Letter Regarding The Malaysian FA Cup
To the Amateur-Community-Social football team competing in the upcoming Malaysian FA Cup 2020. Congratulation on earning a spot for the Malaysian FA Cup 2020 qualifiers. I truly hope that you earned your spot by merit on and off the field. We came from, what it seems like a long time ago. 2018, when the Malaysian Football League (MFL) opened up the avenue for Amateur-Community-Social football teams to compete in the Malaysian FA Cup. Which has helped galvanise and showcase the compassionately best of grassroots football.
Remembered having discussions leading towards Selangor Football Day 2017 at Damansara Performing Arts Centre. With the brain trust behind Selangor Youth Community, Football Selangor, SemuanyaBola.com, Sons Of Pitches and others. About what kind of questions should we as a grassroots collective ask industry leaders on that day. Including the then Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP) CEO Kevin Ramalingam, about how the non-league football teams and leagues contribute or participate in the Malaysian football ecosystem. And this was when Arsenal faced non-league side Sutton United. So obviously, we wanted to ask about the possibility of non-league teams with merit competing in the Malaysian FA Cup.
After that, Ahmad Muzammil of Semuanyabola.com and Dr. Johan Kamal Hamidon of Football Selangor and Selangor Youth Community communicated and discussed with the then FMLLP, today the Malaysian Football League (MFL) team about that possibility of non-league teams competing the Malaysian FA Cup. To which, the dream was granted by the professional football authorities. This move will be a lasting legacy of everyone involved from the then FMLLP/MFL Chairman HRH Tuanku Ismail, Kevin Ramalingam, Ahamd Muzammil, Dr. Johan Kamal Hamidon, t and everyone involved in building football from the ground up. Klang Valley League, Football Selangor, Terengganu Amateur League, Setia Alam Football League (today Shah Alam Football League), KakiJersi, and more.
Later that year, Axis O2 PJ won the 2017 Selangor Champions League and went on to compete in the Malaysian FA Cup 2018 edition. Knocked out by Kuantan FA 0-7. Axis O2 wasn’t the only team that got a spot during the Malaysian FA Cup. Southern, Real Chukai, Jerantut, and others. Sadly, all weren’t able to reach the third round in 2018.
Fast forward to today, 2020. Nearly 60 teams from the top of the football pyramid to the foundation level will be competing. With the hopes of amateur-community-social teams reach as far as they can, with the aspirations to inspire others that anything is possible as long as we put our collective, hearts, minds, and soul to the honest cause of taking our football forward. This is the point. We can do this when we keep going together.