Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Jakarta Utara (simply known as Persitara) is an Indonesian football club based in North Jakarta, Jakarta. This club plays in the Liga 3. The club's home base are the Tugu Stadium.[2]
The establishment of Persitara cannot be separated from Persija's role as the parent football club in Jakarta. In the 1970s, Persija, still part of the Regional Commission (Komda) of the West Java PSSI, proposed the formation of a separate Komda in Jakarta. This was due to the difficulty of accommodating the growing number of local clubs under Macan Kemayoran.
The formation of Komda Jakarta coincided with the establishment of "other Persijas," namely Persijatimut (East-North) and Persijaselbar (South-West). Persijatimut eventually split, leading to the official founding of Persitara as the Indonesian Football Association North Jakarta in 1985.
Persitara Jakarta Utara is one of the football clubs in Jakarta, originally known as Laskar Si Pitung, founded in 1979 (some sources say 1975) as Persija Timur Utara (Persijatimur). It officially adopted the name Persitara Jakarta Utara in 1985 to better represent North Jakarta. Laskar Si Pitung participated in the prestigious Liga Super 2008/09, Indonesia's top competition at the time.
During the era of regional football associations, Persitara's peak performance occurred in the 1985/86 season when it successfully reached the Premier Division of the regional league. Like other Jakarta-based teams, Persitara relied on funding from the Jakarta Provincial Budget (APBD). However, unlike its counterpart Persija, Persitara did not receive the same level of public funds.
The situation worsened during Sutiyoso's two-term leadership in Jakarta, where Persitara was marginalized and considered a supplementary team, especially with the emergence of the "Jakarta Satu" concept—allowing only one football team to represent Jakarta, reflected in the APBD allocations of around Rp 22 billion for Persija and only Rp 3 billion for Persitara.
Neglected by the Jakarta Provincial Government, Persitara's performance declined drastically, leading to its presence in the lowest tier, Division Two, in the 2002 season. From there, the team, a PSSI member since 1980, struggled to rebuild its achievements, eventually making its way to the Super League, now in its second season.
The most tragic event was the fate of Persijatim Jakarta Timur, a splinter from Persitara. Feeling neglected in the capital, the team was sold to the South Sumatra Provincial Government, later renamed Sriwijaya FC (SFC).
The dualism in Indonesian football competitions from 2011 to 2013 between the Indonesia Primer League (IPL) managed by PT Liga Prima Indonesia Sportindo under PSSI and PT Liga Indonesia operating the Indonesia Super League (ISL) intensified.
The 2010s were challenging for Persitara, facing relegation and the heated dualism between ISL and IPL from 2011 to 2013. The emergence of Batavia Union in the IPL further divided the club, as Batavia Union was a breakaway from Persitara Jakarta Utara, established in 2010. Additionally, acute financial crises affected Laskar Si Pitung, leading to player salary arrears during the 2014 Division One season, where they even struggled to secure Tugu Stadium for home matches, resulting in relegation to Division Three.
The chaotic situation continued for Persitara, with a lack of competent management leaving them adrift in Liga 3.
