| Full name | Sabah Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Rhinos | ||
| Founded | 1950; 75 years ago (1950), asNorth Borneo Football Association 2021; 4 years ago (2021), asSabah Football Club (officially owned bySabah Football Club Sdn Bhd.)[1] | ||
| Ground | Likas Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 35,000[2] | ||
| Owner | Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd[3] | ||
| CEO | Shahelmey Yahya | ||
| Head coach | Jean-Paul de Marigny | ||
| League | Malaysia Super League | ||
| 2024–25 | Malaysia Super League, 3rd of 13 | ||
| Website | sabah-fc | ||
 Current season | |||
Sabah Football Club (Malay:Kelab Bolasepak Sabah) is a Malaysian professionalfootball club owned by theSabah Football Club Sdn Bhd. The club represents the state ofSabah inBorneo, and competes in theMalaysia Super League, the top tier ofMalaysian football. Their home matches are played at the 35,000-capacityLikas Stadium inKota Kinabalu, the capital city of Sabah.
Sabah FA (at that time) won theMalaysia FA Cup in 1995, the MalaysianPremier League (top tier) in1996, and theMalaysia Premier League (second tier) in2019. In 1995, Sabah FA also advanced to the second round of theAsian Cup Winners' Cup after defeatingAn Giang ofV. League 3–1 onaggregate. They lost to Bellmare Hiratsuka (nowShonan Bellmare) ofJ1 League 1–7 on aggregate.
Until 2021, Sabah FA, also known as Sabah FA State Football Team, was one of the 14 state teams in the Malaysian football system. It was funded and managed by the SAFA. However, the Malaysian football league mandated that all the top two leagues must be professional, leading to the privatisation of SAFA.
From the 1950s until 1963, Sabah competed as North Borneo football team in theBorneo Cup together withSarawak football team andBrunei national football team.[4] Following theformation of theFederation of Malaysia, the North Borneo Football Association (NBFA) changed its name to Sabah Football Association (Sabah FA). Sabah qualify into theMalaysia Cup for the first time in 1977 and enter the competition in 1978.[5]
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Sabah was a well known team during the Malaysian football amateur and semi-pro era and produced many quality players, namely the trio ofJames Wong,Hassan Sani andPeter Rajah.[7][8] These players led Sabah to become one of Malaysian football's most feared teams during the 80's. One fine example was during the 1979 Malaysian League where Sabah started slowly. After a run of 8 matches, they stood with 3 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses, but during the later stages they stepped up by winning all remaining matches, most of them by huge margins including an incredible 8–0 thrashing of Sarawak, 11–0 hammering ofPerak and the 6–1 beating ofTerengganu. At the end of the season, Sabah finished as runners-up behindSingapore and became the highest scoring team with 49 goals in 12 games.[9] In 1991, Sabah strikerMatlan Marjan became the first Malaysian to score a double againstEngland in 'A' international matches.[10]
When professional football was introduced byFootball Association of Malaysia (FAM), Sabah made a reputation of being one of the Malaysian League's most competitive sides. Quality players were produced from the ranks during the 1990s, most notably Matlan who helped Sabah finish as runners-up during 1993 and 1994Malaysia FA Cup, and who at one time was appointed as the national team captain byClaude Le Roy. The positive results were cut short by thematch fixing scandal in 1994. Matlan was the one of several players found guilty. As a punishment for their involvement in match fixing, he and the other players were banned for life byFIFA andbanished from the state of Sabah under the Restricted Residence Act.[11] After the scandal, Sabah began its rebuilding process. Sabah won their first professional trophy, the FA Cup 1995. In the 1996 season, Sabah won their first league title and went through to the final of the Cup for the first time, but were beaten bySelangor on penalties. Sabah then reached the final of the 1998 Malaysia FA Cup.[12] The 2000 season could be considered as Sabah's worst since joining the Malaysian professional league as they were relegated to the second division, and could not get past the group stages of the Malaysia Cup. However, Sabah quickly regained its performance in the 2001 season where they finished as runners-up behindJohor FC.[13] In the 2002 season, Sabah was lining up players of calibre such asZainizam Marjan,Khairul Azman Mohamed andJosiah Seton, finishing third in the league and again managed to get through to the final of Malaysia Cup by beatingSelangor Public Bank and Perak. Sabah however finished as runners-up yet again by losing to the same team that beat them in 1996 final, Selangor. This time, Sabah lost bygolden goal scored byAmri Yahyah.[14] In 2003, Sabah again finished third in Liga Premier One. They reached the final of Malaysia Cup. This time they lost to club-sideMPPJ by 0–3, withhat-trick fromJuan Manuel Arostegui.[15]
When theMalaysia Super League (MSL) was introduced in 2004, Sabah struggled to be competitive against other teams in the top league. Sabah only managed to stay in Super League for two seasons as they were relegated to theMalaysia Premier League (MPL) in 2005. After the relegation, Sabah continued to struggle for promotion. They lost toPahang in the 2007 season play-off.[16]
After 6 years in the 2nd tier MPL,Australian head coachGary Phillips was able to guide Sabah to promotion in 2010 in his first season in charge.[17] After poor results which have affected Sabah's performance in 2011, Gary Phillips was replaced by local head coachJustin Ganai to save Sabah from relegation zone.[18] Justin improved Sabah performance in the2011 Malaysia Cup where the team reached the quarter-finals. He was retained as for the 2012 season but step down eventually. Sabah got relegated back to the Malaysia Premier League after losing toKedah. Salt was added to the wound as the relegation was followed by them failing to qualify to the group stage of the2012 Malaysia Cup.
Sabah started their 2013 season back in the Malaysia Premier League as their main defendersRonny Harun andMafry Balang left andRozaimi Abdul Rahman was loaned out toHarimau Muda A. 2013 season was led by Northern Irishman head coachDavid McCreery and they end up in 5th place, but lost the Malaysia Cup play-off 0–4 toNegeri Sembilan atShah Alam Stadium. McCreery left at the end of the season. The year 2014 saw a major changes in the team's sponsorship by which local brand Carino was signed as their kit supplier and Ararat Sports plus BSA as their sponsor. During this season, former Sabah playerMilomir Šešlija become theirhead coach, replacing McCreery in the hot seat.[19] They finished 8th out of 12 in the MPL, missed the Malaysia Cup group stage for third consecutive seasons and also got out of the FA Cup in the early stage.
Just after 2014 season finished, another major change was made by whichGeorge O'Callaghan was signed as their technical director. Sabah FA successfully signed twice African 'Player of The Year'El Hadji Diouf and his compatriotAbdoulaye Faye, followed by Irish-born Libyan footballer,Éamon Zayed and SingaporeanFazrul Nawaz.[20][21][22][23] Fazrul and O'Callaghan were released early in the season few weeks beforeMalaysia Premier League kick off.[24][25] Fazrul was replaced byJoel Chianese during the mid-season transfer window, and O'Callaghan byBrisbane Roar ex-coachMike Mulvey in February 2015.[26][27] Diouf's dissatisfaction grew with Sabah FA management plans,[28] along with his dismissal during few of Sabah's matches thus allowing youngsterLeopold Alphonso and Rawilson Batuil to play.[29] Promising start of 2015 season ended with disappointment at 7th place, missing Malaysia Cup automatic slot. TC Goh, Mulvey and big name players such as Diouf, Zayed, Faye, Chianese and Rozaimi Abdul Rahman left at the end of the season due to no contract renewal.[30]
Following much efforts and various reorganisation made on the team, Sabah FA was crowned as the champion of the2019 Malaysia Premier League for the first time since they last lifted the old first division title back in 1996.[31] Having early secured various imports such asBrazilianLuiz Júnior,South KoreanPark Tae-soo andSerbianLuka Milunović,Aguinaldo da Veiga,Ahmet Ataýew,Rodoljub Paunović and various local talents, the team was able to win 13 from a total of 19 matches, qualifying for the2020 Malaysia Super League.[32][33][34]
Starting from the 2021 season, all clubs competing in the Malaysia Super League must be privatised as required by the FAM.[1]Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd was formed in order to fulfill the condition.Verdon Bahanda was appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the club on 12 November 2020.[35] Therefore, Sabah FA was renamed toSabah Football Club as the new club name, and therhino once again became the official mascot of the club.[36]
Sabah finished in third place of the2022 Malaysia Super League, which saw them returning to the continental club competition since 1995–96 and making their debut in the2023–24 AFC Cup in the group H withHaiphong,Hougang United andPSM Makassar. On 21 September, they played their first fixture against Hougang United in a 3–1 home win. In the next fixture, Sabah faced PSM Makassar away, where they won 5–0 withSaddil Ramdani bagging a hat-trick of assists. Their journey ended in the ASEAN Zonal semi-final, where they facedMacarthur FC and were ultimately defeated 0–3.
In preparation for the2025–26 season, Sabah then sign New Zealand national team playerDane Ingham fromNewcastle Jets andDean Pelekanos fromWestern Sydney Wanderers. The club also sees themselves returning withAdidas as the club apparel partnership since 2016.
In November 2020 following the privatisation of the club, Sabah displayed the club's new official logo which was chosen following a competition. During the time, Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd in its statement informed that the logo was created by an individual named Firzaruddin Zainal Abiddin. Apart from fulfilling the design requirements, the logo was chosen by the most fans.[37]
Likas Stadium is the current official main home ground for Sabah. It has a capacity of 22,000, making it the8th largest football stadium in Malaysia in terms ofseating capacity. It has been the home stadium of Sabah since its opening in 1983.
| Season | Manufacturer | Main Sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 |  Line 7 |  Dunhill |
| 2005 | TM | |
| 2005–06 | TM Net | |
| 2006–07 | Celcom,TMnet | |
| 2007–08 | Celcom | |
| 2009 | Streamyx | |
| 2010 | Carino | TM |
| 2011 |  Adidas | No sponsors |
| 2012 | ||
| 2013 | Grace One Sports | |
| 2014 | Carino | BSA |
| 2015 | Adidas | Globaltec |
| 2016 | Sabah Energy
| |
| 2017 | Carino | |
| 2018 | ||
| 2019 | No sponsors | |
| 2020 | ||
| 2021 |  Lotto | Warisan Harta Sabah
|
| 2022 | RedOne | |
| 2023 | Sawit Kinabalu
| |
| 2024–2025 | Jetama | |
| 2025–present | Adidas | Sawit Kinabalu |
Sabah FA first mascot was therhino since mid-1990s. In 2010 the SAFA rebranded the mascot tohawk.[38] which was controversial as Kuala Lumpur FA at that time was also known as theHawks.[39] Sabah FA reinstated the Rhino mascot starting from 2015.[20] In 2019, Sabah FA once again rebranded the mascot asTambadau.[40] During 2021 privatisation process,Sabah FC was chosen as the new club name and rhino once again became the official mascot.[36]
Sabah FC neighbouring rival wasSarawak United, andKuching City matches referred to as theBorneo Derby.
Malaysia Super League and other cup matches are broadcast live on Astro Arena and on the Astro Go and Sooka streaming platforms, while radio coverages regular season matches on RTM Sabah FM 89.9 inMalay language.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| CEO | Shahelmey Yahya |
| Technical director |  Scott Ollerenshaw |
| Head coach | Jean-Paul de Marigny |
| Assistant coach |  Martin Stano |
| Faisal Ahmad | |
| Goalkeeper coach | Irwan Jamil |
| Team doctor | Wan Sherhan Wan Ilias |
| Physio |  Norbert Mohnen |
| Maxson Michael George | |
| Masseur | Madlin Saman |
| Bonaventure Michael | |
| Kitman | Azree Rosli |
| Zamri Jamli |
Titles | Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| Liga Perdana/Malaysia Super League | ||
| Malaysia Premier League | 2001,2010 | |
| Malaysia FA Cup | 1995 | 1993, 1994, 1998 |
| Malaysia Cup | 1996, 2002, 2003 | |
| Malaysian Charity Shield | 1996 | |
| Borneo Cup (13×) | 1962, 1963, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985 | 1987 |
Note:
1st or Champions 2nd or Runner-up 3rd place Relegation
| Season | League | Cup | Asia | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | D | Pts | Pos | Charity | Malaysia | FA | Competition | Result | |
| 1995 | Liga Perdana | 28 | 13 | 5 | 10 | 60 | 45 | +15 | 44 | 5th | – | Semi-finals | Champions | Asian Cup Winners' Cup | Round of 16 |
| 1996 | Liga Perdana | 28 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 49 | 21 | +28 | 58 | 1st | Runner-up | Runner-up | Quarter-finals | – | – |
| 1997 | Liga Perdana | 28 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 42 | 28 | +14 | 49 | 3rd | – | Group stage | 2nd round | – | – |
| 1998 | Perdana 1 | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 22 | 26 | –4 | 31 | 5th | – | Semi-finals | Runner-up | – | – |
| 1999 | Perdana 1 | 18 | 6 | 7[a] | 5 | 20 | 20 | +0 | 29 | 4th | – | Group stage | Semi-finals | – | – |
| 2000 | Perdana 1 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 22 | 41 | –19 | 16 | 11th | – | Group stage | 1st round | – | – |
| 2001 | Perdana 2 | 22 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 41 | 22 | +19 | 45 | 2nd | – | Group stage | Semi-finals | – | – |
| 2002 | Perdana 1 | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 48 | 30 | +18 | 47 | 3rd | – | Runner-up | Quarter-finals | – | – |
| 2003 | Perdana 1 | 24 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 34 | 22 | +12 | 38 | 4th | – | Runner-up | Semi-finals | – | – |
| 2004 | Super League | 21 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 22 | 35 | –13 | 17 | 6th | – | Semi-finals | Quarter-finals | – | – |
| 2005 | Super League | 21 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 25 | 39 | –14 | 22 | 8th | – | Group stage | Quarter-finals | – | – |
| 2005–06 | Premier League | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 32 | 31 | +1 | 28 | 4th | – | Group stage | 1st round | – | – |
| 2006–07 | Premier League | 20 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 26 | 21 | +5 | 27 | 5th | – | Semi-finals | Quarter-finals | – | – |
| 2007–08 | Premier League | 24 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 48 | 27 | +21 | 44 | 4th | – | Group stage | Quarter-finals | – | – |
| 2009 | Premier League | 24 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 18 | 31 | –13 | 22 | 9th | – | Group stage | 1st round | – | – |
| 2010 | Premier League | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 42 | 14 | +28 | 48 | 2nd | – | Group stage | 1st round | – | – |
| 2011 | Super League | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 24 | 32 | –8 | 28 | 10th | – | Quarter-finals | 1st round | – | – |
| 2012 | Super League | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 33 | 52 | –19 | 28 | 13th | – | Not qualified | 1st round | – | – |
| 2013 | Premier League | 22 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 42 | 46 | –4 | 30 | 5th | – | Not qualified | 2nd round | – | – |
| 2014 | Premier League | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 21 | 30 | –9 | 24 | 7th | – | Not qualified | 2nd round | – | – |
| 2015 | Premier League | 22 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 37 | 42 | –5 | 27 | 7th | – | Not qualified | 1st round | – | – |
| 2016 | Premier League | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 26 | 41 | –15 | 20 | 9th | – | Not qualified | 3rd round | – | – |
| 2017 | Premier League | 22 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 33 | 38 | –5 | 30 | 7th | – | Not qualified | Quarter-finals | – | – |
| 2018 | Premier League | 20 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 35 | 26 | +9 | 28 | 6th | – | Semi-finals | 2nd round | – | – |
| 2019 | Premier League | 20 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 33 | 17 | +16 | 43 | 1st | – | Group Stage | 2nd round | – | – |
| 2020 | Super League | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 24 | –12 | 9 | 10th | – | Cancelled | Cancelled | – | – |
| 2021 | Super League | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 21 | 38 | –17 | 19 | 9th | – | – | Not held | – | – |
| 2022 | Super League | 22 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 36 | 26 | +10 | 42 | 3rd | – | Semi-finals | Quarter-finals | – | – |
| 2023 | Super League | 26 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 64 | 33 | 31 | 54 | 3rd | – | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | AFC Cup | Zonal semi-finals |
| 2024-25 | Super League | 24 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 41 | 33 | 8 | 40 | 3rd | _ | Semi-final | Quarter-finals | _ | _ |
| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Asian Cup Winners' Cup | First round |  An Giang | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 |
| Second round |  Bellmare Hiratsuka | 1–2 | 0–5 | 1–7 | ||
| 2023–24 | AFC Cup | Group H |  Hougang United | 3–1 | 4–1 | 1st out of 4 |
 PSM Makassar | 1–3 | 5–0 | ||||
| Hải Phòng | 4–1 | 2–3 | ||||
| ASEAN Zonal semi-finals | Macarthur | 0–3 | ||||
Goh Thian Chuan (1999, 2015) Osman Jamal (2000–2001) Mohd Joehari Mohd Ayub (2004–2005) Abdul Rahman Zakaria (2006–2009, 2014) Mohd Asyraaf Fong Abdullah (2009)Gary Phillips (2010–2011) Shahriman Abdullah (2011–2012) Alijus Sipil (2013–2014)
Adlane Messelem (2017)Juil Nuatim (2018)Peter Anthony (2018–2020) Jelius Ating (2020–2022)Shahelmey Yahya (2023–) Stanley Chew (–1979, 1985, 1987–1988) Gerd Schmidt (1980–1983)James Wong (1984) Azah Ezrein (1986)
Frank Upton (1989–1990)Roy Lorenson (1990–1992)
Oldřich Sedláček (1992–1995) Kelly Tham (1995–1996)Ron Smith (1996–1997)Ken Shellito (1998) Justin Ganai (1999, 2005–2006, 2011–2012, 2015)Ken Worden (1999)David Woodfield (2000–2001)Peter Butler (2001–2004)
José Garrido (2004–2005)José Luis (2005)
Drago Mamić (2007–2008)
Wathiq Naji (2008–2009) Mohd Asyraaf Fong Abdullah (2009)Gary Phillips (2010–2011) Andrew Majjangkim (2012)
David McCreery (2012–2013) Johnny Dominicus (2013)
Milomir Šešlija (2013–2014)Mike Mulvey (2015)Vjeran Simunić (2015–2016) Steve Vilmiaire (2016–2017) Jelius Ating (2017–2019)Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto (2020, 2021) Lucas Kalang Laeng (2020) Burhan Ajui (caretaker)Ong Kim Swee (2021–2024) Martin Stano (2024–2025) Alto Linus (2025-)The following coaches won at least one trophy when in charge of Sabah:
| Name | Period | Trophies |
|---|---|---|
| Kelly Tham | 1995–1996 | 1995 Malaysia FA Cup |
| Ron Smith | 1996–1998 | 1996 Premier League |
| Jelius Ating | 2017–2019 | 2019 Malaysia Premier League |
Notable former players of Sabah F.C. who have earnedsenior international caps for their respective nations:
