history FAM

persatuan bolasepak malaysia
football association of malaya
Early 1920s

As with the rest of the world, the spread of the game of football is intertwined with the migration patterns of the British colony ideology.

It is believed that the game first took a foothold in the Malaysian Peninsular in the early 1800s establishing clubs where the number of foreigners were high in areas like Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Johor and Negeri Sembilan.

The game was played more as a form of recreation along with the game of cricket although the first Malaya Cup was played in 1921 between Selangor and Singapore.

Five years later in 1926, the first foundation stone for the Football Association of Malaya (FAM) was laid before it was officially founded as a national body in 1933.

The seriousness showed towards the game following the birth of the Malaya Cup competition elevated football to a higher level in the country with several other states forming associations.

The first president of the FAM or Persatuan Bolasepak Malaysia in 1933 was Sir Andrew Caldecott to be followed by M. Shelley, Dr J. Webster, S. Scott, R. Williamson and Adrian Clark, who served up until 1940 - before Europe went on a full-scale war with Germany.

Singapore was the pre-war champion beating Kedah in the final 2-0.

The post war years brought tremendous pressure on the FAM, which had moved its office from Singapore to the Peninsular, to revive the game which had suffered tremendously in the intervening years.

But it did not take too long for the Malaya Cup to make a return with Negeri Sembilan celebrating the end of the war years with their first ever win of the Cup with a 2-1 victory over powerhouse Selangor.

The Persatuan Bolasepak Malaysia first president after the war was J. King, to be followed by H. Bryson and then Dr C Rawson, who served for two years before vacating for the first ever non-British personality to take over the helm.