The 2019 Malaysia Premier League is the 16th season of the Malaysia Premier League, the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia since its establishment in 2004.
Team changes A total of twelve teams contested the league, including eight sides from the 2018 season, two relegated from the 2018 Malaysia Super League and two promoted from the 2018 Malaysia FAM League.
To Premier League Relegated from Super League Kelantan Negeri Sembilan
Promoted from FAM League Selangor United Perlis
From Premier League Promoted to Super League FELDA United MIFA
Relegated to M3 League None
Notes: Originally Terengganu City were promoted along with Selangor United as champion of the 2018 Malaysia FAM League, but after Terengganu City blocked from promotion after failing to settle unpaid wages for former players and staffs for last season campaign, Perlis Northern Lions F.C. were invited as replacement after the team are able to showcase a proper financial management.
Originally Felcra were promoted along with Felda United to the 2019 Malaysia Super League, but after Felcra announced their withdrawal from the Super League participation, MISC-MIFA, the next highest team in the Premier League table, were invited as replacement.
No team are relegated from last season due to Kuantan FA expulsion, and Terengganu II being granted reprieve from relegation even though they finished in the bottom two of last season's league.
Disqualification of Perlis Northern Lions F.C.
Earlier, Perlis Northern Lions F.C. together with six teams which are involved with debts are being instructed to submit financial documents before 18 February 2019. After the board of Malaysian Football League (MFL) examine in detail the document from Perlis Northern Lions F.C., it was concluded that Perlis Northern Lions F.C.'s revenue sources including sponsorships are insufficient to manage the teams in the Malaysian League this season. MFL had made the decision to revoke Perlis Northern Lions F.C. involvement in 2019 Malaysia Premier League starting from 20 February.
Stadium and locations
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order. Team Location Stadium Capacity Johor Darul Ta'zim II Pasir Gudang Pasir Gudang Corporation Stadium15,000 Kelantan Kota Bharu Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium 30,000 Negeri Sembilan Seremban Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium45,000 PDRM1 Selayang Selayang Stadium11,098 Krubong/Paya Rumput Hang Jebat Stadium40,000 Penang George Town City Stadium20,000 Sabah Kota Kinabalu Likas Stadium35,000 Sarawak Kuching Sarawak State Stadium26,000 Selangor United Selayang Selayang Stadium11,098 Terengganu II Kuala Terengganu Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium15,000 UiTM Shah Alam UiTM Stadium10,000 UKM Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur Stadium 18,000
1 : PDRM used Selayang Stadium until matchday 16. They moved into Hang Jebat Stadium since matchday 17
Personnel and sponsoring
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor(s) Johor Darul Ta'zim II Ervin Boban Shakir Shaari Nike Forest City Kelantan Yusri Che Lah Farisham Ismail PUC Sport BMW Negeri Sembilan Mat Zan Mat Aris Norhafiz Zamani Misbah Rhino Visit Negeri Sembilan,Matrix Concepts PDRM E. Elavarasan Azmizi Azmi Line 7 PappaRich Penang Manzoor Azwira Abdul Wahid Kang Seung-jo Stallion Apparel Penang Sabah Jelius Ating Rawilson Batuil Carino Sarawak Mohamad Denny Da'ail (caretaker) Bobby Gonzales Starsport Press Metal Selangor United Abdul Talib Sulaiman Franklin Anzité Sportsrevo GT Radial Terengganu II Tengku Hazman Raja Hassan Hasbullah Awang Al-Ikhsan Terengganu Inc. UiTM Ismail Zakaria Zulkhairi Zulkeply Puma Master Halal , UiTM UKM Sulaiman Hussin Asnan Ahmad SkyHawk UKM
Coaching changes Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. TeamOutgoing coachManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming coachDate ofappointment Penang Zainal Abidin Hassan End of contract 30 September 2018Pre-season Ahmad Yusof 5 October 2018 Perlis Manja ManMove to development coach 30 September 2018 Manzoor Azwira 16 October 2018 UiTM Wan Mustaffa Wan IsmailEnd of contract 31 October 2018 Ismail Zakaria 5 November 2018 Sarawak Ian Gillan 31 October 2018 Pengiran Bala 19 November 2018 Negeri Sembilan Mário Lemos 30 November 2018 Mat Zan Mat Aris 6 December 2018 Sarawak Pengiran BalaMove to development coach 5 January 2019 Farhan Abdullah @ Anai Igang 5 January 2019 PDRM Fauzi PilusRested 23 February 201911th Wan Mustaffa Wan Ismail (caretaker) 23 February 2019 Sarawak Farhan Abdullah 3 March 20199th Mohamad Denny Da'ail (caretaker) 3 March 2019 Penang Ahmad Yusoff 5 March 20198th Kamal Kalid (caretaker) 5 March 2019 PDRM Wan Mustaffa Wan Ismail (caretaker)End of caretaker spell 9 March 201911th E. Elavarasan 12 March 2019 Kelantan Marko KraljevićSacked 9 April 20199th Jörg Peter Steinebrunner (caretaker) 9 April 2019 Kelantan Jörg Peter Steinebrunner (caretaker)End of caretaker spell 15 April 201911th Yusri Che Lah 15 April 2019 Penang Kamal Kalid (caretaker) 18 April 20199th Manzoor Azwira Abdul Wahid 18 April 2019
Foreign players The number of foreign players is restricted to four each team including at least one player from the AFC country.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC player Former player Johor Darul Ta'zim II Bruno Soares Nicolás Fernández Lucas Ontivero Mohammed Ghaddar Kelantan L'Imam Seydi Raúl Tarragona Flávio Mustafa Zazai Cássio Negeri Sembilan Matheus Vila Almir Igor Carneiro Shunsuke Nakatake Thomas Koroma PDRM Argzim Redžović Uche Agba Patrick Wleh Lee Chang-hoon Benjamin Redžović Andrezinho David Manga Penang Ezequiel Agüero Casagrande Julián Bottaro Kang Seung-jo Sébastien Thurière Ndumba Makeche Sabah Aguinaldo Rodoljub Paunović Ahmet Ataýew Park Tae-soo Luka Milunović Luiz Júnior Sarawak Pedrão Rodrigo Amorim Oliviera Hudson Jesus Rian Firmansyah Muamer Salibašić Selangor United Franklin Anzité Danko Kovačević Hwang Sin-young Nikita Pavlenko Ezequiel Agüero Eslam Zaki Terengganu II Serhii Andrieiev Dechi Marcel Akanni-Sunday Wasiu Bruno Suzuki UiTM Bernard Agele Maycon Calijuri Žarko Korać Park Yong-joon Adi Said Robert Mendy Akhlidin Israilov UKM Alexandru Tudose Mateo Roskam Ijezie Michael Milad Zeneyedpour
Foreign players who left their clubs or were de-registered from playing squad due to medical issues or other matters.
Results League table
Result table
Positions by round
Qualification to 2019 Malaysia Cup and Malaysia Challenge Cup
Based on the previous season, 5 teams from Malaysia Premier League will qualify into Malaysia Cup. Due to JDT II and Terengganu II status as feeder team, they cannot qualify into Malaysia Cup and will compete in Malaysia Challenge Cup. For the result, top 7 in the league besides these two teams will qualify, as JDT II and Terengganu II will finish in top 5.
Sabah FA became the first team to qualify to Malaysia Cup after Selangor United lost 2–3 to PDRM FA on June 26, given both of them 13 points difference with 4 matches remaining for Selangor United. UiTM F.C. followed Sabah to Malaysia Cup after Selangor United lost 0–2 to Kelantan FA on July 5 - even they also lost to PDRM FA one day after. On July 9, Negeri Sembilan FA became the third team to qualify after won 3–1 home by JDT II. Following 3–1 win over Kelantan FA, PDRM FA became the fourth team to qualify into Malaysia Cup. Penang FA grabbed the final slot to Malaysia Cup after demolished Sarawak FA 6–3 at home; the highest ever goal scored in this season.
Sarawak FA and Kelantan FA confirmed their places to Malaysia Challenge Cup after JDT II and Terengganu II, after PDRM FA won 2–1 by UiTM F.C. - give them 14 points and 10 points difference in 3 matches remaining for both of them respectively. After losing 2–6 to UKM F.C. on Matchday 20, Selangor United qualified into Malaysia Challenge Cup. On July 14, UKM F.C. - the inaugural Malaysia Challenge Cup runner-up, booked the slot into this competition after Penang FA won 6–3 at Bandaraya Stadium.
Relegation play-offs
Season statistics Source:
Scoring First goal of the season: Adi Said for UiTM F.C. against PDRM FA, 20 seconds (1 February 2019) Fastest goal in a match: 20 seconds – Adi Said for UiTM against PDRM (1 February 2019) Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+10 minutes – Akmal Zahir for UKM against Sarawak (2 March 2019) First own goal of the season: Rawilson Batuil (Sabah) for Kelantan, 53 minutes (8 February 2019) First hat-trick of the season: Žarko Korać (UiTM) against Kelantan, 71 minutes (8 March) Fastest hat-trick of the season: Bruno Suzuki (Terengganu II) against UKM, 11 minutes and 52 seconds (26 June) Most goals scored by one player in a match: 3 goals Žarko Korać (UiTM) against Kelantan, 13', 25', 84' (8 March 2019) Ferris Danial Mat Nasir (Negeri Sembilan) against Kelantan, 13', 44', 51' (20 April 2019) Žarko Korać (UiTM) against UKM, 14', 54', 55' (27 April 2019) Nicolás Fernández (JDT II) against Terengganu II, 14', 18', 89' (14 June 2019) Casagrande (Penang) against UiTM, 34', 47', 90+6' (19 June 2019) Bruno Suzuki (Terengganu II) against UKM, 11', 18', 23' (26 June 2019) Rodoljub Paunović (Sabah) against Sarawak, 11', 63', 84' (26 June 2019) Milad Zeneyedpour (UKM) against Selangor United, 31', 36', 75' (9 July 2019) Widest winning margin: 5 goals UKM 0-5 UiTM (27 April 2019) JDT II 5-0 Terengganu II (14 June 2019) Most goals in a match: 9 goals - Penang 6-3 Sarawak (14 July 2019) Most goals in one half: 5 goals Selangor United vs UKM (9 July 2019) 0–3 at half time, 2–6 final Penang vs Sarawak (14 July 2019) 5–0 at half time, 6–3 final Most goals in one half by a single team: 5 goals - Penang vs Sarawak (14 July 2019) 5–0 at half time, 6–3 final
Top scorers
Players sorted first by goals, then by last name. RankPlayerClubGoals 1 Žarko KoraćUiTM 132 Rodoljub PaunovićSabah113 Lee Chang-hoonPDRM10 Mateo RoskamUKM 5 Bobby GonzalesSarawak 96 Julián BottaroPenang8 CasagrandePenang Igor LuizNegeri Sembilan9 Uche AgbaPDRM7 Ezequiel Agüero1Selangor United/Penang Hudson DiasSarawak Mohammed GhaddarJohor DT II Robert Lopez MendyUiTM Almir NetoNegeri Sembilan Bruno SuzukiTerengganu II Milad ZeneyedpourUKM17 Rozaimi RahmanJohor DT II6 Nik Akif SyahiranKelantan19 Hwang Sin-youngSelangor United520 Nik Azli Nik AliasKelantan4 Ferris DanialNegeri Sembilan Al-Hafiz HarunPenang Alif HassanSarawak FlávioKelantan Luiz JúniorSabah Raslam KhanSelangor United Alto LinusSabah AguinaldoSabah Shunsuke NakatakeNegeri Sembilan Takhiyuddin RoslanTerengganu II315 playersVarious3 3622 playersVarious2 5850 playersVarious1Own GoalsVarious6 1 Aguero played for Selangor United until matchday 12 and scored 2 goals.
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Ref Žarko Korać UiTM Kelantan 3-3 (H) Ferris Danial Mat Nasir Negeri Sembilan Kelantan 2-5 (A) Žarko Korać UiTM UKM 0-5 (A) Nicolás Fernández JDT II Terengganu II 5-0 (H) Casagrande UiTM Penang 3-3 (A) Rodoljub Paunović Sabah Sarawak 4-1 (H) Bruno Suzuki Terengganu II UKM 2-4 (A) Milad Zeneyedpour UKM Selangor United 2-6 (A)
Clean sheets
Players sorted first by clean sheets, then by last name. RankPlayerClubClean sheets 1 Rozaimie RohimSabah8 Shamirza YusoffTerengganu II3 Haziq NadzliJohor Darul Ta'zim II64 Haziq ArisUiTM4 Kaharuddin RahmanNegeri Sembilan6 Arif AbdullahKelantan3 Khatul AnuarUKM Nuraizat AzizSelangor United Shahril Saa'riPDRM Zamir SelamatPenang11 Fikri Che SohKelantan2 Andy Nicholas Sarawak13 Amin FaisalUKM1 Hazrull HafizPenang Amierul Nazrul HakimiTerengganu II Fadzley RahimNegeri Sembilan Samuel SomervilleJohor Darul Ta'zim II Shaiful WaziziSarawak