During my brief stopover in Singapore, the national Men’s XI played host to Hong Kong down at the Jalan Besar Stadium. An entertaining affair between two of Asia’s wealthy micronations finished 1-1, Singapore taking a long time to find a deserved equaliser.
Singapore Continue reading
Even before we discuss Football, Yogyakarta ticks all the boxes for visitors.
She sits comfortably in the centre of Java, the most Continue reading
Not the Netherlands. Not Japan. Not Timor Leste. Indonesia’s biggest sporting rival is undoubtedly Malaysia.
Like Indonesia, what we now call Malaysia would not have existed without colonialism. Different states sharing no previous political unity were brought together in the face of colonialism. Malaya (before it became Malaysia) emerged Continue reading
As socialmediatisation continues its rampant conquer of our attention, free time, thumbs, creativity and now our work, it is no surprise that the Football Culture of South East Asia is finally getting the global acclaim it deserves. Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages dedicated to fan culture are now broadcasting the exploits of the passionate from Jakarta, Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Surabaya, Bangkok, Palembang, Pahang and Yogyakarta onto the screens of Italians, Israelis and Irishmen during their coffee break.
Asian fanatics developed their own way of supporting their team before the ubiquity of Social Media. They didn’t simply copy the Ultra Model, as is happening now in growing leagues that are exposed to Ultra behaviour elsewhere. They created something different, using Continue reading
Look at the league table in any league unfamiliar to you and you tend to see similar club name suffixes and prefixes. But it is in the Indonesian Liga 1 & 2 that the names are perhaps most similar. Persegres, PSS Sleman, PSIM, PSM, Persija, Persela, Persib, Persiba, Persibat, Persebaya, Persipura, Perseru, Persis. Confusing, right? One Indonesian club with a more distinct name is Sriwijaya FC.
Sriwijaya FC is the club of Palembang, the large inland port city Continue reading
From Boothferry To Germany 