Indonesian El Clásico

Indonesian El Clásico (Indonesian: Laga Klasik Indonesia) also known as the Indonesian Derby (Indonesian: Derbi Indonesia), is the name given to matches between the two biggest and most popular Indonesian football clubs Persib Bandung and Persija Jakarta. This derby is considered one of the biggest in Asia.
In 1930, the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) was formed and one of the founders was Persib Bandung and Persija Jakarta. PSSI formed a national amateur football competition which was held in 1931 under the name Perserikatan. The match between Persib and Persija gave birth to rivalry in the Perserikatan competition. It was recorded that in 1933, Persija succeeded as champion and Persib as runner-up, in the following year 1934, Persija returned as champion and Persib as runner-up. However, after that the achievements of both clubs declined, until the competition did not exist between 1944-49 because of World War II.
After Indonesia became independent in 1945, football competition in Indonesia started again, precisely in 1951, changing its name to Kejurnas PSSI (PSSI National Championship) until 1979 and again changing its name from 1980 to 1994 as the Divisi Utama (PSSI Main Divisions) . At this time, Persib and Persija had never met in a final match in the Divisi Utama PSSI, a match that could be said to be a classic match occurred when Persib competed with PSMS Medan in the Divisi Utama PSSI 1983 and 1985, who failed twice to become champions at that time. The match was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest amateur match in the history of national football with 150,000 spectators attending and the majority of Bobotoh (as Persib supporters are called) which began to develop since the 1960s.
In 1994, PSSI merged the existing Perserikatan/Divisi Utama and Galatama (semi professional) form Liga Indonesia. The competition started in 1994 as a top-tier division in the Indonesian football league system. In 1993-94 Persib succeeded in winning the final Divisi Utama PSSI competition and winning the first Liga Indonesia1994-95, every final match was held at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta which was always filled with Persib supporters, making the Persija manager build supporters who previously had no support for Persija and Jakmania was founded in 1997 which is now getting bigger and has become a rivalry with Bobotoh, as well as the Persija team, several mainstay players were brought in from former Bandung Raya (football club) players, and managed to become champions of the Liga Indonesia in 2001.
In the 2000s hooliganism in Indonesian football began to develop and did not only happen to Persib and Persija supporters, creating competition not only among supporters but between the two clubs in Indonesia. The match between the two is an interesting spectacle in the world of Indonesian football with statistics and prestige between clubs.
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Data Incomplete
As of 16 February 2025
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Their supporters have never met after the start of hostilities between supporters of Persija and Persib in the 2000s, to date. Many conflicts occur including the death of one of the supporters and clashes which resulted in injury.
Persib fans often refer to themselves as Bobotoh. This name comes from the Sundanese language and literally means "a group of people who provide support, spirit and encouragement to those on the pitch". The most famous group of Persib supporters are the Viking Persib Club as the first supporter group in Indonesia.
Persija's supporters are called the Jakmania, founded in 1997 by Gugun Gondrong and Ferry Indra Sjarif. The Jakmania is one of the biggest football fan groups in Indonesia and use orange as their main colour, even though the club have since switched to red.
There were two incidents that were highlighted by the national media and became a concern in Indonesian football, even though clashes often occurred during and outside of matches.
The rivalry has led to the deaths of many fans of both sides. On 5 March 2012, when Persija were hosting Persib at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Rangga Cipta Nugraha (Persib fans) was killed with a chair by home fans after he celebrated a Persib goal. Rangga did not stop bleeding even when he was buried.
Another tragedy happened on September 23, 2018, when before a Liga 1 match between Persija and Persib began at the Gelora Bandung Lautan Api Stadium, Haringga Sirla, a Jakmania member, was killed by some unscrupulous Viking Persib Club. Condolences for Haringga flowed from netizens throughout social media. In response to the incident, the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) suspended Liga 1 for two weeks and forced Persib to pay a IDR 100 million (US$6,634) fine and play the remainder of their home matches of the 2018 season behind closed doors.
Until now, many parties want these two supporters to unite, but there are still many who provoke either from The Jakmania or Bobotoh, whether on social media or in real life. The dark past makes these two supporters difficult to unite, even to the point that there is a slogan, "Biarkan Permusuhan Ini Tetap Abadi", which means, "Let This Feud Remain Eternal" from one of the main figure Bobotoh frontman.
Following the Kanjuruhan Stadium disaster, Persija and Persib supporters participated in prayer ceremonies in Jakarta and Bandung while proudly wearing the club's attribute. Several subgroups of both sides declared to reduce aggressive fanaticism and promote a safe atmosphere at that moment.