 The winner of the first season of Borneo Cup in 1962,North Borneo football team, one year before the merger to form Malaysia. | |
| Founded | 1962 |
|---|---|
| Abolished | 1989 |
| Region | East Malaysia andBrunei |
| Last champions |  Sarawak(7th title) |
| Most successful team(s) |  Sabah(13 titles) |
Borneo Cup (Malay: Piala Borneo) is a football tournament held inEast Malaysia andBrunei. The tournament was played inBorneo since the 1950s, perhaps earlier. Before the establishment ofMalaysia on 16 September 1963, the tournament was contested by three national teams,North Borneo,Sarawak andBrunei.[1][2] AfterNorth Borneo andSarawak formed Malaysia together withMalaya andSingapore, it competed asstates of Malaysia.
In 1977, the tournament champions Sabah qualify for theMalaysia Cup. The following year, the tournament served as the Malaysia Cup east zone qualifying round.[2] In the 2010s, there is an effort to revive the Cup by the Sabah Football Association (SAFA), but with the absence of sponsors and the tight schedule of the Brunei team in theS.League became a major barrier to the efforts.[3]
The Borneo Football Championship was first played by BritishCrown colony officials who took over the management ofBritish North Borneo from theNorth Borneo Chartered Company in 1946 after theSecond World War.[3] It was then officially called the Borneo Cup in 1962. The oldest football club in Borneo, Kuching Wanderers FC (now known as the Kuching Football Association) can be said to be the pioneer of this tournament in the era of British rule. Sabah, which is known as North Borneo at that time became the inaugural champion in 1962. The Sabah team then won another 12 titles from 23 Borneo Cup editions until 1988.[3] Sarawak won seven times while Brunei won only three times. Sabah who became the Borneo Cup champion in 1977 was the first team from Borneo Island to compete in the Malaysia Cup. TheFootball Association of Malaysia (FAM) also invited Sarawak and Brunei to compete in the Burnley Cup (which is now known as thePresident's Cup). In 1989, the Borneo Cup was abolished after the failure of the team to conclude an agreement with FAM to join theSemi-Pro League.
| Year | Champions | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 |  North Borneo | ||
| 1963 |  Sabah | ||
| 1964 | Sabah | ||
| 1965 |  Sarawak | ||
| 1966 | Sarawak | ||
| 1967 | Sabah | ||
| 1968 |  Brunei | ||
| 1969 | Sarawak | ||
| 1970 | Sabah | ||
| 1971 | Sabah | ||
| 1972 | Sabah | ||
| 1973–76 | No competition | ||
| 1977 | Sabah | ||
| 1978 | Sabah | ||
| 1979 | Sabah | ||
| 1980 | Sabah | ||
| 1981 | Brunei[4] | ||
| 1982 |  Sarawak | ||
| 1983 | Sarawak | ||
| 1984 |  Sabah | ||
| 1985 | Sabah | ||
| 1986 | Sarawak | ||
| 1987 | Brunei | ||
| 1988 | Sarawak[5] | ||
| 1989–present | not held | ||
| National teams | |
|---|---|
| League competitions | |
| Cup competitions | |
| International competitions | |
| other |
|
