Jakarta Casual

They were unbeaten in the league, winning eleven games and three draws. The club is now looking to win fans by making an instant mark.

"We have set our target of a top two finish and qualify for the Super League. We are in the second year of a threeyear plan. This will be an important year, therefore everyone needs to be focused,"said Tengku Ahmad Shah, deputy president of Sime Darby FC.

"The biggest setback we have is the fan base. Now we only have employees of Sime Darby behind us. But I'm sure if we keep winning then our fan base will grow."

Sime Darby FC plans to buck the trend of clubs ceasing to exist after several seasons.

Question marks always linger when a new club is formed. The main concern is how long they will last.

In the past, clubs such as KL Plus and My-Team ceased to exist after ambitious plans at the very beginning.

"Clubs usually lack strong grassroots. We have the backing from Sime Darby Group and Yayasan Sime Darby. Also we are in the planning stage of building a training academy in Bukit Jelutong.

"We will be run professionally. There will be no issue of players salaries not being paid and the club being in debt," said Ahmad Shah.

COMMENT - I'm not convinced they will be around for the long term. Straight from the start they are making a wrong move by naming themselves after a corporate entity. Who the hell is going to support a team named after a company when the rest of the world is supporting their local team, something they can identify. Not sound like the brother of the Thai assistant coach Steve Darby!