# 2012 LionsXII season

The 2012 season was LionsXII's debut season in the Malaysia Super League. LionsXII returned to Malaysia competitions 18 years after their predecessor withdrew from the competitions. The Lions finished MSL runners-up at the end of the season.

## Malaysia Super League

LionsXII debuted in the 2012 Malaysia Super League on 10 January 2012 with a 1–2 home defeat to defending champions Kelantan FA. The Lions's first win was a 2–1 victory over Kuala Lumpur FA on 17 January. They achieved the biggest win in the season by defeating Sabah FA 9–0 on 16 June 2012. LionsXII eventually finished second in the league behind Kelantan FA.
On 29 December 2012, assistant coach Kadir Yahaya left his position at LionsXII and was replaced by Gombak United FC chief K. Balagumaran.
| Date | Pos. | Opponents | H/A | Score | Goalscorers |
| 10 Jan | 10th | Kelantan | H | 1–2 | Baihakki Khaizan 33' |
| 14 Jan | 12th | Kedah | A | 0–0 | |
| 17 Jan | 8th | Kuala Lumpur | H | 2–1 | Aiman Syazwan 43' (og), Shahdan Sulaiman 56' |
| 21 Jan | 6th | Sabah | A | 0–1 | Hariss Harun 19' |
| 28 Jan | 7th | Terengganu | H | 0–1 | |
| 8 Feb | 6th | Selangor | A | 1–1 | Shahril Ishak 43' |
| 11 Feb | 4th | Negeri Sembilan | H | 3–1 | Shahril Ishak 30' (pen), 60', Shahdan Sulaiman 49' |
| 14 Feb | 4th | Perak | A | 1–2 | Shahril Ishak 35', 74' |
| 6 Mar | 2nd | FELDA United | H | 3–1 | Hariss Harun 6', Sufian Anuar 51', Shahril Ishak 67' (pen) |
| 17 Mar | 3rd | Sarawak | A | 0–1 | Shahril Ishak 10' (pen) |
| 20 Mar | 2nd | Selangor | H | 1–1 | Sufian Anuar 62' |
| 31 Mar | 2nd | T-Team | H | 2–1 | Shahril Ishak 51', Shahdan Sulaiman 85' (pen) |
| 3 Apr | 1st | Negeri Sembilan | A | 2–4 | Safuwan Baharudin 14', Khairul Nizam 20', Shahril Ishak 41', Shahdan Sulaiman 70' |
| 7 Apr | 1st | Johor FC | A | 0–1 | Khairul Nizam 42' |
| 10 Apr | 1st | Perak | H | 2–1 | Shahdan Sulaiman 43' (pen), Irwan Shah 87' |
| 14 Apr | 1st | PKNS | A | 1–0 | |
| 17 Apr | 1st | PKNS | H | 5–0 | Safuwan Baharudin 17', Shaiful Esah 19', Sevki Sha'ban 26', Agu Casmir 53', 84' |
| 4 May | 1st | Kelantan | A | 3–0 | |
| 8 May | 1st | FELDA United | A | 0–2 | Shaiful Esah 31', Shahdan Sulaiman 76' |
| 12 May | 1st | Kedah | H | 3–3 | Shahril Ishak 10', Sufian Anuar 29', Baihakki Khaizan 57' |
| 15 May | 1st | Kuala Lumpur | A | 0–0 | |
| 22 May | 1st | Sarawak | H | 3–0 | Safuwan Baharudin 7', Agu Casmir 36', 63' |
| 16 Jun | 1st | Sabah | H | 9–0 | Casmir 19', Hariss 22', 41', 73', Shahdan 62', 65', Irwan 68', Sufian 84', Shahrul 88' (og) |
| 19 Jun | 2nd | Terengganu | A | 0–1 | Sufian Anuar 90' |
| 10 Jul | 2nd | T-Team | A | 2–1 | Bojan Petrić 26' (og) |
| 14 Jul | 2nd | Johor FC | H | 0–1 | |
Final standings
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Kelantan (C, Q) | 26 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 53 | 18 | +35 | 60 | 2013 AFC Cup group stage |
| 2 | LionsXII | 26 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 48 | 23 | +25 | 50 | |
| 3 | Selangor (Q) | 26 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 40 | 26 | +14 | 43 | 2013 AFC Cup group stage |
| 4 | Perak | 26 | 13 | 3 | 10 | 40 | 43 | −3 | 42 | |
| 5 | Terengganu | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 41 | 33 | +8 | 41 | |
* ↑ LionsXII are not eligible for any AFC competition spots
* ↑ Qualified as the next highest-placed local team behind Liga Super and 2012 Piala FA winners Kelantan.

## Malaysia FA Cup

LionsXII began their 2012 Malaysia FA Cup quest on 18 February, with a 3–0 win over UiTM FC. The LionsXII made their way to the quarter-final with a 2–0 win over Betaria FC on 10 March 2012. However, they were beaten by Terengganu FA in the quarter-finals.
| Date | Round | Opponents | H/A | Score | Goalscorers |
| 18 Feb | Round of 32 | UiTM | A | 0–3 | Shaiful Esah 32', Madhu Mohana 15', Shahir Ismail 83' (og) |
| 10 Mar | Round of 16 | Betaria | H | 2–0 | Shahril Ishak 55', Sufian Anuar 84' |
| 24 Mar | Quarter-finals | Terengganu | A | 1–0 | |
| 27 Mar | Quarter-finals | Terengganu | H | 0–0 | |

## Malaysia Cup

The Lions marked their return to their most successful competition with a 0–0 draw away to Johor FC. They eventually bowed out in the semi-finals after losing a penalty shootout to ATM FA with the score tied at 2–2 after extra time.
| Date | Round | Opponents | H/A | Score | Goalscorers |
| 22 Aug | Group stage | Johor FC | A | 0–0 | |
| 25 Aug | Group stage | PKNS | H | 3–1 | Khairul Amri 13', Shaiful Esah 18', Shahril Ishak 48' |
| 28 Aug | Group stage | Johor FA | A | 0–0 | |
| 1 Sep | Group stage | Johor FA | H | 1–0 | Khairul Amri 2' |
| 4 Sep | Group stage | PKNS | A | 1–0 | |
| 14 Sep | Group stage | Johor FC | H | 0–0 | |
| 25 Sep | Quarter-finals | Pahang | A | 2–1 | Jalaluddin Jaafar 20' (og) |
| 2 Oct | Quarter-finals | Pahang | H | 2–0 | Shahril Ishak 35', 78' |
| 5 Oct | Semi-finals | ATM | H | 1–1 | Safuwan Baharudin 81' |
| 11 Oct | Semi-finals | ATM | A | 1–1 (aet) 5–4 (pso) | Agu Casmir 27' |

## Squad statistics

| Squad No. | Pos. | Name | Malaysia Super League | Malaysia Super League | Malaysia FA Cup | Malaysia FA Cup | Malaysia Cup | Malaysia Cup | Total | Total |
| Squad No. | Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | Izwan Mahbud | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| 2 | MF | Fazli Ayob | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Shaiful Esah | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 27 | 4 |
| 4 | MF | Isa Halim | 23 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Baihakki Khaizan | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 26 | 2 |
| 6 | DF | Madhu Mohana | 11 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 1 |
| 8 | MF | Shahdan Sulaiman | 25 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 39 | 8 |
| 9 | MF | Taufiq Rahmat | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Khairul Amri | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 15 | 2 |
| 11 | FW | Agu Casmir | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 20 | 6 |
| 14 | MF | Hariss Harun (vc) | 22 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 34 | 5 |
| 16 | DF | Raihan Rahman | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | Shahril Ishak (c) | 19 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 32 | 14 |
| 18 | GK | Hyrulnizam Juma'at | 16 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | Irwan Shah | 23 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 35 | 2 |
| 20 | FW | Quentin Chen | 15 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 2 |
| 21 | DF | Safuwan Baharudin | 13 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 4 |
| 22 | MF | Sevki Sha'ban | 18 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 27 | 1 |
| 23 | DF | Juma'at Jantan | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | Firdaus Kasman | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| 25 | FW | Sufian Anuar | 17 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 6 |
| 26 | DF | Shakir Hamzah | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | Yasir Hanapi | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| 28 | FW | Safirul Sulaiman | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| 29 | MF | Pravin Guanasagaran | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | Al-Faiz Ishak | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | Khairulhin Khalid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | DF | Abdil Qaiyyim | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| - | DF | Shakir Hamzah | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| - | MF | Gabriel Quak | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| - | MF | Izzdin Shafiq | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Registered mid-season window  De-registered mid-season window
* LionsXII were restricted to Under-28 players in their first MSL season.
* The number 12 is retired in honour of the fans, also known as the "twelfth man".