MFL Cup

MFL Cup

Organising body	Malaysian Football League
Founded	March 2023;1 year ago (2023-03)
Country	Malaysia
Confederation	AFC
Number of clubs	15
Current champions	Terengganu II (1st title)
Most championships	Terengganu II (1 title)
Top goalscorer	Ebenezer Assifuah (16)
TV partners	MFL (YouTube) Astro
Website	www.malaysianfootballleague.com
Current: 2024-25 MFL Cup

The MFL Cup (Malay : Piala MFL) is the men's reserve team league for the top Malaysian football teams in the Malaysia Super League. ^[1] It is organized by Malaysian Football League (MFL). It was founded in 2023 and is the only reserve team league in Malaysia under Malaysian football league system.

Terengganu II are the inaugural champions of the MFL Cup, having beaten Johor Darul Ta'zim II 1–0 in the 2023 final.

History

Beginnings

The first MFL Cup took place during the 2023 season, featuring fifteen teams. These teams were divided into two groups: Group A, consisting of eight teams, and Group B, consisting of seven teams. Each team was drawn from the Central Zone, North, South, East, Borneo, and one State team. The inaugural match of the MFL Cup was held on March 2, 2023, where Johor Darul Ta'zim II secured a 1–0 victory over Penang at the Pasir Gudang Corporation Stadium. Although Aysar Hadi was the sole goalscorer in that match, he was not the first player to score in the MFL Cup. The honor of scoring the first goal in the tournament went to Harith Najwan of the FAM-MSN Project in a match against PDRM. Terengganu II ultimately won the first MFL Cup by defeating Johor Darul Ta'zim II 1–0 in the 2023 final.

Competition format

The Malaysian Football League (MFL) introduced another change involving the MFL Cup action when the 2024–25 season will feature a one-group league format instead of the two-group format used in the 2023 MFL Cup season.

The governing body explained that the league's format change was made after receiving a request from the team and as one of the initiatives to strengthen the development of the under-23 group of players (U-23). "This format change is seen to provide more matches to the players and also as requested by the clubs to increase the readiness and exposure of the U-23 players before being absorbed into the Super League team at any time.

The MFL has also allowed a quota of 5 over-age players, including 3 foreign players in each team. "In order to increase the competitiveness and intensity of the MFL Cup competition, the quota of over-age players and foreign players in this competition will also be opened to be used according to the needs and strategies of each club ."A maximum of three foreign players and two over-age players on the pitch at any one time," said the MFL. ^{[2] [3]}

Changes in competition format

From	To	Teams	Match-weeks	Group format	Final
2023		15	21	Yes	Yes
2024–25	Present	13	22	No	No

Results

List of MFL Cup finals

Season	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Attendance	Ref.
2023	Terengganu II	1–0	Johor Darul Ta'zim II	Kuala Lumpur Stadium	3,055	[4]

Performance by team

Team	Winners	Runners-up	Winning seasons	Runner-up seasons
Terengganu II	1	0	2023	—
Johor Darul Ta'zim II	0	1	—	2023

Awards

Top scorers

Season	Player	Team	Goals
2023	Ebenezer Assifuah	Kedah Darul Aman B	16

Man of the match (final)

Season	Player	Team
2023	Ubaidullah Shamsul	Terengganu II

Winning coaches

Season	Winning coach	Team
2023	Hairuddin Omar	Terengganu II

See also

• Malaysia Cup
• Malaysia FA Cup
• MFL Challenge Cup
• Piala Emas Raja-Raja
• Football in Malaysia

References

1. "127 matches will be live on youtube". sukanz.com. 22 March 2023.
2. "format Piala MFL". 31 January 2023.
3. "Format baharu Piala MFL". January 31, 2024.
4. "Terengganu FC II 1–0 Johor Darul Ta'zim II". FAM - CMS. Retrieved 2023-11-12.