|
The history of Malaysian football dates back to the country's colonial days when Bristish troops stationed in what was then called Malaya, brought the game with them.
Regular matches between British expatriates and Malays became a feature of the sporting scene in the early days and other immigrant races soon caught on.
The game soon took root among the locals and by the latter stages of the 19th century, football was the major sport being played by all of the country's numerous racial factions.
The glory days of Malaysian football when names like Mokhtar Dahari, Santokh Singh and Soh Chin Aun would strike fear in teams all over Asia is gone. The same goes back in the 70s and 80s when Malaysia used to beat Korea and Japan.
Football in Malaysia is in doldrums. The pre World Cup qualifying campaign for the 2006 ended with Malaysia losing all their matches and losing to Hong Kong, ranked lower than them.
The Malaysian Super League (MSL) was introduced in 2004 with the hope of raising football standards and the FA of Malaysia are optimistic the MSL will bring Malaysia out of the international football wilderness.
|
