Friday, April 10, 2026
Adhyaksa To Offer Eastern Promise
Indonesia changes the further east you go. For me, like many Indonesians, Jakarta was the centre of the country. It was where I'd go to buy decent bread, drink cold beer, visit quality restaurants or buy clothes that could fit me.
Look at a map of Indonesia and you see the heavily populated, large islands of Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan with loads of sea between them and Papua at the eastern end of the archipelago. And in between lie thousands of smaller islands, many unpopulated, many home to their own unique cultures and traditions. But mostly overlooked.
In football terms, PSM (from Sulawesi) and Persipura (Papua) are considered the giants of the east from two large, well-developed islands. For them, every away game includes a trip to the local airport and will usually involve transit somewhere.
But those other islands, the tiny ones scattered on the seas like stepping stones, rarely feature in the nation's football psyche. Malut United do add a hint of spice and exotica from their island home on Ternate but they sit in the shadow of the spider-like Sulawesi.
It is in to this maze of little-known islands Adhyaksa are looking to move. As they bid for promotion from the Championship, this Serang-based club are looking to the future and are in talks with East Nusa Tenggara authorities to move their club to Kupang, the main town on the island of Timor.
Formed in 2020 as Farmel FC in South Tangerang, the club have been serial name changers and home base changers in their short existence. A move to Kupang would see them move island and move time zone and could provide the island of Timor more headlines than it has seen for many a year.
Kupang is closer to Australia than it is to Jakarta!
I must admit I know nothing about Kupang. What are the facilities like? Who knows?
I do know, thanks to Wiki, Liga 4 NTT this season featured four Kupang-based teams and all their games were played in Ende on a different island, Flores.
These clubs with wealthy backers parachute themselves into smaller towns but rarely pick up any local supporters. RANS Nusantara are the classic example. Indonesian football fans tend to be suspicious of these clubs, especially when they have their own local sides which for years have been starved of funding or investment.
It is not yet clear what any Adhyaksa team in Kupang would look like but it would be nice to think that management work with the existing sides in the city, perhaps 'merge' with them and take the Kupang name into potentially the Super League. Imagine a Persekota Adhyaksa welcoming Persija or Persib!
Whatever shape or form any move looks like, undoubtedly, a game in Kupang will offer fans yet another uniquely Indonesian football experience!
# posted by Me @ 5:24 PM 
