Selangor Football Club (Malay: Kelab Bola Sepak Selangor) is a professional football club based in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. Competing in the Malaysia Super League, the country's top tier of Malaysian football, the club is widely regarded as one of the most iconic and successful teams in Malaysian Football history. Nicknamed The Red Giants, Selangor was officially founded in 1921 as Football Association of Selangor (FAS). In 2020, the club officially made its privatization and renamed as Selangor Football Club. While its historic home, Shah Alam Stadium undergoes major redevelopment, Selangor currently plays its home matches at Petaling Jaya Stadium.
Selangor is the most successful and decorated club in Malaysia in terms of overall honours won, with 52 top-qualifying trophies and 61 trophies collectively. Domestically, Selangor had won a total of 6 Malaysia top division league titles which include 2 Malaysia Super League titles, 1 Premier League 1 title, 2 Semi-Pro League Division 1 titles and 1 Malaysian League title. In cup competitions, the club have a record of 33 Malaysia Cups, a joint-best 5 Malaysia FA Cups and a record of 8 Malaysia Charity Shields. In addition, the club have also won 2 second-division titles, 1 Malaysia Premier League title and 1 Semi-Pro League Division 2 title and between 1951 and 1973, 7 Malaysia FAM Cups where the Malaysia FAM Cup acted as a secondary knockout cup competition between state teams after the Malaysia Cup.
Beyond its domestic dominance, Selangor has played a pioneering role in Malaysian football on the continental stage. It became the first Malaysian club to compete in the Asian Champion Club Tournament, finishing as runner-up in the inaugural edition in 1967, which was later rebranded as the AFC Champions League in 2002. The club was also the first in Malaysian football history to achieve a league and cup double by winning the Malaysian Amateur League and Malaysia Cup in 1984.
Selangor gave rise to many Malaysian football stars who brought success to both club and country such as Mokhtar Dahari, R. Arumugam, Abdul Ghani Minhat, Wong Choon Wah, Santokh Singh, Soh Chin Aun, Zainal Abidin Hassan, Azman Adnan, Rusdi Suparman, Amri Yahyah, and Safee Sali among others The club remains as one of the best supported clubs in Malaysia. It holds several rivalries, most notably with Singapore and Kuala Lumpur City.
History 1906–1936: Beginnings A Selangor state football association was founded in 6th May 1906 to establish and manage an internal state league, called the Selangor Association Football League (SAFL). SAFL was established by five founders, namely the Selangor Recreation Club, the Royal Selangor Club, the Selangor YMCA, and the Victoria Institution.
This establishment was the starting point for the organized football league system in the state of Selangor and laid the foundation for the development of modern football in this state. The first cup competition was sponsored by the British Resident of Selangor, R.G. Watson. There were also reports that the association was led by British Residents at that time.
On 20 August 1921, the Selangor made its first appearance in an official competitive competition at the national level through a Malaya Cup match against the Penang team.
This date marked the birth of the Selangor's competitive identity on the official national stage.
In 3 September 1922, the Selangor won its first championship in the Malaya Cup competition.
During this period, Selangor won their first ever piece of silverware in the form of the Malaya Cup in 1922, in a 3–2 win over Singapore FA (a rivalry that would come to define Malaysian football in future years) and going on to win the Malaya Cup a further five times in 1927, 1928, 1929, 1935 and 1936.
Due to an internal conflict, some officials left the organization in 1926 and founded the Selangor Football Association (SFA), a new organization. The dispute between the SAFL and the SFA continued for almost ten years before the two sides negotiated back on a deal for the betterment of the future of football in the state of Selangor. Finally, the two football entities officially merged on 22 February 1936, under the name of the Football Association of Selangor (FAS) (Malay: Persatuan Bola Sepak Selangor) and forming Selangor FA to represent the state of Selangor.
MAHA Stadium The proposal to build a stadium that can accommodate 5,000 spectators was first voiced in 1927, and from the very beginning the venue was built in collaboration between MAHA () and the Selangor football association. Initially three sites were nominated for the venue; at Gaol Road (now Jalan Hang Tuah), at the intersection of Jalan Bukit Bintang and Circular Road (now Jalan Tun Razak, possibly on the site of where Prince Court Medical Centre now stands), and at Jalan Pudu. The site chosen was ultimately at the intersection of Circular Road and Jalan Ampang, and according to press reports of the time, it began construction in 1928 and was completed the following year. The specific location of the stadium is not known, it is only said in press reports to be behind a police station at this intersection, which is the current Jalan Tun Razak police station.
When it was completed, MAHA was sued by the surrounding residents because it was said that the football matches held there disturbed public order. Although the suit was in favor of the stadium owners, Selangor only began to make the stadium their official ‘home ground’ in 1931, in the Malaya Cup against Penang on July 18, a match that ended in a 5–3 victory for Selangor. The squad played a total of 20 times at this stadium between 1931 and 1940, and won 14 times. The eight finals of the Malaya Cup were held here with Selangor being finalists four times. However, the club won only one final, in a 2–0 win over Singapore FA in 1935. Their last match here was nine years later, against Kedah in the Malaya Cup on 20 July 1940.
In the aftermath of the Japanese occupation during World War II from 1941 to 1945, the MAHA Stadium was damaged which made it unusable and was subsequently destroyed. The current site of the former MAHA Stadium has now become an area for car dealers, with a shopping mall right next to the Jalan Tun Razak police station, also included are residential and embassy areas. In this neighborhood there are several fields and open spaces owned by Kelab Aman, SJKC Chung Hwa (P), and a cricket association.
1937–1960: Between World War II and Independence
The outbreak of World War II slowed down FAS' efforts to develop domestic football. The effort was started aggressively as soon as the war ended. Efforts to upgrade state football continued with the association laying out plans to construct a new football stadium for the state team. The state team prior to the war played at MAHA Stadium in Jalan Ampang and in the intervening years at Selangor Field Club (now Dataran Merdeka), the team's new home ground clearly required a stadium in line with the association's direction. The association management met the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur several times for permission to construct the stadium but a solution couldn't be found. The impasse meant that Selangor's home stadium plan had to be put on hold.
However, the appointment of Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj as the first official FAS president (who also held the presidency of the Football Association of Malaysia at that time) was a right move for the association. After becoming Prime Minister of the newly independent Federation of Malaya in 1957, Tunku Abdul Rahman pioneered the stadium construction business and ordered the construction of Stadium Merdeka to celebrate the country's independence as well as being Selangor's official new home stadium. Stadium Merdeka also served as the occasional home ground of the Malaysia national football team as well as the staging of international sporting events.
After 1951, Tunku Abdul Rahman vacated the presidency of the FAS. He was succeeded by the Independent MP for Bangsar (now known as Bangsar) constituency and also a teacher by profession, S.C.E. Singam, who became the second official FAS president until 1953, where he was succeeded by K. Sundram. Between 1951 and 1960, the club won two Malaysia Cups in 1956 and 1959, finishing as runners-up in 1957 and 2 Malaysia FAM Cups in 1953 and 1960, finishing as runners-up in 1952 and 1955.
1961–1983: Era of Harun Idris' leadership Dato' Seri Harun Idris is synonymous with football in Selangor and Malaysia in the 1960s to the early 1980s. He ran as president of the FAS for 21 years from 1961 to 1983. During his leadership, Selangor won 15 Malaysia Cups as well as doing a lot of positive changes for the association. The club was originally headquartered at the MCA building in Jalan Ampang before the construction of Wisma FAS in 1973 at Merdeka Stadium under the president's (who was also the Chief Minister of Selangor at the time) and club manager Hamzah Abu Samah's efforts.
In that time, the club won the Malaysia Cup 15 times (in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1981 and 1982 as well as the Malaysia FAM Cup 5 times in 1961, 1962, 1966, 1968 and 1972).
1983–1989: Ahmad Razali Mohd Ali era Tan Sri , who was the Chief Minister of Selangor at that time became FAS President from 1983 to 1989. In the 1984 Malaysian League season, under his leadership Selangor won their first ever Malaysian top division football league title, a league that was first introduced with a winner's trophy in 1982. Additionally, Selangor also won the Malaysia Cup in 1984 to achieve a historic league and cup double, a first in the history of Malaysian football.
The club also won the Malaysia Cup in 1986 where legends Mokhtar Dahari and R. Arumugam made their final appearances. In 1989, the club also won the rebranded Semi-Pro League Division 1 that replaced the Malaysian League as the country's top-flight football league. It was the final trophy under Ahmad Razali's leadership.
1990–1995: All-new stadium and Wisma FAS After a series of successes for the club, the FAS decided to end the club's tenure at Stadium Merdeka to fulfill the ambitions of the club. As a result, an all-new stadium development had to be approved and built. Finally, on January 1, 1990, a groundbreaking ceremony for the new stadium was held in Shah Alam. Built primarily for the Commonwealth Games in 1998, the ground could accommodate up to 80,000 spectators at a time. Its structure is the longest free gate in the world in that era. It also become one of the major landmarks in Shah Alam, due to its impressive size and design. The stadium has been the home of Selangor since it opened in July 1994. FAS also moved to their new headquarters in Kelana Jaya, which was known as Wisma FAS in the mid-1990s. In that time, the club won the Semi-Pro League Division 1 twice in 1989 and 1990, and won the Semi-Pro League Division 2 in 1993 after suffering relegation the year before, as well as a Malaysia FA Cup triumph in 1991, a Malaysia Cup triumph in 1995 and a Malaysia Charity Shield triumph in 1990.
1996–2010: 17 trophies collected The period between 1996 and 2010 was Selangor's most successful, despite a relegation in between. In the 1996 season, with Ken Worden as a coach, they won the Malaysia Charity Shield and the Malaysia Cup. The following season, Steve Wicks guided the club to success with a trifecta of trophies. Under the guidance of coach K. Rajagopal from 1999 to 2000, Selangor won the 2000 Premier League 1 title, which was the top-flight league in Malaysia and secured their fourth league title. Ken Worden was appointed again and won the Malaysia Charity Shield and the Malaysia Cup in the 2002 season.