# 2019 Malaysia M3 League

The 2019 Malaysia M3 League was the 1st season of the Malaysia M3 League that replaced the former Malaysia FAM League.

## Establishment and format

This season saw a revamp of the competition's format by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). Announced earlier on 24 November 2018 by FAM deputy president Yusoff Mahadi, the format of the new season was outlined in a meeting by FAM's Local Competition Committee and were announced in a media statement on 19 December 2018.
The format will be reverted to a straight knock-out tournament format (a format used before 2008), as opposed to the league format used since 2008. 64 teams competed for the FAM Cup, including 6 teams confirmed earlier to participate in the Malaysia FAM Cup, and teams promoted to the 2019 Malaysia Premier League. The rest of the teams included were 19 teams nominated by FAM's associate members, and teams from the newly created Malaysia M4 League, whose selection was subject to methods decided by the Malaysian Football League. The champions of the 2019 Malaysia FAM Cup then competed with the last-placed 2019 Malaysia Premier League team in a play-off match for a slot to participate in the 2020 Malaysia Premier League.
Earlier, there was speculation that the league organization might be taken over by the Malaysian Football League, organizers of the Malaysia Super League and the Malaysia Premier League, having been held by the FAM since 1951, but this was clarified in an FAM media statement that the FAM will cooperate with the MFL for the organization of the tournament, with the FAM still holding major responsibilities and ownership of the tournament and the rights of it. MFL covered the cost of the teams participating from the first round up until the quarter-finals, while the FAM covered the cost of the teams participating from that point onwards.

## Season Changes

The following teams have changed division since the 2018 season.

### Name changes

* ATM FA was renamed to Armed Forces FC, and relocated to Kuala Lumpur.
* Glory United FC was renamed to Langkawi Glory United, and relocated to Langkawi.
* MPKB-BRI U-BeS was renamed to Kelantan United.
Notes:
    ^1 Promoted by the finalist of the 2018 FAM Cup.
    ^2 Originally Terengganu II were relegated from 2018 Malaysia Premier League and Terengganu City F.C. were promoted by winning the 2018 Malaysia FAM Cup; however the Malaysian Football League blocked Terengganu City's promotion due to financial issues, granted Terengganu II's to stay in the Malaysia Premier League, and accepted Perlis FA's application to be promoted to the Malaysia Premier League, replacing the expelled Kuantan FA
    ^3 Originally KL Cops from the 2018 DD Social M5 League, and Uptown F.C. from the 2018 Sunarize Soccer M5 League were promoted to the 2019 Malaysia M3 League by winning their respective leagues; however the teams were not registered to the 2019 Malaysia M3 League due to unknown reasons.
    ^4 Tentera Darat F.A. from the 2018 Kuala Lumpur M5 Super League were not registered to the 2019 Malaysia M3 League due to being in the same division as their parent club, Armed Forces.

## Teams

As of 11 February 2019, 14 teams confirmed their participation in the 2019 Malaysia M3 League.
* Armed Forces
* Banggol Tokku
* Batu Dua
* DDM FC
* Langkawi Glory United
* Johor Bahru
* Kelantan United
* Kuching
* Penjara
* Protap
* Puchong Fuerza
* SAMB
* Tun Razak
* Ultimate

## Clubs locations
### Venues

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Armed Forces | Kuala Lumpur | Mindef Stadium | 5,000 |
| Batu Dua | Kemaman | Mak Chili Mini Stadium | TBA |
| Banggol Tok Ku | Kuala Berang | Kuala Berang Mini Stadium | 1,000 |
| Dak-dak Melawati | Kuala Lumpur | KLFA Academy Football Field | TBA |
| Langkawi Glory United | Langkawi | Langkawi Stadium | 10,000 |
| Johor Bahru | Iskandar Puteri | Educity Stadium | 6,000 |
| Johor Bahru | Kulai | Kulai Mini Stadium | 1,000 |
| Kelantan United | Kota Bharu | Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium | 30,000 |
| Kuching | Kuching | Sarawak State Stadium | 26,000 |
| Kuching | Kuching | Sarawak Stadium | 40,000 |
| Penjara | Kajang | Kajang Prison Complex Mini Stadium | 1,000 |
| Protap | Kuala Lumpur | UM Arena | 1,000 |
| Puchong Fuerza | Puchong | MMU Mini Stadium | 2,500 |
| SAMB | Malacca City | Hang Tuah Stadium | 1,000 |
| SAMB | Krubong | Hang Jebat Stadium | 40,000 |
| Tun Razak | Kuala Lumpur | Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz Mini Stadium | 3,000 |
| Ultimate | Kuala Lumpur | Pulapol Football Field | TBA |

## Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Sponsor |
| Armed Forces | Kevin Lee Cooper | Venice Elphi | Ego Sports | My Soccer Store |
| Batu Dua | Che Ku Marzuki | Saifulnizam Miswan | Kaki Jersi | Yakult, HDR Project, MZ cafe03, Habiel Project, Mytrdes |
| Banggol Tok Ku | Haris Safwan Kamal | Nor Fazly Alias | NT | Mada Construction |
| Dak-dak Melawati | Mohammad Aidil Ramly | Fahrul Razi | Kazza Networks | Terang Bulan Sdn.Bhd, MKA Concept Ent. |
| Langkawi Glory United | Manja Man | Muhammad Al-Hafiz | Lotto | Mai Langkawi |
| Johor Bahru | Zainor Kasmani | Kamarul Afiq Kamaruddin | Nike | Green Valley Eco Resort |
| Kuching | Ideris Utong | Rafiezan Razali | Starsport | Kuching, Yakult |
| Kelantan United | Zahasmi Ismail | Shahrizan Ismail | SkyHawk | Mysports Station, U-Shop |
| Penjara | Roslan Othman | Akmal Chin | SkyHawk | Prestige Geomatic |
| Protap | Dusan Momcilovic | Anwar Luqman | Kaki Jersi | Carving Crew Design, HARINI SDN. BHD. |
| Puchong Fuerza | Nazrulerwan Makmor | Arman Fareez | Kaki Jersi | |
| Tun Razak | Azman Adnan | Syazwan Rani | SkyHawk & Panzer | Rimbun Teguh Trading |
| SAMB | Hamdan Mohamad | Nazmee Ari | Heat | Syarikat Air Melaka |
| Ultimate | Zulkhairi Mohd Zabidi | | Firhan Sports | Fitz Ultimate Garage |

### Coaching changes

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
| Batu Dua | Zulhamizan Zakaria | Sacked | 1 April 2019 | 6th | Che Ku Marzuki | 1 April 2019 |
| Protap | Shahidan Rusly | Sacked | June 2019 | 14th | Dusan Momcilovic | June 2019 |

### Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to two each team.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Former player |
| Armed Forces | | | |
| Banggol Tok Ku | | | |
| Batu Dua | Mamadou Berete | Carlos Zozimar | L'Imam Seydi Ljubo Baranin Ovie Precious |
| Dak-dak Melawati | Lee Kyeong-su | Nicholas Dul | |
| Langkawi Glory United | Everton Souza Santos | Georgian Mugurel Stamate | |
| Johor Bahru | Patrick Asare | Jose Alex | |
| Kelantan United | Alfusainey Gassama | Seydou Sako | Carlos Zozimar |
| Kuching | Yuta Suzuki | | |
| Penjara | Kim Sung-ho | | |
| Protap | Metha Viblo Apingi | Vino Ramazani | |
| Puchong Fuerza | Hans Kwofie | Sunday Matthew Idoko | Andre Luis Diogo Olievera |
| SAMB | | | |
| Tun Razak | | | Rafael Marti |
| Ultimate | Faye Jacque | Chukwu Nnabuike | |
* Players name in bold indicates that the player was registered during the mid-season transfer window.
* ^1 Foreign players who left their clubs or were de-registered from the playing squad due to medical issues or other matters.

## Results
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Kelantan United (C, P) | 26 | 21 | 3 | 2 | 93 | 20 | +73 | 66 | Promotion to 2020 Malaysia Premier League |
| 2 | Kuching (O, P) | 26 | 18 | 5 | 3 | 58 | 21 | +37 | 59 | Qualification for Play-offs round |
| 3 | Armed Forces | 26 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 62 | 22 | +40 | 49 | |
| 4 | Puchong Fuerza | 26 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 71 | 40 | +31 | 45 | |
| 5 | Ultimate | 26 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 76 | 48 | +28 | 45 | |
| 6 | Protap | 26 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 47 | 58 | −11 | 37 | |
| 7 | BTK | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 52 | 49 | +3 | 35 | |
| 8 | DDM | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 60 | 54 | +6 | 34 | |
| 9 | SAMB | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 38 | 38 | 0 | 33 | |
| 10 | Batu Dua | 26 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 46 | 72 | −26 | 27 | |
| 11 | Johor Bahru | 26 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 40 | 53 | −13 | 25 | |
| 12 | Langkawi Glory United | 26 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 47 | 63 | −16 | 25 | |
| 13 | Penjara (R) | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 36 | 61 | −25 | 24 | Relegation to Malaysia M4 League |
| 14 | Tun Razak (R) | 26 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 17 | 140 | −123 | 7 | Relegation to Malaysia M4 League |
* ↑ Two teams from runners-up of M3 and last placed team from Premier League play-offs for promotion to the 2020 Malaysia Premier League.

### Result table

| Home \ Away | ARM | BD | BTK | DDM | LGU | JB | KLU | KCH | PNJ | PRO | PFZ | SAM | TRZ | ULT |
| Armed Forces | — | 8–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 10–0 | 4–0 |
| Batu Dua | 0–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–9 | 3–0 | 0–10 | 3–5 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 0–6 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 |
| Banggol Tok Ku | 0–5 | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 10–0 | 4–7 |
| Dak-dak Melawati | 1–3 | 4–4 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | 4–2 | 0–5 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 2–5 | 2–1 | 9–0 | 4–3 |
| Langkawi Glory United | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–8 | — | 6–3 | 0–5 | 0–4 | 3–5 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 |
| Johor Bahru | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 3–3 | — | 3–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–4 |
| Kelantan United | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 7–0 | 3–0 | — | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 5–1 |
| Kuching | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 3–0 | 6–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 6–0 | 0–1 |
| Penjara | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 2–2 | — | 2–5 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 6–1 | 2–5 |
| Protap | 3–1 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 0–2 | — | 1–6 | 2–1 | 8–0 | 1–4 |
| Puchong Fuerza | 2–2 | 0–2 | 3–4 | 2–4 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 3–4 | 4–1 | 3–1 | — | 4–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 |
| SAMB | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–3 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | — | 7–0 | 2–2 |
| Tun Razak | 0–5 | 0–7 | 1–7 | 2–4 | 1–10 | 2–0 | 0–10 | 2–4 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | — | 0–14 |
| Ultimate | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–4 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 4–2 | — |

### Positions by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Kelantan United | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Kuching | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Armed Forces | 6 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Puchong Fuerza | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Ultimate | 11 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Protap | 8 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| Banggol Tok Ku | 12 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
| Dak-dak Melawati | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| SAMB | 9 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 |
| Batu Dua | 7 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 10 |
| Johor Bahru | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 11 |
| Langkawi Glory United | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Penjara | 13 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 13 |
| Tun Razak | 5 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
* Leader
* Relegation to Malaysia M4 League

## Play-offs

The runner-up of the Malaysia M3 League will play a one-legged play-off against the last-placed Malaysia Premier League team to decide the second team to be promoted to the 2020 Malaysia Premier League.

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

    As of matches played on 17 November 2019.
Players sorted first by goals, then by last name.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Fakhrul Zaman | Kelantan United | 28 |
| 2 | Alfusainey Gassama | Kelantan United | 27 |
| 3 | Chukwu Nnabuike | Ultimate | 22 |
| 3 | Rafizol Roslan | Armed Forces | 22 |
| 5 | Joseph Kalang Tie | Kuching | 17 |
| 6 | Shahrul Hakim | Kelantan United | 15 |
| 7 | Faye Jacque | Ultimate | 13 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Fakhrul Zaman | Kelantan United | Langkawi Glory United | 7 – 0 (H) | 16 March 2019 |
| Nabil Ahmad Lapti | Ultimate | Tun Razak | 4 – 2 (H) | 30 March 2019 |
| Nabil Ahmad Lapti | Ultimate | Penjara | 3 – 0 (H) | 21 April 2019 |
| Akmal Aizat | Penjara | Langkawi Glory United | 3 – 5 (A) | 27 April 2019 |
| Ros Mohd Muharam | Banggol Tok Ku | Tun Razak | 10 – 0 (H) | 15 June 2019 |
| Alfusainey Gassama | Kelantan United | Penjara | 1 – 4 (A) | 23 June 2019 |
| Joseph Kalang Tie | Kuching | Batu Dua | 3 – 5 (A) | 7 July 2019 |
| Mamadou Berete | Batu Dua | Kuching | 3 – 5 (H) | 7 July 2019 |
| Lee Kyeong Su | Dak-dak Melawati | Tun Razak | 9 – 0 (H) | 7 July 2019 |
| Mamadou Berete | Batu Dua | Tun Razak | 0 – 7 (A) | 28 July 2019 |
| Alfusainey Gassama$^4$ | Kelantan United | Batu Dua | 0 – 10 (A) | 24 August 2019 |
| Shamerul Aziz | SAMB | Tun Razak | 7 – 0 (H) | 25 August 2019 |
| Hattaphon Bun An | Langkawi Glory United | Johor Bahru | 6 – 3 (H) | 7 September 2019 |
| Rafizol Roslan$^5$ | Armed Forces | Batu Dua | 8 – 2 (H) | 8 September 2019 |
| Shahrul Hakim | Kelantan United | Dak-dak Melawati | 0 – 5 (A) | 15 September 2019 |
| Chukwu Nnabuike | Ultimate | Penjara | 2 – 5 (A) | 28 September 2019 |
| Alfusainey Gassama | Kelantan United | Tun Razak | 0 – 10 (A) | 29 September 2019 |
| Shahrul Hakim | Kelantan United | Tun Razak | 0 – 10 (A) | 29 September 2019 |
| Nizad Ayub | Kelantan United | Tun Razak | 0 – 10 (A) | 29 September 2019 |
| Hans Kwofie | Puchong Fuerza | Penjara | 4 – 1 (H) | 4 October 2019 |
| Rafizol Roslan$^4$ | Armed Forces | Tun Razak | 10 – 0 (H) | 6 October 2019 |
| Haikal Nazri$^5$ | Langkawi Glory United | Tun Razak | 1 – 10 (A) | 13 October 2019 |
| Zulfahamzie Tarmizi | Langkawi Glory United | Tun Razak | 1 – 10 (A) | 13 October 2019 |
| Shafizan Ramli$^4$ | Ultimate | Tun Razak | 0 – 14 (A) | 20 October 2019 |
| Chukwu Nnabuike | Ultimate | Tun Razak | 0– 14 (A) | 20 October 2019 |
| Faye Jaque | Ultimate | Tun Razak | 0– 14 (A) | 20 October 2019 |
| Alfusainey Gassama$^4$ | Kelantan United | Langkawi Glory United | 0 – 5 (A) | 27 October 2019 |
| Shafizan Ramli | Ultimate | Banggol Tok Ku | 4 – 7 (A) | 2 November 2019 |
| Hakimi Mazlan | Banggol Tok Ku | Ultimate | 4 – 7 (H) | 2 November 2019 |
| Afif Najmi | Dak-dak Melawati | Batu Dua | 4 – 4 (H) | 3 November 2019 |

#### Notes

$^4$ Player scored 4 goals $^5$ Player scored 5 goals (H) – Home team (A) – Away team