Johor Darul Ta’zim F.C. or simply JDT is a professional football club based in Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia that competes in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football. Founded in 1972 as PKENJ FC, the club renamed as Johor FC in 1996, before adopting its current name in 2013.[4] Johor Darul Ta’zim is owned by Tunku Ismail Idris, the Crown Prince of Johor.
In 2014, JDT won its first major honour by winning the national league during the first season under Croatian manager Bojan Hodak. Under Argentine Mario Gómez‘s tutelage, they won both the 2015 AFC Cup and the 2015 Super League. By winning the AFC Cup, JDT became the second Malaysian team since 1967 to enter the final of a major continental competition, and the first ever Malaysian club to win a continental title. Between 2014 and 2023, JDT won ten consecutive league titles. Before this achievement, no Malaysian team had ever won the league championship more than twice in a row since the league system was first introduced in Malaysia in 1982.
Since 2012, JDT are known by their new nickname, the Southern Tigers (Malay: Harimau Selatan), replacing the old nickname Jengking (Scorpion). The new nickname is based on the Johor State Council’s coat of arms.[5] The team’s home ground is the 40,000 capacity Sultan Ibrahim Stadium.
History[edit]
The Johor FC Era (1996–2011)[edit]
The club were founded in 1972 as PKENJ FC. After winning the Malaysia FAM Cup twice, the Johor Corporation (a state funded corporation) decided to takeover the club in 1996 and changed its name to Johor Football Club (Johor FC). The club finished as runners-up in the 1996 season.
In 1998, Johor FC were promoted to the second tier Malaysian football league, Liga Perdana 2 and won the title in 2001 which secured promotion to the first division, Liga Perdana 1.[6] After two years in the top division, Johor FC were relegated to the new second-division, the Malaysia Premier League after failing to achieve promotion to the new top division, the Malaysia Super League during the 2003 season.[7] The club earned an automatic promotion to the Malaysia Super League during the 2006–07 season after the Football Association of Malaysia‘s decision to expand the league to 14 teams and were a regular top 5 finisher in the league. Johor FC were the first club team in the Malaysian football league system to enter the Malaysia Cup in 2000 under English manager Bruce Stowell. The Malaysia Cup was previously dominated by state teams and by defeating ATM on aggregate in the second-round group qualification, the club marked another record in the competition. The club also participated in the AFC Cup in 2009 replacing Negeri Sembilan when the latter qualified but did not proceed to compete in the competition.[8]
Johor Darul Ta’zim era (2013–present)[edit]
Starting from 2 February 2012, former Singaporean international footballer Fandi Ahmad began his three-year contract with Johor FA serving as the technical advisor.[9] Later in the year, Fandi assumed the role as the team’s head coach. The team eventually finished fourth in the 2012 Malaysia Premier League season.
Tunku Ismail was officially appointed as the new President of Johor FA (PBNJ) in the association’s congress held on 16 February 2012. During the congress, he first mooted a proposal to revamp the whole organisation structure and its footballing activities. Part of the plan was to consolidate its football teams into a single representative competing in the Malaysian League.[10]
During the season, there were several match fixing allegations and investigations involving players from Johor-based teams.[11][12] At the end of the 2012 season, Johorean football was in a poor state. Johor based teams were underperforming and struggling in the Malaysian League. Johor FC barely avoided relegation in the Malaysian Super League, while other Johor-based clubs – Johor FA, Johor Bahru City F.C., and MP Muar F.C. – were struggling to compete in Malaysian Premier League.[13] Just months after Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim took charge as Johor FA’s president, a bold strategic revamp within Johor FA (PBNJ) was initiated. The move was to realign and consolidate football teams and clubs representing Johor. It saw both teams, Johor FC and Johor FA being placed under a single management to ensure the stability of both teams. All Johor-based clubs except for Johor FC and Johor FA were withdrawn from the Malaysian League. Both teams were reinstated with same name and were placed in numerical order.[14][15] In December 2012, the FAM announced that they had received the application of the team’s name change to Darul Ta’zim FC for the upcoming 2013 season and with no objections to it.[16] The team was later renamed as Johor Darul Ta’zim Football Club.
