M-League
| Country | Malaysia |
|---|---|
| Confederation | AFC |
| Founded | 1979 (Amateur League) 1982 (League trophy introduced) 1989 (Semi-Professional League) 1994 (Professional League) 2004 (Semi-privatisation era) 2016 (Privatisation era) |
| Divisions |
Liga Super Liga Premier Liga FAM |
| Number of teams | 12 Liga Super 12 Liga Premier 18 Liga FAM |
| Level on pyramid | 1-3 |
| Relegation to | Malaysian States League |
| Domestic cup(s) |
Piala FA Piala Malaysia |
| International cup(s) |
AFC Champions League AFC Cup |
The Malaysian League or also known as M-League (Liga Malaysia or Liga-M in Malay) is a terminology used to describe the association football league in Malaysia. The terminology was mainly used to describe the league associated within Malaysian football league system.
The concept of an annual competition between the states in Malaysia goes back more than 95 years. In 1967 the Malaya Cup was replaced by the Piala Malaysia but the essentially amateur ethos continued until the Malaysian football league was introduced by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) in 1979 as a 'halfway house' towards full professional status.
Malaysian football league competition involving the representative sides of the state football associations was first held in Malaysia in 1979. When it began, it was intended primarily as a qualifying tournament for the final knock-out stages of the Piala Malaysia where teams compete in a one-round league before advanced to the knock-out stage. The top four teams at the end of the league will face off in two semi-finals before the winners made it to the finals. In 1981, the quarter-finals stage were introduced where eight teams were qualified from the preliminary stage.
However, it was not until 1982 that a league trophy was introduced to recognise the winners of the preliminary stage as the league champions which then officially started the era of nationwide level amateur football league in Malaysia. Since then, the Piala Malaysia has been held after the conclusion of the league each year, with only the best-performing teams in the league qualifying for the Piala Malaysia. Over the years, the league competition has gained important stature in its own right.
In early days, Malaysian football league system consist of amateur league before the changes in 1989 when it was known fully as the Liga Semi-Pro from 1989 to 1993. The league was divided into two divisions, Liga Semi-Pro Divisyen 1 and Liga Semi-Pro Divisyen 2.
The inaugural season of Liga Semi-Pro consisted of nine teams in Divisyen 1 and eight teams in Divisyen 2. The Malaysian Police joined Divisyen 2 in 1990. Games were played on a home and away basis for about four months roughly between the end of April or early May and the end of August or early September.
Liga Perdana was formed and established in 1994 to succeed the Liga Semi-Pro and became the Malaysian fully professional football league and was the top-tier football league in the country at that time. At this time the league was interchangeably referred as Malaysian League.
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