The 2012 season was LionsXII's debut season in the Malaysia Super League. LionsXII returned to Malaysia competitions 18 years after their predecessor withdrew from the competitions. The Lions finished MSL runners-up at the end of the season.
Malaysia Super League
LionsXII debuted in the 2012 Malaysia Super League on 10 January 2012 with a 1–2 home defeat to defending champions Kelantan FA. The Lions's first win was a 2–1 victory over Kuala Lumpur FA on 17 January. They achieved the biggest win in the season by defeating Sabah FA 9–0 on 16 June 2012. LionsXII eventually finished second in the league behind Kelantan FA.
On 29 December 2012, assistant coach Kadir Yahaya left his position at LionsXII and was replaced by Gombak United FC chief K. Balagumaran.
Date Pos. Opponents H/A Score Goalscorers 10 Jan 10thKelantan H 1–2 Baihakki Khaizan 33' 14 Jan 12thKedah A 0–0 17 Jan 8thKuala Lumpur H 2–1 Aiman Syazwan 43' (og), Shahdan Sulaiman 56' 21 Jan 6thSabah A 0–1 Hariss Harun 19' 7thTerengganu H 0–1 8 Feb 6thSelangor A 1–1 Shahril Ishak 43' 11 Feb 4thNegeri Sembilan H 3–1 Shahril Ishak 30' (pen), 60', Shahdan Sulaiman 49' 14 Feb 4thPerak A 1–2 Shahril Ishak 35', 74' 6 Mar 2ndFELDA United H 3–1 Hariss Harun 6', Sufian Anuar 51', Shahril Ishak 67' (pen) 17 Mar 3rdSarawak A 0–1 Shahril Ishak 10' (pen) 20 Mar 2ndSelangor H 1–1 Sufian Anuar 62' 2ndT-Team H 2–1 Shahril Ishak 51', Shahdan Sulaiman 85' (pen) 3 Apr 1stNegeri Sembilan A 2–4 Safuwan Baharudin 14', Khairul Nizam 20', Shahril Ishak 41', Shahdan Sulaiman 70' 7 Apr 1stJohor FC A 0–1 Khairul Nizam 42' 10 Apr 1stPerak H 2–1 Shahdan Sulaiman 43' (pen), Irwan Shah 87' 14 Apr 1stPKNS A 1–0 17 Apr 1stPKNS H 5–0 Safuwan Baharudin 17', Shaiful Esah 19', Sevki Sha'ban 26',Agu Casmir 53', 84' 4 May 1stKelantan A 3–0 8 May 1stFELDA United A 0–2 Shaiful Esah 31', Shahdan Sulaiman 76' 12 May 1stKedah H 3–3 Shahril Ishak 10', Sufian Anuar 29', Baihakki Khaizan 57' 15 May 1stKuala Lumpur A 0–0 1stSarawak H 3–0 Safuwan Baharudin 7', Agu Casmir 36', 63' 16 Jun 1stSabah H 9–0 Casmir 19', Hariss 22', 41', 73', Shahdan 62', 65', Irwan 68', Sufian 84', Shahrul 88' (og) 19 Jun 2ndTerengganu A 0–1 Sufian Anuar 90' 10 Jul 2ndT-Team A 2–1 Bojan Petrić 26' (og) 14 Jul 2ndJohor FC H 0–1
Final standings
Malaysia FA Cup
LionsXII began their 2012 Malaysia FA Cup quest on 18 February, with a 3–0 win over UiTM FC.Malaysia FA Cup 2012: Wonder-goal sets LionsXII to comfortable 3–0 victory – Straits Times, 18 February 2012 The LionsXII made their way to the quarter-final with a 2–0 win over Betaria FCLIONSXII through to the Quarter-Finals of the Malaysian FA Cup – LIONSXII, 10 March 2012 on 10 March 2012. However, they were beaten by Terengganu FA in the quarter-finals.
Date Round Opponents H/A Score Goalscorers 18 Feb Round of 32UiTM A 0–3 Shaiful Esah 32', Madhu Mohana 15',Shahir Ismail 83' (og) 10 Mar Round of 16Betaria H 2–0 Shahril Ishak 55', Sufian Anuar 84' 24 Mar Quarter-finalsTerengganu A 1–0 27 Mar Quarter-finalsTerengganu H 0–0
Malaysia Cup
The Lions marked their return to their most successful competition with a 0–0 draw away to Johor FC. They eventually bowed out in the semi-finals after losing a penalty shootout to ATM FA with the score tied at 2–2 after extra time.
Date Round Opponents H/A Score Goalscorers 22 Aug Group stageJohor FC A 0–0 25 Aug Group stagePKNS H 3–1 Khairul Amri 13', Shaiful Esah 18', Shahril Ishak 48' 28 Aug Group stageJohor FA A 0–0 1 Sep Group stageJohor FA H 1–0 Khairul Amri 2' 4 Sep Group stagePKNS A 1–0 14 Sep Group stageJohor FC H 0–0 25 Sep Quarter-finalsPahang A 2–1 Jalaluddin Jaafar 20' (og) 2 Oct Quarter-finalsPahang H 2–0 Shahril Ishak 35', 78' 5 Oct Semi-finalsATM H 1–1 Safuwan Baharudin 81' 11 Oct Semi-finalsATM A 1–1 (aet)5–4 (pso) Agu Casmir 27'
Squad statistics
SquadNo. Pos. Name Malaysia Super League Malaysia FA Cup Malaysia Cup TotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals1GKIzwan Mahbud11010802002MFFazli Ayob100000103DFShaiful Esah162111012744MFIsa Halim23030803405DFBaihakki Khaizan162001002626DFMadhu Mohana11041201718MFShahdan Sulaiman258401003989MFTaufiq Rahmat5010006010FWKhairul Amri60009215211FWAgu Casmir145006120614MFHariss Harun (vc)2252010034516DFRaihan Rahman7000108017FWShahril Ishak (c)191031103321418GKHyrulnizam Juma'at160302021019DFIrwan Shah232309035220FWQuentin Chen152200017221DFSafuwan Baharudin133204119422MFSevki Sha'ban181306027123DFJuma'at Jantan170004021024MFFirdaus Kasman150305023025FWSufian Anuar175211020626DFShakir Hamzah140300017027MFYasir Hanapi200107028028FWSafirul Sulaiman70209018029MFPravin Guanasagaran1000001030GKAl-Faiz Ishak0000000031GKKhairulhin Khalid0000000032DFAbdil Qaiyyim20003050 -DFShakir Hamzah00000000 -MFGabriel Quak00000000 -MFIzzdin Shafiq00000000
LionsXII were restricted to Under-28 players in their first MSL season. The number 12 is retired in honour of the fans, also known as the "twelfth man".
References