Tuesday, April 07, 2026
A Lament For Malaysian Grassroots Football
GUEST COLUMN - Dez Corkhill
Off-duty cops watch the police team play a government department in Malaysia's 2nd tier
The recent “Heritage Seven” controversy in Malaysia has renewed calls for an investment in Malaysia’s “Grassroots” as one way of solving the eternal problem of Malaysia underachieving at the world’s most popular, and greatest, sport.
The attempts to “short-cut” a way to success with the use of Heritage and Naturalised players in National and professional club sides is under renewed attack by many.
So, let’s look at “Grassroots” in Malaysia, and compare it to "Grassroots” elsewhere.
I’ve been in Malaysia 16 years, and I opine that “Grassroots” football in this splendid country is a fantasy. The whole system is flawed. And I don’t see much hope of it changing until, or unless, State FA’s care more about finding ways to effectively fund or support the sport of football, and less about the politics and benefits of being “in power”.
For virtually my whole time in South East Asia, I have bemoaned the lack of a pyramid of local clubs for people to play for, or support. When I came to work in Malaysia in 2010, I searched for a club team to train with, but literally couldn’t (easily) find one. I had assumed it would be easy enough because how can a sport continue to thrive without a conveyor belt of talent being tested in good clubs. But I found information about leagues and clubs in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur was almost invisible. Even now, unless you search for something specific, information is pretty tough to come by.
Without a strong football “pyramid”, there are precious few places for players who aren’t good enough at 16 to become pro to continue to play at a competitive level. Similarly there is no place to give game time to players dropping down from elite levels. There’s also no community team for a community to get behind and develop local pride.
State Leagues are – or should be – the effective level 5 of Malaysian football.
Level one is the 13 “professional” clubs in the Malaysia Super League (of whom at least five this season, again, are behind in paying players wages).
Level two is the AFL Semi pro league of 16 clubs which includes the likes of Selangor and Johor Darul Ta’zim 2nd XI’s, plus Perak, Kedah and Pahang State teams as well as the ATM (Army) and Immigration II teams. It is hardly “Community” based. Even at this level there are two teams (probably more) in financial turmoil with one – Machan – recently withdrawing from the League. And, to the surprise of no-one, a Korean club, Seoul Phoenix who mystifyingly made it into the League, also hit a financial barrier.
I’m confused exactly what levels three and four are in Malaysia, but Level 5 brings us to the State Leagues.
Let me give you a recent experience.
I stay in Petaling Jaya near the Old Town. I have long looked for a LOCAL non-league club to follow/support on the weekends I have off. MBPJ once upon a time sponsored a team that was good enough to win the Malaysia Cup, but then withdrew funding, and the “club” reverted to Amateur and State league status.
Recently I chanced upon a team training under two weak floodlights at a nearby football pitch, and on closer examination, I recognised the lean figure of Indra Putra Mahayuddin. The top-scoring local player in Malaysian football league history. Now 44, Indra was training for a new Selangor State League (FAS Super League) season with MBPJ, and a former broadcast colleague (and ex International) Nazzab Hidzan was coaching them from the sidelines.
The FAS Super League is one of a number of level 5 State Leagues under the overall umbrella of the "A3 Community League". I pledged to follow MBPJ as the season started.
Time for a comparison. In England, the most local (decent) non-League team near where I was born is called Prescot Cables. They have their own stadium, which they run and manage. And the stadium is in the town of Prescot (population 12,000). This season, Prescot are playing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, which is level SEVEN (step 3 of level 7). They have an average attendance of 600 paying fans for each of their home games in what is (sadly) likely to be a relegation season.
Back in Malaysia, you’d imagine Petaling Jaya (population within the immediate administrative area of Petaling Jaya Council – MBPJ – 807,000) would have several decent standard clubs to look out for within a short distance.
Sadly, wrong. MBPJ play this season at the temporary Radia Arena pitches in Shah Alam (some 20 km from home), as do all the teams in the league.
So, the chances of people – the likes of me - in PJ heading out to see the game are remote, and hence the chance of developing a “community” feel to the club in the Malaysia A3 Community League is pretty much negligible.
Nonetheless, I made my way to the venue on Sunday for the season opener. The venue for all League games are two temporary artificial pitches built by a property developer. Anyway, I spy my team, and walk to the gate to try to get in to watch, only to be informed: “Tiada penonton” - “No spectators allowed”. Repeat. No spectators allowed. “Don’t you know who I am?” I tried. They didn’t.
At best, I was able to watch the game from behind one of the goals behind a big wire fence designed to keep people out. I joined some 150 or so souls in settling down to watch from outside the perimeter of the 2 pitches.
- The chances of knowing WHO the players we were watching were? Nil.
- Scoreboards? Nil.
- Referees with full communication? Of course. Must keep up Cosplay appearances.
- Floodlight. Yes – but around 500 lux when any decent semi-pro set-up would have 1,000 lux power at least.
This is level 5. This is a League containing teams supposedly close to the best 100 in Malaysia. There are no spectator facilities, and not even a thought that there should be.
From my distant vantage point, the football qualty was very respectable. MBPJ (ie Petaling Jaya) were very much second best to MBSA (ie Shah Alam) who ran out 5-0 winners and made Indra look and feel very much like the 44-year old player he is.
The issue of this post isn’t the quality of football on display; it’s the inaccessibility. It’s the lack of information. It’s the lack of “locality”. There’s no chance for PJ to have a “home” game as all the Super League matches are on the same pitch.
Within a kilometre of the MBPJ Offices close to where I live, there are at least five venues seemingly perfect for a Community team to have a base. All would need some work, but they are seemingly ideal bases to play “home” games at and to provide a club feel.
- The local Dataran Petaling Jaya Padang with spectator facilities already in place and space for 2 pitches. MBPJ staff often play “walking football” on the grass after their work is done
- The Astaka field (which is where I saw MBPJ train) which has two well-cared for pitches and yet is only occasionally used for competitive football;
- A hockey stadium with excellent spectator facilities, lights and a pitch upon which I have never seen any hockey activity in 15 years living here;
- Two rough and ready fields in the middle of the Old Town where a couple of academies sometimes use the unkempt pitches,
- A walled-off pitch on PJ Padang, which has goal nets in place, and the only sport I have seen there in 15 years is scratch games of cricket.
These are potential places for a club to have a base IN the community. Here you have a chance to publicise YOUR club to YOUR community. You can publicise games and club events, host visiting teams and generate youth teams, and make a real community contribution with a local club. These clubs do not exist in Malaysia. And it;s not as if there isn't an example close by. The Cobra Rugby club and clubhouse shares the same Astaka field as mBPJ play on.
Instead, to see my local team, I have to travel 20 km for the right to not be able to watch the team from the sidelines.
“Grassroots”? Pah !
To labour the point. When I was a student in Dundee, Scotland, in the 1980’s, my local half decent club in the (now) Midlands League (level 6 in Scotland) was East Craigie. Established in the 1880’s. I went to train and played for a season with the team. East Craigie play in (guess?) the East Craigie district of Dundee in a small stadium with floodlights, spectator facilities and a well cared for pitch. From our club emerged a several players who played top flight Scottish league football.
Similarly, when I moved to South Wales for work in the late 80’s. I lived in a little village called Taffs Well (population 3,500). I went to the club and played a season for them before moving to a different team in Cardiff.
Taffs Well have a team currently playing in the Ardal South East League (level 3 in Wales). The club was founded in 1946 and have had some successes over the years at the semi-professional level. They, too, have a stadium IN the village of Taffs Well with 2 stands, floodlights, a clubhouse, a well-tended pitch, a thriving youth set-up and an online presence that informs us who the players are and when the matches are played.
THESE are examples of Grassroots clubs. Youth set ups and academies can then feed into these clubs. It is not easy to do, but these clubs I have played for, or support, are commonplace in the UK (England, Scotland and Wales).
This community club ideal does not exist in Malaysia. Until it does, and a pyramid of some proper, well-managed community-based clubs emerge, expect the need for short-cuts at the top of the ladder.
# posted by Me @ 3:12 PM 
