2021 Malaysia Premier League

Malaysia Premier League
Season2021
Dates6 March – 24 September 2021
ChampionsNegeri Sembilan
2nd Second Division title
PromotedNegeri Sembilan
Sarawak United
RelegatedPerak II
Matches played109
Goals scored288 (2.64 per match)
Top goalscorerJordan Mintah
Fernando Rodríguez (16 goals)
Biggest home win7 goals
Sarawak United 7–1 FAM-MSN Project
(10 April 2021)
Biggest away win6 goals
FAM-MSN Project 1–6 Terengganu II
(7 May 2021)
Highest scoring8 goals
Sarawak United 7–1 FAM-MSN Project
(10 April 2021)
Longest winning run5 matches
Terengganu II
Longest unbeaten run14 matches
Terengganu II
Longest winless run17 matches
FAM-MSN Project
Longest losing run6 matches
FAM-MSN Project
← 2020
2022 →

The 2021 Malaysia Premier League is the 18th season of the Malaysia Premier League, the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia since its establishment in 2004.

First and second place non-feeder team will be promoted to the 2022 Malaysia Super League. The top 5 non-feeder teams will qualify for the 2021 Malaysia Cup.

Team changes

A total of 11 teams contested the league, including 9 sides from the 2020 season, 1 relegated from the 2020 Malaysia Super League, and 1 team formed by FAM and National Sports Council Malaysia (NSC).

To Premier League

Promoted from Liga M3

  • No teams.1

Relegated from Super League

New Team

From Premier League

Promoted to Super League

Relegated to Liga M3

  • No teams.4

Expulsion

Notes:

^1 No teams from M3 League were promoted due to the 2020 M3 League season cancellation.
^2 Felda United's application for privatization was not approved by Football Association of Malaysia and therefore the team not qualified to participating in the league.[1]
^3 FAM-MSN Project were a development team form by FAM and National Sports Council Malaysia (NSC) as alternative career pathway for the NFDP graduates. They took the spot left by Felda United.
^4 No teams from Premier League were relegated due to the FAM decision to keep the league teams at 10 following Felda and UKM expulsion.
^5 UKM FC registration was not approved by FAM as they failed to provide concrete proof of financial backing for the new season.[1]

Stadium and locations

class=notpageimage|
Locations of teams in the 2021 Malaysia Premier League teams
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
Team Location Stadium Capacity
FAM-MSN Project Shah Alam UiTM Stadium 10,000
Johor Darul Ta'zim II Larkin Tan Sri Dato Haji Hassan Yunos Stadium 30,000
Kelantan Kota Bharu Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium[1] 22,000
Kelantan United Kota Bharu Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium 22,000
Kuching City Kota Kinabalu Likas Stadium 35,000
Negeri Sembilan Seremban Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium 45,000
PDRM Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur Stadium 18,000
Perak II Ipoh Perak Stadium 27,036
Sarawak United Krubong Hang Jebat Stadium 40,000
Selangor II Selayang Selayang Stadium 16,000
Terengganu II Kuala Terengganu Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium 15,000

Personnel and sponsoring

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor(s)
FAM-MSN Project Malaysia Yusri Che Lah Malaysia Amirul Akmal Safarinizam Kelme
Johor Darul Ta'zim II Spain Rafa Gil Malaysia Fadhli Shas Nike UNICEF
Kelantan Italy Marco Ragini Malaysia Che Safwan Hazman 93 Sports Zamburger
Kelantan United Japan Akira Higashiyama Malaysia Badhri Radzi Umbro Yakult
Kuching City Malaysia Irfan Bakti Malaysia Joseph Kalang Tie StarSport Serba Dinamik
Negeri Sembilan Malaysia K. Devan Malaysia Zaquan Adha Kaki Jersi Visit Negeri Sembilan, Matrix
PDRM Malaysia Wan Rohaimi Wan Ismail Malaysia Safiee Ahmad Oren Sport Top Glove
Perak II Malaysia Syamsul Saad Malaysia Izaaq Izhan Yuswardi Kaki Jersi Lenggong Valley (home) & Royal Belum (away)
Sarawak United Malaysia E. Elavarasan Australia Taylor Regan Joma Punggor Wibawa
Selangor II Germany Michael Feichtenbeiner Malaysia Shivan Pillay Joma PKNS
Terengganu II Malaysia Badrul Afzan Montenegro Argzim Redžović Al-Ikhsan redONE

Coaching changes

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming coach Date of
appointment
Kuching City Japan Akira Higashiyama End of Contract 30 November 2020 Pre-season Malaysia Irfan Bakti Abu Salim 1 December 2020
Negeri Sembilan Malaysia Sazali Saidon Malaysia K. Devan
Selangor II Malaysia Rusdi Suparman End of Caretaker Spell Germany Michael Feichtenbeiner
Kelantan United Malaysia Nazrulerwan Makmor Redesignated to Technical Director Japan Akira Higashiyama 5 December 2020
FAM-MSN Project Inaugural head coach Malaysia Yusri Che Lah 10 December 2020
PDRM Malaysia Ishak Kunju End of Contract 30 November 2020 Malaysia Mat Zan Mat Aris 24 December 2020
Terengganu II Malaysia Roshadi Wahab Malaysia Badrul Afzan Razali
Perak II Malaysia Abu Bakar Fadzim Malaysia Syamsul Saad 2 January 2021
Kelantan Malaysia Yusri Che Lah Italy Marco Ragini 15 January 2021
PDRM Malaysia Mat Zan Mat Aris Sacked 31 March 2021 Mid Season Malaysia Wan Rohaimi Wan Ismail 31 March 2021

Foreign players

Players name in bold indicates the player was registered after the start of the season.

The number of foreign players is restricted to four each team including at least one player from the AFC country.

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC Player Former Player
Johor Darul Ta'zim II Argentina Luis Cabrerra Japan Kei Hirose Spain Fernando Rodríguez Australia Shane Lowry Argentina Nicolás Fernández
Kelantan Greece Christos Intzidis Spain Mario Arqués England Jack Hindle Indonesia Natanael Siringo Ringo
Kelantan United Japan Shuhei Fukai Japan Masashi Motoyama The Gambia Gassama Alfusainey Japan Yuki Tanigawa
Kuching City Brazil Aylton Alemão Brazil Hudson Dias Nigeria Ijezie Michael Japan Yuta Suzuki Brazil Bryan Jones
Negeri Sembilan Brazil Arthur Cunha Togo Francis Koné Cameroon Alain Akono South Korea Bae Beom-geun Brazil Diogo Campos
Brazil Fernando Barbosa
Brazil Rafael Gomes de Oliveira
PDRM Argentina Alvaro Cuello Ghana Alexander Amponsah Namibia Lazarus Kaimbi Japan Bruno Suzuki Zimbabwe Victor Kamhuka
Perak II France Ghislain Guessan England Charlie Machell LebanonBulgaria Samir Ayass
Sarawak United Brazil Sandro Nigeria Uche Agba Australia Taylor Regan South Korea Lee Chang-hoon
Selangor II Ghana Jordan Ayimbila Ghana George Attram Ghana Alex Agyarkwa Myanmar Hein Htet Aung
Terengganu II Montenegro Argzim Redžović Ivory Coast Dechi Marcel N'Guessan Ghana Jordan Mintah Japan Masaki Watanabe

Naturalisation players

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3
Johor Darul Ta'zim II EnglandMalaysia Stuart Wilkin ChinaMalaysia Nathaniel Shio Hong Wan
Sarawak United ScotlandMalaysia Stuart Wark New ZealandMalaysia Khair Jones

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Negeri Sembilan (C, P) 20 12 5 3 33 16 +17 41 Promotion to Super League and Qualification for the Malaysia Cup group stage
2 Sarawak United (P) 20 11 5 4 37 14 +23 38
3 Terengganu II[a] 20 9 8 3 37 18 +19 35
4 Johor Darul Ta'zim II[a] 20 9 7 4 38 20 +18 34
5 Kuching City 20 7 6 7 22 22 0 27 Qualification for the Malaysia Cup group stage
6 Kelantan 20 8 3 9 23 28 −5 27
7 Kelantan United 20 8 2 10 25 28 −3 26
8 PDRM 20 7 5 8 22 25 −3 26
9 Selangor II[a] 20 5 9 6 27 26 +1 24
10 Perak II[a] (R) 20 4 5 11 14 37 −23 17
11 FAM-MSN Project[b] 20 1 3 16 12 56 −44 6
Source: MFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c d Johor Darul Ta'zim II, Perak II, Selangor II and Terengganu II cannot be promoted from Malaysia Premier League and play in Malaysia Cup as Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C., Perak FA, Selangor F.C. and Terengganu FC (their parent clubs) remain in Malaysia Super League and play in Malaysia Cup. Should the team be relegated to Malaysia Premier League or will not play in Malaysia Cup, Johor Darul Ta'zim II, Perak II, Selangor II and Terengganu II will have to drop to Malaysia M3 League or will play in Malaysia Cup.
  2. ^ FAM-MSN Project is only as a back-up squad and will not promote to Super League.

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches.
In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.

Team ╲ Round1234567891011121314151617181920
Negeri Sembilan42111113111211122211
Sarawak United31222231222133311122
Selangor II24353455775554566669
Terengganu II13664567663322233433
Johor Darul Ta'zim II79775322346665444344
Kelantan85436644556457876786
Kelantan United96547776434776798997
Kuching City689108999101089991089875
PDRM101110891010108910888555558
Perak II57891088898910101091010101010
FAM-MSN Project1110111111111111111111111111111111111111
Leader
Source: MFL

Results

Home \ Away FMP JDT KEL KLU KUC NSE PDRM PRK SUD SEL TFCII
FAM-MSN Project 0–5 1–2 0–3 2–2 1–3 1–3 0–2 0–4 0–1 1–6
Johor Darul Ta'zim II 5–1 1–1 3–0 3–1 0–0 1–0 3–2 1–1 0–0 3–2
Kelantan 2–1 0–3 3–1 1–0 2–1 1–2 0–1 0–1 2–1 0–2
Kelantan United 0–1 0–0 0–2 1–0 0–2 2–0 2–1 2–3 2–2 1–0
Kuching City 2–0 2–1 3–1 1–3 1–2 0–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 0–2
Negeri Sembilan 2–0 2–1 2–1 2–3 0–0 4–2 5–0 1–1 0–0 2–2
PDRM 0–0 2–2 1–2 1–0 1–2 0–1 1–1 0–3 0–3 2–1
Perak II 0–0 0–2 1–1 0–4 0–2 0–2 0–3 0–3 4–3 0–0
Sarawak United 7–1 1–0 3–1 2–0 2–0 0–1 0–2 4–1 1–1 0–0
Selangor II 4–2 1–1 3–1 1–0 1–1 1–2 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–4
Terengganu II 4–0 4–3 0–0 4–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 2–2
Source: [2]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

As of 24 September 2021[2]
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Ghana Jordan Mintah Terengganu II 16
Spain Fernando Rodríguez Johor Darul Ta'zim II
3 Nigeria Uche Agba Sarawak United 14
4 The Gambia Gassama Alfusainey Kelantan United 11
6 Cameroon Alain Akono Negeri Sembilan 9
Ghana George Attram Selangor II
Malaysia Nurshamil Abd Ghani Kelantan
8 Malaysia Azhad Harraz FAM-MSN Project 8
9 Japan Bruno Suzuki PDRM 7
Malaysia Zaquan Adha Negeri Sembilan
11 Malaysia Alif Hassan Kuching City 5
Togo Francis Koné Negeri Sembilan

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Result Date
Ghana George Attram Selangor II FAM-MSN Project 4–2 (H) 12 March 2021
Nigeria Uche Agba Sarawak United FAM-MSN Project 7–1 (H) 10 April 2021
Ghana Jordan Mintah Terengganu II Kelantan United 4–1 (H) 2 May 2021
FAM-MSN Project 6–1 (A) 7 May 2021

Clean sheets

As of matches played 12 September 2021
Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1

Malaysia Sharbinee Allawee

Sarawak United 8

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Ooi Kin Fai (31 October 2020). "FAM throws Felda and UKM out of the 2021 Premier League season". GOAL. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  2. ^ "Penjaring gol Liga Premier 2021". Liga Malaysia. Retrieved 1 August 2021.