The club is nicknamed Beruang Madu (The Sun Bear), taken from the city mascot of Balikpapan.

They rivals are Borneo an Mitra Kukar, two clubs also based in the East Kalimantan province.

In the last match, the East Kalimantan capital team needed a 7–0 victory to finish first.

The status of the Third Division champions gave Persiba a ticket to the central regional round.

Starting the best Piala Bupati Gorontalo player 1984, First Division 1985, Surabaya Cup 1985, and East Kalimantan Governor award.

It was marked by the establishment of the Persiba Stadium in the era of general chairman Syarifuddin Yoes who was also the Mayor of Balikpapan.

Its construction was accelerated for a year, pursuing stadium requirements for participants in the Perserikatan Premier Division.

Since the 1994–95 season, Indonesian football competitions, namely the Perserikatan and Galatama, were merged into one and became the Liga Indonesia Premier Division.

In this era, Persiba had to fight hard to stay in the top level of the Indonesian football league.

It takes four times a change of leaders until Persiba can return to promotion, in the Syahril era HM Taher starting in 2003.

And in the 2006 season, Persiba managed to penetrate the second round after being ranked 4th East Division under Persmin Minahasa, Persik Kediri, and PSM Makassar.

In the era of the Indonesia Super League (ISL), Persiba achievements in the Indonesian soccer arena can be said scene were practically up and down.

In the 2009–10 season with a number of star players like I Made Wirawan, Mijo Dadic, Robertino Pugliara, Gendut Doni and Julio Lopez, the team successfully finished 3rd under Arema Indonesia and Persipura Jayapura, and that position better than Persib Bandung and Persija Jakarta.

While two other East Kalimantan representatives, Bontang FC and Persisam Putra Samarinda, stated that they were outside the top 10.

In the 2010 Inter Island Cup, Persiba, the only representative of the island of Kalimantan, once again managed to surprise by defeating the defending champions Piala Indonesia at the time, Sriwijaya with a landslide score and at the tournament also Persiba managed to advance to the semi-finals.

Until the 60th season of Indonesian football under the PSSI, or the inaugural edition of the Liga 1 era, the fall of Persiba was truly unavoidable.

The location of the Persiba Stadium entered the development agenda of Pertamina as the land owner.

Stuck in the red zone with Semen Padang and Persegres Gresik United at the bottom of the standings.

The Honey Bear is finally just one point away from the relegation zone of the Liga 2 East Region.

Balikpapan public finally heaved a sigh of relief after their favorite team got a new investor.

Certainty is known after the meeting between Rizal Effendi, Syahril HM Taher, and Gede Widiade, on Monday, 29 April 2019.

Many clubs have been managed by Gede, even long before bringing Persija to win the 2018 Indonesia President's Cup trophy and the Liga 1 season 2018.

As if he didn't want to lose to the derby on the island of Java, the rivalry between the two teams turned out to have happened for decades.

Historical witness who is also the chairman of the match committee (Panpel) Persiba at Gojek Traveloka Liga 1 2017, Warsito said, the hostilities of the two teams have occurred since the 1970s.

This is continuation of the previous Derby Kaltim which brought together Persiba Balikpapan and Persisam Putra Samarinda.

When 2015, Putra Samarinda changed its name to Bali United and moved its home base, in the same year, Borneo FC was promoted to Indonesia Super League after winning the Liga Indonesia Premier Division a year earlier.

At the start of the season until the middle of the 2017 Liga 1, Persiba is forced to use the Gajayana Stadium in Malang as their home ground because their actual ground, Pertamina's owned by state-owned oil company, was going to be demolished to make way for their oil expansion refinery as their newly built replacement, Batakan Stadium, was still under construction and won't be ready until June.

[8] After the round of negotiations, Persiba extended this permit and continued to use Parikesit until Batakan was ready and passed verification.

Now the stadium which has been accompanying Persiba for decades in national football has been officially taken over by PT Pertamina as the owner of the asset.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.