Jakarta Casual
Thursday, August 07, 2025
The Changing Face of Indonesian Football
With the Jakarta Casual blog entering its 20th season I thought now would be a good time to look back on those two decades and see how much, if anything, has changed in the wild, wacky world of Indonesian football
Two things of course are immediately apparent. That first season was simply known as 2006 and the league was known as Liga Indonesia. Oh, and there were two conferences, split on roughly geographic lines so I guess that makes three differences! Talking geography, a large earthquake forced two teams to end their season prematurely. It was something I was soon to get used to!
But take a look at the teams taking part. Most are Persi- this or Perse- that which signified the clubs were essentially a part of local government. Take the two Tangerang sides for example. Persikota are the Tangerang City side while Persita are the district side covering an area beyond the city limits.
Arema, Semen Padang and PKT Bontang were the only privately owned clubs at the time. Sriwijaya were known as Persijatim from East Jakarta before being bought by South Sumatra.
Out of the 28 sides that started out the 2006 season, just eight remain today. And of course, officially at least, clubs are no longer owned/funded by local taxpayers.
Liga Indonesia is now known as ILeague, the latest of several rebrands over the last 20 years, and features 18 clubs. Persija, Persib, PSM, Persita, Persik, PSIM, Arema, Semen Padang, Persijap remain in the top flight (only Persija, Persib, PSM and Arema haven't been relegated).
The 9 teams to have joined them for this season are a disparate bunch of traditional clubs, vanity projects and rebranded, relocated sides.
In 2006 there was Persigi but they struggled on and off the field. Now we have Bali United who bought the license off Putra Samarinda and moved the club to Bali. Since then, they have won the league twice in 2019 and 2021/2022
Bhayangkara have probably had the most torturous journey having started out as Persikubar on the island of Borneo. Since then they have been known as Persebaya (DU), Bonek, Surabaya United - then they 'merged with PS Polri, the police force's side. Surabaya United Bhayangkara become simply Bhayangkara and in 2017 under Scottish coach Simon McMenemy they won the Liga 1 title. However, their police links means they have struggled to find a fan base and have shunted around different cities before now landing in Lampung.
In 2006 there were two teams from East Kalimantan; Persiba Balikpapan and PKT Bontang. Now, there is just the one. Borneo FC Samarinda were formed when fans of Putra Samarinda formed their own club in 2014 and bought the license of Perseba Super Bangkalan from Madura.
Talking of Madura, Madura United came into being in 2016 and are the latest incarnation of Pelita Jaya. Initially founded in Jakarta, Pelita Jaya became Pelita Solo, Pelita Krakatau Steel (Cilegon), Pelita Jaya Purwakarta, Pelita Jabar (Soreang), Pelita Jaya Karawang, Pelita Bandung Raya (Soreang), Persipasi Bandung Raya (Bekasi) before settling down on Madura!
Dewa United Banten also started life on the island of Borneo in 2009 as Martapura. In 2021 they were rebranded Dewa United and for a while played their home games at the Indomilk Arena which they shared with Persita. For this new season, they have relocated to Banten International Stadium in Serang and are among the favourites for the title.
Malut United is an acronym for Maluku Utara and now play their home games in Ternate. Back in 2006 there was a team called Persiter but there are no links between the two. Rather, Malut say they were formed in 2023 after a mining tycoon took over Putra Delta Sidoarjo and moved them to one of the original spice islands.
Fortunately, the remaining teams that will kick off the ILeague 2025/26 are much more familiar. Persebaya, PSIM and Persis are seen as three of the seven 'founders' if you like of professional football in Indonesia. PSBS Biak from Papua make up the 18 but though they are a Papuan-based side, they will start the season playing in Yogyakarta!
A number of those teams from 2006 have pretty well fallen off the radar. Persmin, Persibom (Sulawesi), Persema, Deltras, Persekabpas and Persela (East Java) have all fallen on hard times though Persela are now in the second tier. Closer to Jakarta, Persikota and Persitara have struggled to be heard, especially the latter. Persipura and Sriwijaya once dominated the league but they too now have their own problems.
Papuan side Persiwa shown briefly thanks to an impenetrable home ground. PSMS and PSDS struggle to keep the North Sumatra presence going while PSIS and PSS have just been relegated.
It's the history of Indonesian football that separates it from the rest of South East Asian football and the last 20 years have seen more than enough history to fill a book or six! Clubs wax and wane at the whim of petty, provincial potentates but Persib, Persija and Persebaya remain, locally behemoths, potentially Asian giants. Newer clubs like Dewa United Banten don't seem too bothered if they have any fans or not but by all accounts they are professionally run.
If the last 20 years have taught me anything, it's to be prepared for the unexpected. Anything might and will happen. While all the teams start with a clean sheet of paper, we all know two defeats in their opening games will see club officials threatening to 'evaluasi' the coach and fans calling for a boycott!
Yep, let the fun begin!
