Sabah F.C. (Malaysia)

This article is about the Malaysian professional football club. For the Azerbaijan professional football club, see Sabah FC (Azerbaijan).

Sabah FC
Kelab Bola Sepak Sabah

Full name	Sabah Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Rhinos The Hawks (former) Tambadau (former)
Founded	1950;74 years ago (1950), as North Borneo Football Association 2021;3 years ago (2021), as Sabah Football Club (officially owned by Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd.) [1]
Ground	Likas Stadium
Capacity	35,000 [2]
Owner company	Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd [1] (Company Reg No. :1383683U) [3]
CEO	vacant
Manager	Ong Kim Swee
League	Malaysia Super League
2023	Malaysia Super League, 3rd of 14
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Active departments of Sabah FC
Football	Football (Women's)	Football U-20 (Men's)
Football U-18 (Men's)	Football U-16 (Men's)

Sabah Football Club (Malay : Kelab Bolasepak Sabah) is a Malaysian professional football club owned by Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd. The club represents the state of Sabah in Borneo, Malaysia, and competes in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian professional football. Their home matches are played at the 35,000-capacity Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu, the capital city of Sabah.

Sabah FA (at that time) won the Malaysia FA Cup in 1995, the Malaysian Premier League (top tier) in 1996, and the Malaysia Premier League (second tier) in 2019. In 1995, Sabah FA also advanced to the second round of the Asian Cup Winners' Cup after defeating An Giang of V. League 3–1 on aggregate. They lost to Bellmare Hiratsuka (now Shonan Bellmare) of J1 League 1–7 on aggregate.

Until 2021, Sabah FA, also known as Sabah FA State Football Team, was one of the 14 state teams in the Malaysian football system. It was funded and managed by the Sabah Football Association (SaFA) and relied mostly on state government grants. However, the Malaysian football league mandated that all teams in the top two leagues must be professional clubs by 2021, leading to the privatisation of SAFA.

History

A photo of the North Borneo football team who were winners of the first edition of Borneo Cup tournament in 1962, just one year before the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in which the team's homeland North Borneo became a part of the country in 1963. The North Borneo territory also changed its name to the Malaysian region of Sabah after the formation of the country and the team followed suit by changing its name to the Sabah FA State Football Team.

From the 1950s until 1963, Sabah competed as North Borneo football team in the Borneo Cup together with Sarawak football team and Brunei national football team. ^[4] Following the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, the North Borneo Football Association (NBFA) changed its name to Sabah Football Association (Sabah FA). Sabah qualify into the Malaysia Cup for the first time in 1977 and enter the competition in 1978. ^[5]

Amateur and semi-pro era

A friendly match poster between Sabah Invitation and Manchester United on 10 June 1981 in Likas Stadium, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Manchester United win with 2 goals.

Sabah was a well known team during the Malaysian football amateur and semi-pro era as state team produced many quality players namely the trio of James Wong, Hassan Sani and Peter Rajah. ^{[7] [8]} These players during their time led Sabah to become one of Malaysian football's most feared teams during the 80's. One fine example was during the 1979 Malaysian League where Sabah started slowly. After a run of 8 matches, they stood with 3 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses but, during the later stages they stepped up a gear or five by winning all their remaining 8 matches with most of them by huge margins, including an incredible 8–0 thrashing of Sarawak, 11–0 hammering of Perak and the 6–1 beating of Terengganu. At the end of the season, Sabah finished as runners-up behind Singapore and became the highest scoring team with 49 goals in 12 games, which is an average of 3 goals per game. ^[9] In 1991, Sabah striker Matlan Marjan became the first Malaysian to score a double against England in 'A' international matches on 12 June 1991. ^[10]

Professional era

When professional football was introduced by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), Sabah also made a reputation of being one of the Malaysian League's most competitive teams. Quality professional players were produced from the ranks during the 1990s, most notably Matlan who helped Sabah finish as runners-up during 1993 and 1994 Malaysia FA Cup, and who at one time was appointed as the national team captain by the then Malaysian national team coach Claude Le Roy. The positive results gained from the beginning of professional era however was cut short by the match fixing scandal that rocked Malaysian football in 1994. The scandal almost destroyed Sabah and Malaysian football in general. Matlan was the one of several players found guilty for being involved in the scandal. As a punishment for their involvement in match fixing, he and the other players were banned for life by FIFA from being involved in football and banished from the state of Sabah by the state government under the Restricted Residence Act. ^[11] After the scandal, Sabah began its rebuilding process to regain their reputation in Malaysian football. Sabah won their first professional trophy, the Malaysia FA Cup in 1995. In the 1996 season, Sabah won their first league title and went through to the final of the Malaysia Cup for the first time but were beaten by Selangor on penalties. Sabah reached the final of the 1998 Malaysia FA Cup. ^[12] The 2000 season could be considered as Sabah's worst since joining the Malaysian professional league as they were relegated to the second division, and could not get past the group stages of the Malaysia Cup. However, Sabah quickly regained its performance in the 2001 season where they finished as runners-up behind Johor FC. ^[13] In the 2002 season, Sabah lining up players of calibre such as Zainizam Marjan, Khairul Azman Mohamed and foreign striker Josiah Seton, finished third in the league and again managed to get through to the final of Malaysia Cup by beating Selangor Public Bank and Perak. Sabah however finished as runners-up yet again by losing to the same team that beat them in 1996 final, Selangor. This time, Sabah lost by 'golden goal' scored by Amri Yahyah. ^[14] In 2003, Sabah again finished third in Liga Premier One. Sabah again reached the final of Malaysia Cup. This time they lost to club-side Selangor MPPJ by 0–3, with hat-trick from Juan Manuel Arostegui. ^[15]

Early years in the Malaysian Super League

When the Malaysia Super League (MSL) was introduced in 2004, Sabah struggled to be competitive against other teams in the top league. Sabah only managed to stay in Super League for two seasons as they were relegated to Malaysia Premier League (MPL) for the 2005/06 season. After the relegation to 2nd tier league, Sabah continued to struggle for promotion to get back into the top division. They lost to Pahang in the 2006/07 season play-off for a place in 2007/08 Malaysia Super League. ^[16]

All local players seasons

After 6 years playing in the 2nd tier MPL, Australian coach Gary Phillips was able to guide Sabah to promotion in 2010 – his first season in charge. ^[17] After poor results which have affected Sabah's performance in the 2011 league and also the cup, Gary Phillips was replaced by Justin Ganai to save Sabah from relegation zone. ^[18] Justin improved Sabah performance in 2011 Malaysia Cup where the team reached the quarterfinals. He was retained as head coach for the 2012 MSL season but step down as the league game were 2 games left. Sabah also relegated back to MPL after lose to Kedah in play-off match by which Pahang (was MPL side) won the play-off. Salt was added to the wound as the relegation was followed by them failing to qualify to the group stage of the 2012 Malaysia Cup.

Foreign players returns

Sabah started their 2013 season back in MPL as their main defenders, Sipitang duo Ronny Harun and Mafry Balang left for Borneo rival Sarawak and Bongawan young striker Rozaimi Abdul Rahman was loaned out to Harimau Muda A. 2013 season was led by Northern Irishman, David McCreery and they end up in 5th place but still available for Malaysia Cup play-off by which they lose heavily 0–4 to Negeri Sembilan at Shah Alam Stadium. McCreery left at the end of the season with disappointment. The year 2014 saw a major changes in the team's sponsorship by which local brand Carino was signed as their kit supplier and Ararat Sports plus BSA as their sponsors. During this season, former Sabah player Milomir Šešlija become their head coach, replacing McCreery in the hot seat. ^[19] National striker, Rozaimi and winger/midfielder Maxsius Musa also returned after their loan to Harimau Muda A and Harimau Muda B respectively finished. But to no avail, they finished 8th out of 12 in the MPL, missed the Malaysia Cup group stage for third consecutive seasons and also kicked out from FA Cup in the early stage. This was worse than the 2013 season. Milomir's contract was not renewed at the end of the season.

Former Liverpool and Senegal player, El Hadji Diouf played for Sabah from 2014 to 2015.

Just after 2014 season finished, another major changes was made by which George O'Callaghan was signed as their Technical Director and Justin is back as temporary head coach. Sabah FA chief executive officer TC Goh also came as team manager by which he and O'Callaghan makes a big signings. Carino remained as their kit supplier but only for the women team, futsal team, President Cup and U19 team. Adidas, Globaltech, UZMA, Grace One, BSA and Ararat Sports are their current sponsors. Sabah FA successfully signed twice African Player of The Year, El Hadji Diouf and his compatriot Abdoulaye Faye followed by Irish-born Libyan footballer, Éamon Zayed and Singaporean striker Fazrul Nawaz. ^{[20] [21] [22] [23]} Fazrul and O'Callaghan were released early in the season few weeks before Malaysia Premier League kick off. ^{[24] [25]} Fazrul was replaced with Joel Chianese during the mid-season transfer window in April and O'Callaghan was replaced with Brisbane Roar ex-head coach Mike Mulvey in February 2015. ^{[26] [27]} Both Chianese and Mulvey are Australian. After 3 games working as technical director, Mulvey was appointed as the new head coach while Justin went back to the President Cup team. During this current season, fans began to return and fill the home stadium. But as the seasons passing by, Sabah lose mostly of their matches during the second half of the season. Diouf's dissatisfaction with Sabah FA management plans, ^[28] along with his dismissal during few of Sabah's matches thus allowing youngster Leopold Alphonso and Rawilson Batuil respectively to skip the team. ^[29] Promising start of 2015 season end with huge disappointment for the team as they sit at 7th place, missing Malaysia Cup automatic slot and also the play-off. TC Goh, Mulvey and big name players such as Diouf, Zayed, Faye and Chianese plus local golden boy, Rozaimi Abdul Rahman left at the end of the season due to no contract renewal. ^[30]

Asian and ASEAN player quota introduced

Following much efforts and various reorganisation made on the team, Sabah FA was crowned as the champion of the 2019 Malaysia Premier League for the first time since they last lifted the old first division title back in 1996. ^[31] Having early secured various imports such as Brazilian Luiz Júnior, South Korean defender Park Tae-soo and Serbian midfielder Luka Milunović in the 1st leg transfer before securing another two important players such as Angolan striker Aguinaldo da Veiga together with Turkmenistan midfielder Ahmet Ataýew in the 2nd leg transfer that was combined with Serbian striker Rodoljub Paunović and various local talents, the team able to won thirteen matches from a total of 19 matches thus qualifying the 2020 Malaysia Super League. ^{[32] [33] [34]}

Malaysian Football League privatisation era

Starting from the 2021 season, all clubs competing in the 2021 Malaysia Super League and the Malaysia Premier League, must be privatised as required by the FAM. ^[1] Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd was formed in order to fulfill the condition in order to compete in the 2021 season of Malaysia Super League. Local Businessman Verdon Bahanda was official appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the football club on 12 November 2020. ^[35] Therefore, Sabah FA was renamed to Sabah F.C. as the new club name and Rhino once again became the official mascot of the club. ^[36]

Return to AFC club competition

Sabah finished in third place of the 2022 Malaysia Super League, which saw them returning to AFC club competition since 1995–96 and making their debut in the 2023–24 AFC Cup, being drawn in Group H with Haiphong, Hougang United and PSM Makassar. On 21 September 2023, they played their first fixtures in a heavy downpour against Singaporean club, Hougang United in a 3–1 home win. In the next fixture, Sabah faced PSM Makassar in Indonesia where they won 5–0 with Saddil Ramdani bagging a hat-trick of assists in the match.

Club licensing regulations

Eligibility

• This club had obtained the FAM Club License to play in the 2020 Malaysia Super League season after becoming 2019 Malaysia Premier League champion.
• This club had obtained the AFC Club License and is eligible to played either 2023 AFC Champions League or 2023 AFC Cup if qualified on merit.
• Sabah FC had obtained privatisation and owned by Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd in 2021.

Players

First-team squad

As of 11 May 2024 ^[37]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   MAS Ramzi Mustakim 2 DF   MAS Hanafie Tokyo Hasim 3 DF   MAS Rawilson Batuil 4 DF   BRA Gabriel Peres 5 DF   MAS Daniel Ting 6 MF   KOR Park Tae-Soo (Captain) 7 MF   ESP Cifu 8 FW   MAS Farhan Roslan 10 MF   POR Telmo Castanheira 11 FW   MAS Jafri Firdaus Chew 12 FW   MAS Kumaahran Sathasivam 13 DF   MAS Dinesh Rajasingam 16 FW   BRA Ramon Machado 17 MF   MAS Hamran Peter 18 MF   AUS Haris Stamboulidis 19 GK   MAS Khairul Fahmi Che Mat 20 MF   MAS Gary Steven Robbat

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF   MAS Danial Haqim Draman 22 MF   MAS Stuart Wilkin 24 MF   MAS Nureizkhan Isa 27 DF   KOR Ko Kwang-min 28 FW   MAS Darren Lok 29 MF   MAS Ummareng Bacok 30 MF   MAS Shahrol Nizam Abdul Rahman 31 GK   MAS Damien Lim 33 DF   MAS Dominic Tan 40 MF   MAS Sahrizan Saidin 43 MF   MAS Naaim Firdaus 50 FW   MAS Azhad Harraz Arman 66 MF   MAS Rozaimi Rahman 67 FW   IDN Saddil Ramdani 72 FW   MAS Harith Naem 77 DF   MAS Irfan Fazail

Current coaching staff

Position	Name
CEO	vacant
Deputy President	Juil Nuatim Abdul Rahman Mohd Zakaria
Director Of Football	Jelani Hamdan
Technical Director	Scott Ollerenshaw
Head Scout 1	Matlan Marjan
Head Scout 2	Rozaimi Abdul Rahman
Manager & Head Coach	Ong Kim Swee
Asst. Head Coach	Alto Linus
Asst. Coach	Faisal Ahmad
GK coach	Irwan Jamil
Fitness Coach	Martin Stano
Team Doctor	Wan Sherhan Wan Ilias
Physio	Norbert Christiaan Hubert Mohnen
	Maxson Michael George
Masseur	Madlin Saman
	Bonaventure Michael
Kitman	Azree Rosli
	Zamri Jamli

Current coaching staff

Position	Name
U21 Manager	Juil Nuatim
U21 Head coach	Jelius Ating
U21 Assistant Coach	Burhan Ajui
U21 GK coach	Dante S Tipay
U21 Fitness coach	Handly Sekukut
U21 Physio	Halmond Ting Kai Soon

Crest and colours

Being a Malaysian state football team competing in the Malaysian football league system before 2021, the team wore kits with the crest of the Sabah Football Association (SaFA) on them, whenever they play any competitive match. In November 2020 and following the privatisation of the club, Sabah FC displayed the club's new official logo on its Facebook page which was chosen following a competition to create the Sabah FC's logo. During the time, Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd in its statement informed that the logo was created by an individual named Firzaruddin Zainal Abiddin. Apart from fulfilling the design requirements, the logo was chosen in the competition based on the one voted by the most fans as fans at the time get to vote on which logo they like on the team's Facebook page. ^[38]

Stadiums

Likas Stadium, the home stadium for Sabah F.C.

• Likas Stadium - (Official Home Stadium)
• Penampang Stadium - (Sometimes, when Likas stadium renovated or floodlights require maintenance)
• Tawau Stadium - (Sometimes, just in Malaysia Premier League)

Likas Stadium is the current official main home ground for Sabah FC. It has a capacity of 22,000, making it the 8th largest football stadium in Malaysia in terms of seating capacity. It has been the home stadium of Sabah FC since its opening in 1983 and renovated in 2001, and then secondary renovation in 2023 with a set of brand new seats and including a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology for the 2022 AFC Cup preparation usage.

Others usage

Penampang Stadium is occasionally used for afternoon matches, usually when Likas Stadium is getting renovated or if floodlights require maintenance. Tawau Sports Complex is a regular venue that is only used sometimes for the Malaysia Premier League.

Kit manufacturers and main sponsors

Season	Manufacturer	Main Sponsor
2004	Line 7	Dunhill
2005		TM
2005–06		TM Net
2006–07		Celcom, TMnet
2007–08		Celcom
2009		Streamyx
2010	Carino	TM
2011	Adidas	nil
2012
2013		Grace One Sports
2014	Carino	BSA
2015	Adidas	Globaltec
2016		Sabah Energy and Asian Supply Base
2017	Carino
2018
2019		nil
2020		nil
2021	Lotto	Warisan Harta Sabah and Sabah Net
2022		RedOne
2023		Sawit Kinabalu and RedOne (AFC Cup)
2024		Jetama

Club culture

Supporters

• Bola Sepak Sabah
• Football Fans of Sabah
• Kelab Penyokong Sabah Rhino
• North Borneo Ultras (NBU)
• Sabah Football Fans Club
• SabahRhinos.com since 1997
• Tawau City Hoodlum (TCH)
• The Rhinos Troops
• Sabah Diehard
• The Voice of Rhinos#12
• RedBois City (RBC)
• Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS)
• Bola Rhinos Fans Club

Mascot

Sabah FA first mascot was the Rhino since mid-1990s. In 2010 SAFA rebranded the struggling team mascot to Hawk ^[39] which was controversial as Kuala Lumpur FA at that time was also known as the Hawks. ^[40] Sabah FA reinstated its name as the Rhinos starting from 2015. ^[20] In 2019, Sabah FA once again rebranded as Tambadau. ^[41]

During 2021 privatisation process, Sabah FC was chosen as the new club name and Rhino once again became the official mascot. ^[36]

Rivalry

Sabah FC neighbouring rival is Sarawak United with both claiming the title of 'the best in Borneo' and referred to as the Borneo Derby.

Broadcasting

Radio coverage of regular season matches are broadcast on Sabah FM 89.9 in Malay language.

Honours

Titles	Winners	Runners-up
Liga Perdana/Malaysia Super League	1996
Malaysia Premier League	2019	2001, 2010
Malaysia FA Cup	1995	1993, 1994, 1998
Malaysia Cup		1996, 2002, 2003
Malaysian Charity Shield		1996
Borneo Cup (13×)	1962, 1963, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985	1987

Club records

As of 28 May 2023

Note:

• Pld = Played, W = Won, D = Drawn, L = Lost, F = Goals for, A = Goals against, Pts= Points, Pos = Position

  1st or Champions  2nd or Runner-up  3rd place  Relegation

Season	League										Cup			Asia
	Division	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	D	Pts	Pos	Charity	Malaysia	FA	Competition	Result
1995	Liga Perdana	28	13	5	10	60	45	+15	44	5th	–	Semi-finals	Champions	Asian Cup Winners' Cup	Round of 16
1996	Liga Perdana	28	17	7	4	49	21	+28	58	1st	Runner-up	Runner-up	Quarter-finals	–	–
1997	Liga Perdana	28	14	7	7	42	28	+14	49	3rd	–	Group stage	2nd round	–	–
1998	Perdana 1	22	8	7	7	22	26	–4	31	5th	–	Semi-finals	Runner-up	–	–
1999	Perdana 1	18	6	7 [lower-alpha 1]	5	20	20	+0	29	4th	–	Group stage	Semi-finals	–	–
2000	Perdana 1	22	4	4	14	22	41	–19	16	11th	–	Group stage	1st round	–	–
2001	Perdana 2	22	14	3	5	41	22	+19	45	2nd	–	Group stage	Semi-finals	–	–
2002	Perdana 1	26	13	8	5	48	30	+18	47	3rd	–	Runner-up	Quarter-finals	–	–
2003	Perdana 1	24	10	8	6	34	22	+12	38	4th	–	Runner-up	Semi-finals	–	–
2004	Super League	21	4	5	12	22	35	–13	17	6th	–	Semi-finals	Quarter-finals	–	–
2005	Super League	21	6	4	11	25	39	–14	22	8th	–	Group stage	Quarter-finals	–	–
2005–06	Premier League	21	7	7	7	32	31	+1	28	4th	–	Group stage	1st round	–	–
2006–07	Premier League	20	6	9	5	26	21	+5	27	5th	–	Semi-finals	Quarter-finals	–	–
2007–08	Premier League	24	13	5	6	48	27	+21	44	4th	–	Group stage	Quarter-finals	–	–
2009	Premier League	24	5	7	12	18	31	–13	22	9th	–	Group stage	1st round	–	–
2010	Premier League	22	15	3	4	42	14	+28	48	2nd	–	Group stage	1st round	–	–
2011	Super League	26	7	7	12	24	32	–8	28	10th	–	Quarter-finals	1st round	–	–
2012	Super League	26	7	7	12	33	52	–19	28	13th	–	Not qualified	1st round	–	–
2013	Premier League	22	9	3	10	42	46	–4	30	5th	–	Not qualified	2nd round	–	–
2014	Premier League	22	6	6	10	21	30	–9	24	7th	–	Not qualified	2nd round	–	–
2015	Premier League	22	8	3	11	37	42	–5	27	7th	–	Not qualified	1st round	–	–
2016	Premier League	22	5	5	12	26	41	–15	20	9th	–	Not qualified	3rd round	–	–
2017	Premier League	22	9	3	10	33	38	–5	30	7th	–	Not qualified	Quarter-finals	–	–
2018	Premier League	20	7	7	6	35	26	+9	28	6th	–	Semi-finals	2nd round	–	–
2019	Premier League	20	13	4	3	33	17	+16	43	1st	–	Group Stage	2nd round	–	–
2020	Super League	11	2	3	6	12	24	–12	9	10th	–	Cancelled	Cancelled	–	–
2021	Super League	22	4	7	11	21	38	–17	19	9th	–	–	Not held	–	–
2022	Super League	22	13	3	6	36	26	+10	42	3rd	–	Semi-finals	Quarter-finals	–	–
2023	Super League	26	17	3	6	64	33	31	54	3rd	–	Quarter-finals	Quarter-finals	AFC Cup	–

Source: ^{[42] [43]}

1. Draw were followed by penalty shootouts for an additional point.

Performances in AFC competitions

• Asian Cup Winners' Cup : 1 appearance

1995: Round of 16

• AFC Cup : 1 appearance

2023–24: ASEAN Zonal semi-finals

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate
1995	Asian Cup Winners' Cup	First round	An Giang	3–0	0–1	3–1
		Second round	Bellmare Hiratsuka	1–2	0–5	1–7
2023–24	AFC Cup	Group H	Hougang United	3–1	4–1	1st out of 4
			PSM Makassar	1–3	5–0
			Hải Phòng	4–1	2–3
		ASEAN Zonal semi-finals	Macarthur	0–3

Development squad

U23 squad

No.	Name	Nationality	Position(s)	Date of Birth
Goalkeepers
1	Joslan Aping		GK	1999
25	Mohd Ramzi Mustakim		GK	1999
30	Fahmi Ikhwan Muhd Azmi		GK	2000
Defenders
2	Abdul Rahim Razali		RB / RWB	1999
3	Gerald Gadit		CB	16/5/99
5	Mohd Faqrul Idris		RB / RWB	2000
6	Abdul Hanafie Tokyo		CB	2000
12	Mohd Izzat Aziz		LB / CB	2/1/99
13	Fyellonarllye Mcaxora Jappri		RB / RWB	2000
17	Xsevier Xcico Felex		CB / DM	5/3/00
23	Muhd Rozaily Akhmad		CB	2000
Midfielders
8	Muhammad Rusydi Musa		CM	1999
10	Muhammad Syahryl Aiman Saiddin		AM / CM	1999
14	Mohd Jasren Abdul Jamel		DM / CM	2000
15	Mohd Naaim Firdaus Stibin		RW / LW	1999
16	Leonardo Lisua		RM / RW	1999
18	Owen Piou Piyau		CM	2000
20	Erick Odo		AM / CM	1999
21	Hazrul Ahmad		CM	2000
22	Nard Cylasto Christopher		LM / LW	2000
Forwards
7	Sahrizan Saidin		ST	1999
9	Mohd Hizaz Mohd Lokman		ST	2000
11	Muhammad Faqhrurazi Ahmad		ST	1999
19	Ronelson Madus		ST	2000
24	Eric Junior George		ST	1999

As of 8 March 2020: ^[44]

U20 squad

No.	Name	Nationality	Position(s)	Date of Birth
Goalkeepers
1	Mohd Azlizan Mohd Azlan		GK	2001
25	Joffy John		GK	2002
30	Muhammad Azrin Paiting		GK	1998
Defenders
2	Mohd Faiz Danial Ag Hussin		RB / RWB	2002
4	Ervin Ebin		CB	2001
5	Mohd Syahmi Idris		CB	2002
6	Ritchie Svenson Fred Donny		CB	2001
12	Dani Adli Saiful Azuan		LB / LWB	2002
15	Seherry Aladin		CB	2001
16	Mohd Ferhan Mohd Johar		RB / RWB	2002
28	Jemslee Cheng		CB / LB / RB	2001
29	Armind Muhd Nunung		CB	2002
Midfielders
7	S.A. Radzee Eqmal S.A. Ramli		RW / RM	2001
8	Rusdi Roslan		CM	2002
10	Yuseril Yusekil		AM / CM	2001
11	Rozacklye Yanam		LW / LM	2002
17	Mohd Nasip Mohd Zain		LW / LM	2001
18	Mohd Syukri Suaimi		RM / RW	2002
20	Fadhli Dzil Ikram Rujin		CM	2002
22	Muhd Shahfiq Isra Yusof		CM	2001
24	Mohd Zakisadruddin Jumaad		AM / LW / RW	2002
Forwards
9	Mohd Ezaidi Jurimo		ST	2002
13	Mohd Nazemizan Naslon		ST	2001
19	Mohd Syaril Abdullah		ST	2001
23	Jeckelly Manir		ST	2002

^[45]

Former managers and coaches

Managers

• Goh Thian Chuan (1999, 2015)
• Osman Jamal (2000–2001)
• Mohd Joehari Mohd Ayub (2004–2005)
• Abdul Rahman Zakaria (2006–2009, 2014)
• Mohd Asyraaf Fong Abdullah (2009)
• Gary Phillips (2010–2011)
• Shahriman Abdullah (2011–2012)
• Alijus Sipil (2013–2014)
• Adlane Messelem (2017)
• Juil Nuatim (2018)
• Peter Anthony (2018–2020)
• Jelius Ating (2020–2022)
• Ong Kim Swee (2023–present)

Head Coach

• Stanley Chew (197?–1979, 1985, 1987–1988)
• Gerd Schmidt (1980–1983)
• James Wong (1984)
• Azah Ezrein (1986)
• Frank Upton (1989–1990)
• Roy Lorenson (1990–1992)
• Oldřich Sedláček (1992–1995)
• Kelly Tham (1995–1996)
• Ron Smith (1996–1997)
• Ken Shellito (1998)
• Justin Ganai (1999, 2005–2006, 2011–2012, 2015)
• Ken Worden (1999)
• David Woodfield (2000–2001)
• Peter Butler (2001–2004)
• José Garrido (2004–2005)
• José Luis (2005)
• Drago Mamić (2007–2008)
• Wathiq Naji (2008–2009)
• Mohd Asyraaf Fong Abdullah (2009)
• Gary Phillips (2010–2011)
• Andrew Majjangkim (2012)
• David McCreery (2012–2013)
• Johnny Dominicus (2013)
• Milomir Šešlija (2013–2014)
• Mike Mulvey (2015)
• Vjeran Simunić (2015–2016)
• Steve Vilmiaire (2016–2017)
• Jelius Ating (2017–2019)
• Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto (2020, 2021)
• Lucas Kalang Laeng (2020)
• Burhan Ajui (caretaker)
• Ong Kim Swee (2021–present)

Coach history

The following coaches won at least one trophy when in charge of Sabah:

Name	Period	Trophies
Kelly Tham	1995–1996	1995 Malaysia FA Cup
Ron Smith	1996–1998	1996 Premier League
Jelius Ating	2017–2019	2019 Malaysia Premier League

Notable players

Notable former players of Sabah F.C., who have earned senior international caps for their respective nations:

Malaysia Amri Yahyah Ariusdius Jais Azizon Abdul Kadir Azzizan Nordin Baddrol Bakhtiar Badrulzaman Abdul Halim Bobby Gonzales Brendan Gan Dass Gregory Kolopis Evan Wensley G. Jeevananthan Harith Naem Hassan Sani Irfan Zakaria Izuan Salahuddin James Wong K. Sanbagamaran Khairul Azman Mohamed Liew Kit Kong Matlan Marjan Mohd Anis Faron Mohd Arsyah Ayob Mohd Syamsuri Mustafa Nazirul Naim Nazri Ahmad Nazrulerwan Makmor N. Thanabalan Ong Kim Swee Peter Rajah Redzuan Mohd Radzy Rizal Ghazali Ronny Harun Rozaimi Abdul Rahman R. Surendran Sumardi Hajalan Shahril Saa'ri Shahrul Azhar Ture Syed Adney Tommy Mawat Bada Wong Sai Kong Zainizam Marjan Zuraindey Jumai

AFC Michael Baird Scott Ollerenshaw Tim Bredbury Dedi Kusnandar Lee Kil-Hoon Fazrul Nawaz Ahmet Ataýew CAF Aguinaldo Alexis Tibidi Émile Mbouh Lévy Madinda José Embaló Jerome Suku Doe Joseph Amoah Josiah Seton Sam Johnson Éamon Zayed Paulus Shipanga Petrus Shitembi Abdoulaye Faye El Hadji Diouf Dumisa Ngobe Francis Kasonde Gift Kampamba CONCACAF Héctor Ramos Keith Gumbs

CONMEBOL Luiz Júnior UEFA Zdravko Šimić Jaroslav Netolička David Rocastle [12] Sofiane Choubani Risto Mitrevski Luka Milunović Rhys Weston

Football clubs

Affiliated clubs with Sabah F.C.

• Kinabalu Jaguar
• Cebagoo
• Tawau Army
• DYS
• KDMM
• Likas Utd
• Perillys FC
• Merotai
• Indah Utd
• PRESTA
• Ranhill
• Tenom Juta

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External links

• Official website
• Sabah football supporters website
• Sabah FA team latest statistics
• Sabah FA individual player stats