Kedah Darul Aman Football Club (Malay: Kelab Bola Sepak Kedah Darul Aman) is a professional football club based in Alor Setar, Kedah, that competes in the Malaysia Super League. They are the first team in the history of Malaysian football to have won two consecutive trebles: in 2006–07 and 2007–08 guided by head coach, Azraai Khor Abdullah.[4] The club is managed by Darulaman Football Club Sdn Bhd currently own by Tan Sri Dr Mohd Daud Bakar.
In 2021, the club changed its name from Kedah FA to Kedah Darul Aman.[5]
History
The football team was founded in 1924 by Tunku Yaacob ibni Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah as president, though they only had limited success until the appointment of Ahmad Basri Akil as manager in 1985.[6] Under Ahmad Basri Akil, the club qualified for six Malaysia Cup final matches in a seven-year period between 1987 and 1993; and won two Malaysia Cup titles, one league title and one FA Cup title.[6]
The club experienced a lean period in the 1980s and 1990s, but enjoyed a revival in the new millennium by achieving back-to-back domestic trebles under Azraai Khor.[7] The club also reached 111th position in IFFHS club world ranking between 1 August 2007 to 31 July 2008.[8] However, the club experienced a dip in performances thereafter as a result of the loss of their influential import players; including Nelson San Martín, Cornelius Huggins and Marlon James. Problems with the new management team also led to Azraai Khor's departure.
Kedah were relegated to the second-tier of Malaysian football, the Malaysian Premier League, after losing 3–2 in the playoff final to Sri Pahang in a penalty shootout during the 2012 Malaysia Super League season. Marijo Tot was hired to replace Wan Jamak in an attempt to bring the club back to Malaysia Super League during the 2013 Malaysia Premier League season, which also saw the return of former Kedah's talisman, Nelson San Martín. In the 2014 season, Kedah signed Billy Mehmet, who made an immediate impact by helping the club reach the semi-final of the 2014 Malaysia Cup, winning the first leg 3–1, but ultimately lost the second leg 5–1. Billy Mehmet ended the season as the club's top goal scorer in the 2014 Malaysia Premier League as well as the club's top goal scorer in all competitions. Mehmet was also the second highest goal scorer in all competitions at all levels in Malaysian professional football.
Aidil Sharin era (2019–2022)
On 8 October 2018, Kedah appointed Singaporean head coach, Aidil Sharin Sahak for the 2019 Malaysia Super League season. On his first match as head coach on 2 February 2019, Kedah won 2–0 against PKNP with goals coming from Shakir Hamzah and Jonathan Bauman goal. On 8 March 2019, Aidil Sharin experienced his first defeat in charge of Kedah as the club fell to a 1–0 defeat at the hands of Pahang. Kedah finished in fourth position in the Malaysia Super League in Aidil Sharin first season in charge, one position higher than the previous season. On 27 July 2019, Aidil Sharin led Kedah to win the 2019 Malaysia FA Cup as Fadzrul Danel scored in the dying minute in extra time securing a 1–0 win over Perak in the final. On 26 October 2019, Kedah reached the final of the 2019 Malaysia Cup following a massive 8–8 aggregate against Sri Pahang seeing Kedah through on away goals rules, However Kedah was beaten 3–0 by Johor Darul Ta'zim in the decisive game at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
Aidil Sharin also became the first Singaporean head coach to manage a non-Singaporean team in the AFC Champions League when he guided Kedah into the 2020 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs round in which they thrash Hong Kong club, Tai Po 5–1 in the preliminary round 2 and thus seeing them advance to face FC Seoul in the play-off round which subsequently ended up as a 4–1 defeat at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
New ownership and going full privatised
Prior to the 2021 season, the club changed its name from Kedah FA to Kedah Darul Aman[5] On 25 November 2021, Tan Sri Dr. Mohd Daud Bakar has been appointed by the President of the Kedah Football Association, Dato' Seri Haji Muhammad Sanusi Md. Nor as the chairman of Kedah Darul Aman. Tan Sri Dr. Mohd Daud Bakar is an entrepreneur in various fields as well as leading several large national agencies and in time to develop financial sustainability, governance and governance, facilities, infrastructure as well as the quality of players and coaching as a more dynamic strategy to attract more business opportunities in the modern era of football. As the majority shareholder, Mohd Daud Bakar wants to develop a world-class training center recognized by the World Football Federation (FIFA) with a RM20 Million budget expressed by Mohd Daud Bakar during the press conference after the Ceremony to Introduce Official Sponsors and Partners of Kedah Darul Aman on 9 February 2022. In addition to being a training center, it will also become one of the new tourist attractions in Kedah.
On 17 October 2022, it was announced that Kedah Darul Aman had parted ways with Aidil Sharin. He departed Kedah Darul Aman with a record of 55 wins, 20 draws, and 35 defeats in 110 games with a win percentage of 50%. During the four years tenure as head coach, Aidil Sharin guided Kedah to several highs, including emerging as 2019 Malaysia FA Cup champions, 2019 Malaysia Cup runners-up, 2020 and 2021 Malaysia Super League runners-up as well as reaching the 2022 AFC CupASEAN Zone semi-finals. On the same day, his assistant and also Kedah legend, Victor Andrag was named as interim coach guiding the club in the upcoming 2022 Malaysia Cup which commence on 26 October 2022.
On 6 December 2022, former Terengganu head coach, Nafuzi Zain was appointed to guide Kedah Darul Aman for the upcoming 2023 Malaysia Super League season. In January 2023, Kedah Darul Aman started their 2023 season heading to Turkey for a week pre-season training camp in Antalya playing a couple of friendlies match against FC Nasaf, Shakhter Karagandy, FC Maktaaral and Metalist Kharkiv before returning home. On 26 August 2023, Kedah Darul Aman ended Johor Darul Ta'zim winning streak in the league with goals from Ifedayo Olusegun and Manuel Ott to take the 2–0 lead for Kedah Darul Aman before the opposition come back to take the lead to 2–3 however in the dying minute in the game, Amirbek Juraboev scored the equaliser to settled for a draw which was considered a huge upset for the away side.
Northern Region Derby is the name given to football matches that involves Kedah Darul Aman and Penang.[9] Both them are located in the north of Malaysia. Bandaraya Stadium and Darul Aman Stadium are packed by fans from both clubs during the derby matches. The match usually creates a lively atmosphere, with numerous banners unfolded before the start of the game.
Friendships
Although the club's main rivals mostly are from the northern region of Malaysia, especially Penang, but there is also a strong supporter of friendship with Perlis and there are good relations with the fans of Penang and Perak "This is Utara", which means "This is the north", is a slogan which shows their good friendships among the clubs.
Crest and colours
Kedah Darul Aman's traditional colours are red and black, but the home kit's colours have been green and yellow since 1988. The colours were the result of the former Kedah Football Association Deputy President, Ahmad Basri Akil's request for a different set of colours for the home kit. The colours of green and yellow were chosen as they referenced the state's nickname of Jelapang Padi or Paddy field.[10]
The current club crest were announced by Ahmad Basri Akil alongside the club's official colours of green and yellow in 1988. Green dominates the background; the side of the crest shows 11 joint bordered lines which signify the 11 districts of the Kedah state. At the centre of the crest is a ball and Allamanda flowers; as the flower is green and yellow in colour, with the team motto (Malay: Biar Jasa Jadi Kenangan) written in yellow.
Controversies
During the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, A Malaysian man was denied entry to Al-Bayt Stadium while wearing a 2021 Kedah Darul Aman away jersey with Chenang Bay written on it and a colourful checkered design. The man named, Zulfadli Ahmad Tajudin, told Dari Tepi Padang that he flew all the way from Muar, Johor, to experience the World Cup but was left disappointed by the ordeal he had to face with security. Zulfadli was detained for over 30 minutes who initially had no idea why he was being questioned by the stadium's security officials which suspect him of supporting the LGBTQ+ community due to the jersey he was wearing. Zulfadli went on to say that the officials photographed his jersey before sending the images to the stadium's management to interrogate him further. After seeing the photos Zulfadli had shown, security was still unsatisfied with his answer and asked him to wait for a response from stadium management, later the management let him off and gave him the permission to watch the football game that night.
The song Biar Jasa Jadi Kenangan, once again idealised and written by Ahmad Basri Akil and famously recorded by a Malaysian musician Freddie Fernandez, is the anthem of the club, and has been sung by the crowd since 9 September 1987 after the club reached their first Malaysia Cup semi-final match since 1940. This famous song is sung by the club's fanatic fans to boost their beloved players' morale. The well-known and popular chants among the club supporters is Pulun Kedah Pulun. It is use since late 80's as "words of spirit" during and off the game, and as the slogan among supporters. It was inspired by the idea from Abdul Rashid Fadzil, the former Head of Kedah Fan Club.[citation needed]
^Kedah Darul Aman F.C was found guilty of naming a suspended player to play against Pahang on 3 August 2016. The Football Association of Malaysia awarded three points to Pahang and deducted three points from Darulaman FC for the incident.
To achieve the treble in two consecutive seasons will take another 100 years or more to come by! It takes a Herculean effort to achieve a double treble. The path to the pinnacle required a lot of sacrifices and commitment from the players, team management and the club.
Continental record
All results (home and away) list Kedah Darul Aman's goal tally first.
