# 2013 Malaysia Super League

The 2013 Liga Super (English: 2013 Super League) also known as the Astro Liga Super for sponsorship reasons, is the 10th season of the Liga Super, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia.
The season was held from 8 January and concluded on 6 July 2013. The Liga Super champions for 2013 was won by Singaporean side LionsXII.

## Team changes

The following teams have changed division.

### Name changes

* Johor FC were rebranded and renamed to Darul Takzim FC and relocated to Larkin, Johor.

## Teams

A total of twelve teams will compete in the 2013 season which includes the top 10 teams that participated in the 2012 season, champion of the 2012 Liga Premier, and the winner of the play-off round between teams finishing 11th to 13th in the Liga Super as well as the team finishing 2nd in the Liga Premier.
Kuala Lumpur was relegated at the end of the 2012 Liga Super season after finishing in the bottom place of the league table. Sarawak, Sabah and Kedah were also relegated after losing the playoffs.
2012 Liga Premier champions Angkatan Tentera Malaysia secured direct promotion to the Liga Super. Meanwhile, 2012 Liga Premier runner-up Pahang clinched the promotion after winning the playoff rounds.
* Kelantan (2012 Liga Super winner)
* LionsXII
* Selangor
* Perak
* Terengganu
* Negeri Sembilan
* PKNS
* T-Team
* Johor Darul Takzim
* Felda United
* ATM$^1$
* Pahang$^2$
Note: $^1$Promoted from 2012 Liga Premier $^2$Winners of 2013 Liga Super/Liga Premier Play-off round

## Team summaries
### Stadium

| Team | Based | Stadium | Capacity |
| ATM | Kuala Lumpur | Selayang Stadium | 40,000 |
| Felda United | Kuala Lumpur | Petaling Jaya Stadium* | 25,000 |
| Johor Darul Takzim | Johor Bahru | Larkin Stadium | 30,000 |
| Kelantan | Kota Bharu | Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium | 30,000 |
| Negeri Sembilan | Seremban | Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium | 40,000 |
| Pahang | Kuantan | Darulmakmur Stadium | 40,000 |
| Perak | Ipoh | Perak Stadium | 42,500 |
| PKNS | Shah Alam | Shah Alam Stadium | 80,000 |
| Selangor | Shah Alam | Shah Alam Stadium | 80,000 |
| LionsXII | Singapore | Jalan Besar Stadium | 8,000 |
| Terengganu | Kuala Terengganu | Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium | 15,000 |
| T-Team | Kuala Terengganu | Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium | 15,000 |
Matches may not be played at night at stadiums marked with an asterisk (*) because the floodlights do not meet FAM regulations.

### Stadium changes

* Johor Darul Takzim moved to the Tan Sri Dato Hj Hassan Yunos Stadium and will host their home matches there after occupying the previous stadium, Pasir Gudang Corporation Stadium.
* ATM moved to the Selayang Stadium and will host their home matches there after occupying the previous stadium, Petaling Jaya Stadium.
* Felda United moved to the Petaling Jaya Stadium and will host their home matches there after occupying the previous stadium, Hang Jebat Stadium.

### Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| ATM | B. Sathianathan | Hairuddin Omar | Macron | |
| Felda United | K. Devan | Kaironnisam Sahabudin | Umbro | FGV Archived 16 February 2013 at archive.today |
| Johor Darul Takzim | Fandi Ahmad | Kamarul Afiq Kamaruddin | Kappa | Johor Corporation |
| Kelantan | Bojan Hodak | Mohd Badhri Mohd Radzi | Warriors | Hotlink |
| Negeri Sembilan | Divaldo Alves | Norhafiz Zamani Misbah | Lotto | Matrix Concept |
| Pahang | Dollah Salleh | Jalaluddin Jaafar | Stobi | Resort World Genting |
| T-Team | Eduardo Almeida | Mohd Marzuki Yusof | Kappa | EPIC |
| Perak | Azraai Khor Abdullah | Shahrulnizam Mustapa | Kappa | Lembaga Air Perak |
| PKNS | Abdul Rahman Ibrahim | Mohd Helmi Remeli | Lotto | PKNS Archived 6 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine |
| Selangor | Irfan Bakti Abu Salim | Mohd Asraruddin Putra Omar | Kappa | MBI Archived 16 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine |
| LionsXII | V. Sundramoorthy | Shahril Ishak | Nike | StarHub |
| Terengganu | E. Elavarasan | Mohd Faizal Muhammad | Specs | Desa Murni Batik |

### Coaching changes
#### Pre-season

| Club | Outgoing Head Coach | Date of vacancy | Manner of departure | Incoming Head Coach | Date of appointment |
| Terengganu | Peter James Butler | 17 September 2012 | Suspended for 6 months(Suspending ended by FAM. Later signed by T-Team) | E. Elavarasan | 18 October 2012 |
| T-Team | Yunus Alif | September 2012 | Resigned | Peter James Butler | 18 November 2012 |
| Felda United | E. Elavarasan | 18 October 2012 | Signed by Terengganu | K. Devan | 1 November 2012 |
| Johor Darul Takzim | Sazali Saidon | 31 October 2012 | Contract Expired | Fandi Ahmad | 1 November 2012 |
| Perak | Jang Jung | 31 October 2012 | Contract Expired | Mohd Azraai Khor Abdullah | 1 November 2012 |
| Negeri Sembilan | Mohd Azraai Khor Abdullah | 31 October 2012 | Contract Expired | Divaldo Alves | 1 November 2012 |

#### In season

| Club | Outgoing Head Coach | Date of vacancy | Manner of departure | Incoming Head Coach | Date of appointment |
| T-Team | Peter James Butler | 16 May 2013 | Mutual Termination | Eduardo Almeida | 16 May 2013 |

### Sponsorship changes

| Club | New Sponsor | Previous Sponsor | Date |

## Foreign players

| Club | Visa 1 | Visa 2 | Visa 3 | Visa 4 | Former Player(s) |
| ATM | Bruno Martelotto | Marlon Alex James | NA | NA | NA |
| Johor Darul Takzim | Andrezinho | Leonel Núñez | NA | NA | Simone Del Nero Dani Güiza |
| Felda United | Nsumbu Mazuwa | Leonel Saint-Preux | NA | NA | Júnior Pereira Mohamad Ghaddar |
| Kelantan | Obinna Nwaneri | Dickson Nwakaeme | Lek Kcira | Dimitri Petratos | Mandjou Keita |
| Negeri Sembilan | William Modibo | Fabio Leandro Barbosa | NA | NA | Emanuel de Porras |
| Pahang | Damion Stewart | Matías Conti | NA | NA | Mohamed Borji Nikolce Klečkarovski |
| T-Team | George Boateng | Damir Ibrić | NA | NA | NA |
| Perak | Rafael Silva | Paulo Rangel | NA | NA | Karim Rouani |
| PKNS | Patrick Wleh | Roman Chmelo | NA | NA | Helmi Loussaief |
| Selangor | Forkey Doe | Adam Griffiths | Michal Kubala | Peter Chrappan | Ramez Dayoub |
| LionsXII | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Terengganu | Effa Owona | Vincent Bikana | NA | NA | NA |
Note:
* Teams participating in the 2013 AFC Cup (Kelantan and Selangor) can employ two extra foreign players, as the AFC allows four foreign players, of which one of them must be an Asian player, but the third and fourth foreign players are only allowed to play in the AFC Cup 2013 Tournament.
* LionsXII will not be permitted to have any foreign players as it is intended to remain as a development team for Singaporean players.
* FAM allow three foreign players quota starts season 2014.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | LionsXII | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 32 | 15 | +17 | 43 | |
| 2 | Selangor | 22 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 31 | 17 | +14 | 40 | 2014 AFC Cup group stage |
| 3 | Johor Darul Takzim | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 32 | 26 | +6 | 40 | |
| 4 | Kelantan | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 32 | 20 | +12 | 36 | 2014 AFC Cup group stage |
| 5 | Pahang | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 36 | 32 | +4 | 35 | |
| 6 | ATM | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 35 | 25 | +10 | 34 | |
| 7 | Perak | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 23 | 27 | −4 | 29 | |
| 8 | PKNS | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 28 | |
| 9 | Terengganu | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 25 | 31 | −6 | 27 | |
| 10 | T-Team | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 19 | 33 | −14 | 19 | |
| 11 | Felda United | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 35 | −22 | 19 | Relegation to 2014 Liga Premier |
| 12 | Negeri Sembilan | 22 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 11 | 28 | −17 | 10 | Relegation to 2014 Liga Premier |
* ↑ LionsXII was not eligible for any AFC competition spots as they were a foreign side.
* ↑ Qualified as 2013 Piala FA winners

## Results

Fixtures and Results of the Liga Super 2013 season.

### Week 22
## Fixtures and results

| Home \ Away | ATM | FEL | JDT | KEL | NSE | PHG | PRK | PKN | SEL | LNS | TRG | TTE |
| ATM | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| Felda United | 0–1 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–4 |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | 2–2 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 |
| Kelantan | 1–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| Negeri Sembilan | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Pahang | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Perak | 2–4 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 |
| PKNS | 1–3 | 5–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 4–5 | 0–1 | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 |
| Selangor | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 |
| LionsXII | 3–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| Terengganu | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | | 1–0 |
| T–Team | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

    As of 6 July 2013
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Marlon Alex James | ATM | 16 |
| 2 | Patrick Ronaldinho Wleh | PKNS | 14 |
| 3 | Francis Forkey Doe | Selangor | 10 |
| 4 | Paulo Rangel | Perak | 9 |
| 5 | Shahril Ishak | LionsXII | 8 |
| 5 | Mohd Fauzi Roslan | Pahang | 8 |
| 5 | Mohd Amri Yahyah | Selangor | 8 |
| 8 | Norshahrul Idlan Talaha | Johor Darul Takzim | 7 |
| 9 | Daniel Güiza | Johor Darul Takzim | 6 |
| 9 | Indra Putra Mahayuddin | Kelantan | 6 |
| 9 | Mohd Nor Farhan Muhammad | Kelantan | 6 |
| 9 | Mohd Badhri Mohd Radzi | Kelantan | 6 |
| 9 | Jean-Emmanuel Effa Owona | Terengganu | 6 |

### Own goals

| Rank | Player | For | Club | Own Goal |
| 1 | Nuraliff Zainal Abidin | Perak | T-Team | 1 |
| 1 | Jalaluddin Jaafar | Perak | Pahang | 1 |
| 1 | Hasmizan Kamarodin | LionsXII | Terengganu | 1 |
| 1 | P. Gunalan | Johor Darul Takzim | PKNS | 1 |
| 1 | Mohd Azrul Ahmad | LionsXII | Felda United | 1 |
| 1 | Mohd Helmi Remeli | Pahang | PKNS | 1 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Marlon Alex James | ATM | PKNS | 3–1 | 12 January 2013 |
| Paulo Rangel | Perak | Johor Darul Takzim | 3–0 | 27 April 2013 |
| Patrick Wleh$^4$ | PKNS | Pahang | 4–5 | 6 July 2013 |
* $^4$ Player scored 4 goals

### Scoring

* First goal of the season: Mohammed Ghaddar for Felda United against Terengganu (8 January 2013)
* Fastest goal of the season: 2 Minutes – Abdul Hadi Yahya for Perak against Kelantan (1 March 2013)
* Largest winning margin: 5 goals
** PKNS 5–0 Felda United (18 May 2013)
* Highest scoring game: 9 goals
** PKNS 4–5 Pahang (6 July 2013)
* Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 5 goals
** PKNS 5–0 Felda United (18 May 2013)
** PKNS 4–5 Pahang (6 July 2013)
* Most goals scored in a match by a losing team: 4 goals
** PKNS 4–5 Pahang (6 July 2013)

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Coach of the Month | Coach of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | Reference |
| Month | Coach | Club | Player | Club | Reference |
| January | Dollah Salleh | Pahang | Mohd Fauzi Roslan | Pahang | |
| February | E. Elavarasan | Terengganu | Ashaari Shamsuddin | Terengganu | |
| March | V. Sundramoorthy | LionsXII | Mahali Jasuli | Selangor | |
| April | V. Sundramoorthy | LionsXII | Shahril Ishak | LionsXII | |
| May | Irfan Bakti | Selangor | Nurul Azwan Roya | Darul Takzim | |
| June | Eduardo Almeida | T-Team | Badhri Radzi | Kelantan | |
| July | Bojan Hodak | Kelantan | Amri Yahyah | Selangor | |