Thursday, September 26, 2013
Persema The Nearly Non Existant
I've written about Persema a few times on here. From being the distant second team in Malang to the glamour boys of the new, at the time, Indonesia Premier League, back to second team in Malang and now.
Now, they face anonymity.
Having been kicked out of the IPL for failing to fulfil games, the club seem to have decided their destiny lies in Division Three which is so far down the pryamid of Indonesian football it is almost underground.
They aren't the first team to knock things on the head for a while.
In my first season watching the game here, Persekabpas, Persma and Persibom featured prominently. Now, they seem to have disappeared.
Closer to home, Persikota sat out the last season.
We will see Persema back in the top flight? They need money. Regulations say clubs must be self financing, no longer can they run to the local government. The rule has been a round a while but has been unevenly applied.
But Persema, living in Arema's shadow, will fail to make much of an impression in Malang.
Most cities in Indonesia have two teams but very few have real cross city rivalries with perhaps the Tangerang pairing of Persita and Persikota perhaps the only ones breaking that particular mould.
Certainly cities like Bandung, Medan, Makassar and Palembang struggle to spread support around more than one team and with many supporters choosing teams along ethnic lines it does seem unlikely Tangerang will be replicated any time soon.
Now, they face anonymity.
Having been kicked out of the IPL for failing to fulfil games, the club seem to have decided their destiny lies in Division Three which is so far down the pryamid of Indonesian football it is almost underground.
They aren't the first team to knock things on the head for a while.
In my first season watching the game here, Persekabpas, Persma and Persibom featured prominently. Now, they seem to have disappeared.
Closer to home, Persikota sat out the last season.
We will see Persema back in the top flight? They need money. Regulations say clubs must be self financing, no longer can they run to the local government. The rule has been a round a while but has been unevenly applied.
But Persema, living in Arema's shadow, will fail to make much of an impression in Malang.
Most cities in Indonesia have two teams but very few have real cross city rivalries with perhaps the Tangerang pairing of Persita and Persikota perhaps the only ones breaking that particular mould.
Certainly cities like Bandung, Medan, Makassar and Palembang struggle to spread support around more than one team and with many supporters choosing teams along ethnic lines it does seem unlikely Tangerang will be replicated any time soon.
# posted by Me @ 12:08 AM 
