The 2020 Malaysia Premier League was the 17th season of the Malaysia Premier League, the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia since its establishment in 2004.
| Season | 2020 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 29 February – 31 October 2020 |
| Champions | Penang 1st Second Division title |
| Promoted | Penang Kuala Lumpur |
| Matches played | 66 |
| Goals scored | 191 (2.89 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Casagrande (9 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Perak II 5–1 Kuching (5 September 2020) |
| Biggest away win | 7 goals Selangor II 1–6 Johor Darul Ta'zim II (20 September 2020) |
| Highest scoring | 9 goals Kuala Lumpur 5–4 Selangor II (25 September 2020) |
| Longest winning run | 6 matches Penang |
| Longest unbeaten run | 10 matches Penang |
| Longest winless run | 6 matches Kuching Kelantan United |
| Longest losing run | 6 matches Kelantan United |
| Total attendance | 47,974[a] |
| Average attendance | 2,821[a] |
← 2019 2021 → | |
The season started on 29 February and should end on 20 July 2020. However, on 13 March, it was announced that the league would be suspended indefinitely, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On 1 May, it was announced that the league would resume in September dependent on the situation at the time. Due to time constraints, the home-and-away format for the Super League and the Premier League has been scrapped. Teams played each other only once, meaning the champions of the Super League and Premier League were decided after eleven rounds of matches.[1]
Team changes
A total of 12 teams contested the league, including 7 sides from the 2019 season, 3 relegated from the 2019 Malaysia Super League and 2 promoted from the 2019 Malaysia M3 League.
To Premier League
Promoted from Liga M3
Relegated from Super League
Renamed/Rebranded Clubs
- PKNP FC was renamed as Perak FA II and designated as the reserve team of Perak FA.
- In a desperate move by Football Association of Sarawak (FAS), FAS bought Selangor United and rebranded it as Sarawak United and located to Kuching, Sarawak in an attempt to return to Malaysian Premier League and regain their "honour".[2][3]
Notes:
- ^1 PKNS was demoted to Premier League after their absorption to Selangor, change their status as reserve team, and renamed as Selangor II.[4] UiTM FC was promoted to Super League as replacement.
From Premier League
Promoted to Super League
Relegated to Liga M3
Stadium and locations
- Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johor Darul Ta'zim II | Larkin | Tan Sri Dato Haji Hassan Yunos Stadium | 30,000[6] |
| Kelantan | Kota Bharu | Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium[1] | 22,000[7] |
| Kelantan United | Kota Bharu | Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium | 22,000 |
| Kuala Lumpur FA | Kuala Lumpur | Kuala Lumpur Stadium | 18,000[8] |
| Kuching | Kuching | Sarawak Stadium | 40,000 |
| Negeri Sembilan | Seremban | Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium | 45,000[9] |
| Perak II | Manjung | Manjung Stadium | 15,000 |
| Penang | George Town | City Stadium | 25,000 |
| Sarawak United | Kuching | Sarawak Stadium | 40,000 |
| Selangor II | Selayang | Selayang Stadium | 16,000 |
| Terengganu II | Kuala Terengganu | Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium | 15,000 |
| UKM | Selayang | Selayang Stadium | 16,000 |
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 |  Rafa Gil |  Nico Fernandez | Nike | - |
| Kelantan |  Yusri Che Lah | Nazrin Nawi | PUC Sport Archived 2021-10-26 at the Wayback Machine | After Image |
| Kelantan United | Zahasmi Ismail[10] | Shahrizan Ismail | SkyHawk | Visit Kelantan 2020 |
| Kuala Lumpur FA | Nidzam Adzha |  Paulo Josué | Puma | KL BACA 2020 |
| Kuching | Ideris Untong | Rafiezan Razali | StarSport | Kuching |
| Negeri Sembilan | Sazali Saidon | Kaharuddin Rahman | Admiral | Visit Negeri Sembilan |
| Perak II | Abu Bakar Fadzim | Sukri Hamid | Kelme | Visit Perak (home) & Pangkor Duty Free Island (away) |
| Penang | Manzoor Azwira | Azmi Muslim | Stallion Apparel | Pulau Pinang |
| Sarawak United | E. Elavarasan | Amri Yahyah | Joma | Press Metal |
| Selangor II | Rusdi Suparman | Sharul Nazeem | Joma | PKNS |
| Terengganu II | Roshadi Wahab |  Bruno Suzuki | Al-Ikhsan | redONE |
| UKM | Sulaiman Hussin | Asnan Ahmad | Line 7 | SUKIPT |
Coaching changes
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johor Darul Ta'zim II |  Ervin Boban | End of contract | n/a | Pre-season | Rafa Gil[11] | 9 November 2019 |
| Selangor II | K. Rajagopal | End of contract | 22 November 2019 |  Michael Feichtenbeiner | 17 December 2019 | |
| Negeri Sembilan | Zaki Sheikh Ahmad | End of caretaker spell | April 2019 | Sazali Saidon[12] | 19 December 2019 | |
| Terengganu II | Tengku Hazman | End of contract | n/a | Roshadi Wahab | December 2019 | |
| Sarawak United | Abdul Talib Sulaiman | End of contract | n/a | E. Elavarasan | 4 February 2020 |
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 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johor Darul Ta'zim II | Nicolas Fernandez | Luis Cabrera | Fernando Rodriguez | Kei Hirose | |
| Kelantan | Masaki Watanabe |  Felix Odili |  Lazarus Kaimbi |  Kang Seung-jo | |
| Kelantan United | Aylton Alemão |  Adil Kouskous |  Alfusainney Gassama[13] |   Selwan Al Jaberi | |
| Kuala Lumpur FA | Paulo Josué[14] | Nicolás Dul[15] |  Francis Koné |  Azamat Baimatov[16] | |
| Kuching | Bryan Jones Anicézio | Hudson Jesus | Yuta Suzuki | Yuki Tanigawa | |
| Negeri Sembilan | Matheus Vila | Igor Carioca | Almir | Shunsuke Nakatake[17] | |
| Perak II | Bruno Bezerra |  Sacha Petshi |  Tarik Isic |   Yaren Sözer | |
| Penang | Rafael Vitor | Endrick | Casagrande[18] | Lee Chang-hoon | |
| Sarawak United | Demerson | Gabriel Guerra |  Patrick Wleh |  Milad Zanidpour | Nicolás Marotta |
| Selangor II |  Bajram Nebihi |  Armin Maier[19] | |||
| Terengganu II |  Argzim Redžović[20] |  Dechi Marcel |  Jordan Mintah[21] | Bruno Suzuki | |
| UKM | Ignatius Adukor | Julián Bottaro | Akanni-Sunday Wasiu | Lee Seong-woo | Amadaiya Rennie Kevin Osei |
- ^4 Foreign players who left their clubs or were de-registered from playing squad due to medical issues or other matters.
Results
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Penang (P) | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 8 | +16 | 26 | Promotion to Super League |
| 2 | Terengganu II[b] | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 14 | +3 | 22 | |
| 3 | Kuala Lumpur (P) | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 14 | +7 | 21 | Promotion to Super League |
| 4 | Kuching | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 19 | −2 | 16 | |
| 5 | Johor Darul Ta'zim II[b] | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 17 | +3 | 15 | |
| 6 | Kelantan | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 15[c] | |
| 7 | Selangor II[b] | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 23 | −6 | 13 | |
| 8 | Kelantan United | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 19 | −6 | 12 | |
| 9 | UKM | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 17 | −6 | 12 | Withrew Next Season |
| 10 | Sarawak United | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 16 | −2 | 11 | |
| 11 | Negeri Sembilan | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 20 | −8 | 11 | |
| 12 | Perak II[b] | 11 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 13 | −2 | 8 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored.
(P) Promoted
Notes:
Result table
Season statistics
Top scorers
- As of matches played on 31 October 2020.[22]
Players sorted first by goals, then by last name.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Casagrande | Penang | 9 |
| 2 | Endrick Santos | Penang | 8 |
| 3 | Francis Koné | Kuala Lumpur | 7 |
| Danial Asri | Selangor II | ||
| Fernando Rodríguez | Johor Darul Ta'zim II | ||
| Jordan Mintah | Terengganu F.C. II |
Hat-tricks
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casagrande | Penang | Selangor II | 4 – 1 (H) | 7 March 2020 |
| Hakimi Abdullah | Kelantan | UKM | 1 – 5 (A) | 22 August 2020 |
| Endrick Santos | Penang | Kelantan | 0 – 3 (A) | 29 August 2020 |
Clean sheets
- As of matches played on 25 September 2020.
Players sorted first by clean sheets, then by last name.
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Samuel Somerville | Penang | 3 |
| Remezey Che Ros | UKM | ||
| Kaharuddin Rahman | Negeri Sembilan | ||
| Fikri Che Soh | Kelantan | ||
| 4 | Suhaimi Hussin | Terengganu II | 2 |
| 6 | Faridzuean Kamaruddin | Kelantan | 1 |
| Farhan Majid | Perak II | ||
| Firdaus Irman | Selangor II | ||
| Haziq Nadzli | Johor Darul Ta'zim II | ||
| Iqbal Suhaimi | Kuching | ||
| Shahrizan Ismail | Kelantan United | ||
| Sikh Izhan | Selangor II | ||
| Syazwan Yusoff | Kelantan United | ||
| Zamir Selamat | Kuala Lumpur |