Friday, January 20, 2006
The League
Not a full programme this weekend but the big fixture is on Sunday when PSIS play Arema. If you're looking on a map then Semarang are at home to one of the teams from Malang.
Indonesia is a bloody big country, 17000 + islands spread over 3 time zones stretching from the tip of Sumatra, home to Medan, which reaches up to the Andaman Islands in the west to the western half of the island of New Guinea, home to Persapura Jayapura, just north of Queensland. The logistics of getting betwen these 2 cities are a nightmare without direct flights but to give you some idea a flight from Medan to Jakarta is 2 hours. On to Jayapura is about 5 or 6 with a few stops thrown in as it goes round the houses! And Wenger complains about trips to Kiev!
So it makes sense to have regional leagues and this is what Indonesia has. Effectively West and East and given my location in Jakarta it makes sense for me and this blog to concentrate on the West. There are 2 Divisions of 14 clubs vying for the championship. There is a home and away league then the top 4 in each division meet up in the Super 8 which last season was played in Jakarta.
These are the teams who are challenging for the Western Division. First I'll give the name they are known by then there location...as far as I'm aware of it!
PSMS - Medan *
Arema - Malang
Persekabpas - Madiun
Persija - Jakarta
PSIS - Semarang
Semen Padang - Padang *
Persikota - Tangerang
Persijap - Jepara
PSIM - Yogyakarta
Persib - Bandung
Siriwijaya - Palembang *
PSDS - Deli/Medan??? *
Persita - Tangerang
Persitara - Jakarta North
Indonesia is a bloody big country, 17000 + islands spread over 3 time zones stretching from the tip of Sumatra, home to Medan, which reaches up to the Andaman Islands in the west to the western half of the island of New Guinea, home to Persapura Jayapura, just north of Queensland. The logistics of getting betwen these 2 cities are a nightmare without direct flights but to give you some idea a flight from Medan to Jakarta is 2 hours. On to Jayapura is about 5 or 6 with a few stops thrown in as it goes round the houses! And Wenger complains about trips to Kiev!
So it makes sense to have regional leagues and this is what Indonesia has. Effectively West and East and given my location in Jakarta it makes sense for me and this blog to concentrate on the West. There are 2 Divisions of 14 clubs vying for the championship. There is a home and away league then the top 4 in each division meet up in the Super 8 which last season was played in Jakarta.
These are the teams who are challenging for the Western Division. First I'll give the name they are known by then there location...as far as I'm aware of it!
PSMS - Medan *
Arema - Malang
Persekabpas - Madiun
Persija - Jakarta
PSIS - Semarang
Semen Padang - Padang *
Persikota - Tangerang
Persijap - Jepara
PSIM - Yogyakarta
Persib - Bandung
Siriwijaya - Palembang *
PSDS - Deli/Medan??? *
Persita - Tangerang
Persitara - Jakarta North
Teams with an * are from Sumatra
People who know there Indonesian geography will notic that the Division lacks a team from Indonesia's second largest city, Surabaya. Persabaya as they are known were kicked out for a while after they refused to play a game in the Super 8. Given the large hooligan following they attract nobody I think is overly upset about this.
So without a game to go to Jakarta Casual will be putting his drinking head on, not an onerous task by any means and trawling the bars as well as supporting his own team on Saturday night. He's also talking to a local punk band about doing a website for them...watch this space!
# posted by Me @ 7:59 PM 
