching staff

Managers and coaches

Managers

* Goh Thian Chuan (1999, 2015) * Osman Jamal (2000–2001) * Mohd Joehari Mohd Ayub (2004–2005) * Abdul Rahman Zakaria (2006–2009, 2014) * Mohd Asyraaf Fong Abdullah (2009) * Gary Phillips (2010–2011) * Shahriman Abdullah (2011–2012) * Alijus Sipil (2013–2014) * Adlane Messelem (2017) * Juil Nuatim (2018) *

Peter Anthony Datuk Peter Anthony (born 24 February 1971) is a Malaysian politician, singer and businessman who has served as the Member of Sabah State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Melalap since May 2018. He served as State Minister of Infrastructure Deve ...

(2018-2020) * Jelius Ating (2020)

Head Coach

* Stanley Chew (197?–1979, 1985, 1987–1988) *

Gerd Schmidt Gerd or GERD may refer to: * Gerd (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname * Gerd (moon), a moon of Saturn * Gerd Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica * Gastroesophageal reflux disease, a chronic symptom of mucosal damage ...

(1980–1983) * James Wong (1984) * Azah Ezrein (1986) * Frank Upton (1989–1990) *

Roy Lorenson Roy Lorenson is a footballer who played as a centre half in the Football League for Tranmere Rovers. References 1932 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool Association football central defenders English footballers Hal ...

(1990–1992) * Oldřich Sedláček (1992–1995) *

Kelly Tham Kelly may refer to: Art and entertainment * Kelly (Kelly Price album) * Kelly (Andrea Faustini album) * ''Kelly'' (musical), a 1965 musical by Mark Charlap * "Kelly" (song), a 2018 single by Kelly Rowland * ''Kelly'' (film), a 1981 Canadi ...

(1995–1996) * Ron Smith (1996–1997) *

Ken Shellito Kenneth John Shellito (18 April 1940 – 31 October 2018) was an English footballer and manager who played for Chelsea from 1959–1965, and subsequently managed the club from 1977–1978. He worked in a coaching role for the Asian Football Conf ...

(1998) * Justin Ganai (1999, 2005–2006, 2011–2012, 2015) * Ken Worden (1999) * David Woodfield (2000–2001) * Peter Butler (2001–2004) * José Garrido (2004–2005) * José Luis (2005) *

Drago Mamić Drago Mamić (born February 9, 1954) is a Serbian-born Croatian retired football player and manager. Managerial career He last managed Bangladesh Premier League side Saif Sporting Club. He is also the former manager of Maldives. He has a UEFA ' ...

(2007–2008) * Wathiq Naji Jasim (2008–2009) * Mohd Asyraaf Fong Abdullah (2009) * Gary Phillips (2010–2011) * Andrew Majjangkim (2012) *

(2012–2013) * Johnny Dominicus (2013) *

(2013–2014) *

(2015) *

Vjeran Simunić Vjeran Simunić (born 26 April 1953) is Croatian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Treća HNL club NK Vodice. He holds the Croatian record for number of managed teams. Vodice is Simunić's 37th club. Playin ...

(2015–2016) * Steve Vilmiaire (2016–2017) * Jelius Ating (2017–2019) *

Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto (born 13 July 1976) is a former professional football from Indonesia. Normally playing as a striker, Kurniawan has the fourth most caps and goals for the Indonesia national football team with 33 goals in 59 appearances. ...

(2020) * Lucas Kalang Laeng (2020-2021) *

(2021) * Burhan Ajui (caretaker) *

Ong Kim Swee Ong Kim Swee () is a Malaysian football manager and former footballer, who is the Head coach of Malaysia Super League club Sabah. He spent most of his career playing for East Malaysian teams, notably Sarawak and Sabah during the mid 1990s ...

(2021-)

Coach history

The following coaches won at least one trophy when in charge of Sabah:

Former notable players

Notable former players that represented their national team: *

El-Hadji Diouf El Hadji Ousseynou Diouf (; born 15 January 1981) is a Senegalese former professional footballer. Throughout his career, Diouf played as a winger or a forward. Having started his professional football career in France with Sochaux, Rennes a ...

Syed Adney Syed Adney Syed Hussein (born 29 November 1986) is a former Malaysian footballer who is now a football commentator and pundit in Malaysia. He was born in Liverpool, England. He has been capped by the Malaysian national team and also has pla ...

* Mohd Anis Faron *

Bobby Gonzales Bobby Gonzales (born 15 February 1984 in Beaufort) is a Malaysian footballer who plays for Malaysian Super League club Sabah as forward. He currently hold the all-time top scorer of Malaysia Premier League with 90 goals. Personal life Bobby ...

Sumardi Hajalan Sumardi Hajalan (born 12 January 1985 in Tawau, Sabah) is a former Malaysian football (soccer), footballer. Career Club At club level, Sumardi spent most of his career at Sabah where he made his debut against Penang during the second leg of 20 ...

* Mohd Fareed Shah Hassan * G. Jeevananthan *

Wong Sai Kong Wong Sai Kong (born 19 September 1978) is a Malaysian footballer who plays for Sarawak FA in Malaysia Premier League. He is also a former member of Malaysia's national team. Sai Kong previously played for Negeri Sembilan FA from 2000 unt ...

* Dass Gregory Kolopis * Matlan Marjan *

Julamri Muhammad Julamri Bin Muhammad (born 18 October 1985) is a Malaysian footballer who plays for PDRM FA in Malaysia Premier League as a left back and sometimes as a left midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. M ...

* James Wong

Football clubs

Affiliated clubs with Sabah F.C.

Kinabalu Jaguar F.C. Kinabalu Jaguar Football Club or KJFC is a Malaysian football club, based in Likas Square Commercial Centre, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah established by Mr. Verdon Bahanda in 2021. This football club currently played in the Malaysia M3 League. His ...

* Cebagoo * Tawau Army * DYS * KDMM * Likas Utd * Merotai * Indah Utd * PRESTA * Ranhill * Tenom Juta

Affiliated clubs outside Sabah F.C.

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

References

External links

*
Sabah football supporters website

Sabah FA team latest statistics

Sabah FA individual player stats
__FORCETOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Sabah_F.C. Malaysia Premier League clubs Football clubs in Malaysia Association football clubs established in 1963 1963 establishments in Malaysia Football associations in Malaysia Sports organizations established in 1963