# James Wong Chye Fook

Datuk James Wong Chye Fook (born 26 June 1953) is a Malaysian former footballer who is a striker for Malaysian national football team and Sabah. He also played as a goalkeeper for the Malaysia youth team in the 1971 AFC Youth Championship. He was known as King James by the local fans.

## Career Overview

Wong was the first Sabahan to represent Malaysia in 1971. In 1974, He went Down Under to join Hakoah Sydney, the Australian club, at the invitation of former Malaysian head coach, Dave MacLaren. He played professionally for the club in New South Wales Premier League for two years. Wong is well-known for his physical and finishing touch. His partnership with Hassan Sani produced many memorable goals for Sabah and Malaysia. The most memorable one was in the 1980 Olympic games qualification. In the qualification, Malaysia won the play-off against South Korea with a 2–1 score at the Merdeka Stadium. Wong himself scored the winning goal off a pass from Hassan. Unfortunately, Malaysia did not participate after joining the US-led boycott against the Soviet Union for its role in supporting the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujahideen. Wong also appeared for Malaysia in six qualifying matches of the FIFA World Cup.

## Further career

In 2015, he together with Hassan was appointed as one of the members for the management team of Sabah FA.

## Career statistics
### International goals

    Scores and results list Malaysia's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition |
| 1. | 5 June 1972 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Sri Lanka | 3–0 | 1972 Jakarta Anniversary Tournament |
| 2 | 18 December 1976 | Bangkok, Thailand | Bangladesh | 6-0 | 1976 King's Cup |
| 3 | 18 December 1976 | Bangkok, Thailand | Bangladesh | 6-0 | 1976 King's Cup |
| 4 | 18 December 1976 | Bangkok, Thailand | Bangladesh | 6-0 | 1976 King's Cup |
| 5 | 1 March 1977 | Singapore | Thailand | 6-4 | 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC) |
| 6 | 1 March 1977 | Singapore | Thailand | 6-4 | 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC) |
| 7 | 1 March 1977 | Singapore | Thailand | 6-4 | 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC) |
| 8 | 1 March 1977 | Singapore | Thailand | 6-4 | 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC) |
| 9 | 23 November 1977 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Brunei | 7-0 | 1977 SEA Games |
| 10 | 25 November 1977 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Burma | 9-1 | 1977 SEA Games |
| 11 | 14 July 1978 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Singapore | 6-0 | 1978 Merdeka Tournament |
| 12 | 14 July 1978 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Singapore | 6-0 | 1978 Merdeka Tournament |
| 13 | 14 July 1978 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Singapore | 6-0 | 1978 Merdeka Tournament |
| 14 | 16 July 1977 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Thailand | 2-0 | 1978 Merdeka Tournament |
| 15 | 2 May 1979 | Bangkok, Thailand | Sri Lanka | 3-1 | 1980 AFC Asian Cup qualification |
| 16 | 5 May 1979 | Bangkok, Thailand | Indonesia | 4-1 | 1980 AFC Asian Cup qualification |
| 17 | 16 March 1980 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | China | 3-1 | Friendly Match |
| 18 | 25 March 1980 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | South Korea | 3-0 | 1980 Summer Olympics - Asian Qualifiers |
| 19 | 27 March 1980 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Brunei | 3-1 | 1980 Summer Olympics - Asian Qualifiers |
| 20 | 27 March 1980 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Brunei | 3-1 | 1980 Summer Olympics - Asian Qualifiers |
| 21 | 30 March 1980 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Japan | 1-1 | 1980 Summer Olympics - Asian Qualifiers |
| 22 | 6 April 1980 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | South Korea | 2-1 | 1980 Summer Olympics - Asian Qualifiers |
| 23 | 21 April 1981 | Kuwait City | South Korea | 1-2 | 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC) |

## Honours
### Club
#### Sabah Youth

* Burnley Cup: 1969

#### Sabah

* Malaysian League Tournament runner-up: 1979
* Borneo Cup: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980

### International

* SEA Games: 1977, 1979
* King's Cup: 1976

### Individual

* Borneo Cup top scorer: 1970, 1972, 1977, 1980
* National Day Award - Outstanding achievement of all time: 2012
* Goal.com The best Malaysia XI of all time: 2020

### Orders

* Sabah :
** Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (PGDK) – Datuk (2016)