Malaysia Cup
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Malaysia Cup is a highly-prestigious annual soccer tournament in Malaysia.
The competition is currently played at the end of each year's football season, and is contested by the 16 most successful teams in Malaysia's football league that year.
The Cup is the oldest soccer competition in Malaysia. It began in 1921, when it was called the Malaya Cup. In 1933, its name was changed to the HMS Cup. Since 1967 it has been known as the Malaysia Cup.
A league competition was introduced in Malaysia in 1982. Since then, the Malaysia Cup has been held after the conclusion of the league each year, with only the best-performing teams in the league qualifying for the Malaysia Cup. When the league began, it was intended primarily as a qualifying tournament for the Malaysia Cup. However over the years, the league competition has gained important stature in its own right.
In 2003, Selangor MPPJ became the first club team to win the cup. Prior to that year, the two teams which made the final had always been representative sides of the regional Football Associations, or military teams.
Teams representing two of Malaysia's neighbouring countries have been involved in the competition. Brunei won the cup in 1999 and continue to be involved (though in recent years they have been represented by the club side Brunei DPMM FC, whereas initially their team was organised by the Football Association of Brunei). Singapore used to enter a team organised by the Football Association of Singapore. Their team won the cup 24 times and are the second most successful side in the competition's history after Selangor. However after their last win in 1994, Singapore withdrew from the competition following a dispute with the Football Association of Malaysia over gate receipts and have not been involved since. (Singapore subsequently launched its own S.League competition in 1996.)
