Football is the most popular national sport in Malaysia, where the first modern set of rules were established in 1921.
They beat Indonesia 4–2 on aggregate in the final to capture the country's first major international football title.
In the FIFA World Rankings, Malaysia's highest standing was in the first release of the figures, in August 1993 at 75th.
Malaysia's main rival on the international stage are their geographical neighbors, Indonesia and Singapore, and past matches between these two teams have produced much drama.
Malaysia is one of the most successful teams in Southeast Asia along with Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, winning the ASEAN Football Championship in 2010.
Even when the Selangor Amateur Football League took shape in 1905 – which ensured proper administration and organization – the competition was confined only to clubs in Kuala Lumpur.
[11] During its stay, the crew competed in friendly matches in football, rugby, hockey, sailing and golf against local clubs.
[11] Malaya Cup committee was set up and it was decided to run the football competition in northern and southern sections.
[11] The first ever Malaya Cup match was played on 20 August 1921, with Selangor defeating Penang 5–1 in front of an estimated crowd of 5,000 in Kuala Lumpur.
The competitions were held between the state teams, including Singapore, the Police, Army and the Prisons Department of Malaysia, in their early days.
[14][15] In 1959, the Malaya Cup departed from the traditional one-round tournament to a two-round home and away format in three zones (East, South, and North).
In 1989, it was changed to a new format, the Malaysian Semi-Pro Football League (MSPFL), nearing fully professional status.
Some of the clubs that competed in the league were Hong Chin, Muar FA, PKNK Kedah, DBKL, PKNS, BSN, LPN, BBMB, Proton, PPC and PKENJ.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has been pushing its member clubs towards privatization in a bid to end their reliance on state funds.
[26] Further changes were made to the Malaysia FAM Cup in 2008, where the knockout stages were abolished and the double round-robin format was introduced.
[27] In 2018, a new subsidiary of the company was formed known as the Amateur Football League (AFL), which was tasked with managing the third division and below from 2019 onward.