Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota Football Club

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Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota Football Club

Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota Football Club (English: His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Brunei Football Club; abbrev: DPMM) is a professional football club based in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, which currently plays in the Singapore Premier League. DPMM is owned by the Crown Prince of Brunei, Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah.

Quick Facts Full name, Founded ...
DPMM
Full nameBrunei Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota Football Club
Founded1994; 31 years ago (1994)
GroundHassanal Bolkiah National Stadium
Capacity28,000
ChairmanPrince Al-Muhtadee Billah
Head coachJamie McAllister
LeagueSingapore Premier League
2023Singapore Premier League, 7th of 9
Websitewww.dpmmfc.club
Current season
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The club played in the Brunei Premier League in the early 2000s, winning the league title in 2002 and 2004. DPMM then decided to play in Malaysia, and joined the second-tier Malaysian Premier League as a foreign-based team in for the 2005–06 season.[1] They won promotion to the Malaysian Super League (the top tier of Malaysian football) at the end of their first season in Malaysian football, and then finished 3rd and 10th in the following two season in the Malaysia Super League. The club then left the Malaysian league and joined Singapore's S.League for the 2009 season. They won the Singapore League Cup in their first season in Singapore, but were forced to withdraw from the league competition five games before the end of the season after FIFA suspended the Brunei Football Association for government interference in its affairs, thus barring teams from Brunei from taking part in overseas competitions. All the club's league results for 2009 were therefore expunged. At the end of the suspension, they re-entered the S.League and won the league title in 2015, just after a near-miss in 2014.

History

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Beginnings in Brunei (1994–2004)

DPMM started out as a college team in 1994, before being officially established as a professional club in 2000. After being the most successful team in college-level football in Brunei, most of the team's talented players joined DPMM when it became a professional.[2]

The club enjoyed considerable success in Brunei's domestic competitions in the early-2000s, winning the Brunei Premier League in 2002 and 2004,[3][4] the Brunei FA Cup in 2004, and the Brunei Super Cup in 2002 and 2004.[5]

Joining the Malaysian league (2005–2008)

In 2005, DPMM stopped playing in Brunei's domestic league and joined the Malaysia Premier League (the second tier of Malaysian football) as a foreign-based team, replacing the Brunei representative team.[1] The club was then promoted to the top tier of Malaysian football, Malaysia Super League via the play-offs after a 2–1 aggregate victory over Pahang.[6] They then remarkably finished in 3rd place in their first season in the top tier (2006–07).[7] In the following season (2007–08), they finished in 10th place. They then had to leave the Malaysia Super League due to the deregistration of the Brunei Football Association by the Registrar of Societies.[8]

Since 2004, DPMM had also competed annually in the Singapore Cup (a knock-out tournament which the Football Association of Singapore invites a number of teams from other countries to take part in alongside Singaporean clubs).[9]

Joining the Singapore league, and suspension (2009)

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DPMM playing against SAFFC during the 2009 S.League Cup Final

After leaving the Malaysia Super League, DPMM joined Singapore's S.League for the 2009 season, becoming the first team in the league to play their home matches outside Singapore at the Jalan Besar Stadium. The club quickly made an impact on the Singapore football scene by winning the Singapore League Cup in June 2009. They defeated the SAFFC in the final on penalties after the match had ended in a 1–1 draw. However, on 30 September that year, FIFA suspended the Brunei Football Association for government interference in its affairs.[10] This meant that teams from Brunei were no longer allowed to compete in tournaments run by other national member associations. The Football Association of Singapore appealed to FIFA to allow DPMM to finish the S.League season, but the appeal was rejected. The results of all DPMM's league matches for 2009 were therefore expunged.[11]

Lifting of suspension, success in Singapore (2012–2015)

After 20 months of being suspended, FIFA has decided to lift the suspension off Brunei Darussalam. This means that the national team as well as the football teams from Brunei Darussalam are allowed to join any football competitions under FIFA. DPMM re-entered the S.League in the 2012 season, and became dominant after the arrival of former English Premier League manager Steve Kean in 2014. They won their first S.League title in 2015, a year after losing ground in the final fixture of the 2014 season.[12]

Intention to pull out from the S.League (2016–2020)

Since the 2016 season, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) has been reducing the number of imports allowed per the S.League team. This has affected the Bruneian-based outfit greatly, with a lesser pool of local players against Singapore's (or Japan's in the case of Albirex Niigata (S)).[13]

Towards the conclusion of the 2017 S.League in November, DPMM announced their intention on their website to possibly move to the Malaysian league, which they last appeared in 2008. This intention was later "dashed" by the FAM and in particular by the Football Malaysia LLP, which stipulated that DPMM have to play their home games in Malaysia and to have a squad full of Malaysians with Bruneians regarded as import players. DPMM called these rulings "unprofessional" and "insane".[14]

In late December, DPMM stated their intentions to join the Indonesian league for the 2018 season instead.[15] This was made after a meeting between S.League clubs whereby new rules were set to restrict foreign imports to two, and the implementation of a youth-focused roster. However, the move would be "technically impossible" to happen according to PSSI's secretary general a few days after the announcement was made.[16]

Further talks with the FAS made at the turn of the year resulted in a compromise that was reached on 10 January 2018, where the S.League competition organisers would allow them to sign up to 3 foreign players instead of 2 with no age restrictions, and DPMM will also not be subject to the age restrictions. Each local S.League team, apart from the Young Lions, will be required to have at least six under-23 players and eight under-30 players in the squad, with the remaining players to be of any age.[17]

Although they participated in the newly revamped Singapore Premier League in 2018, finishing in third place below champions Albirex Niigata (S) and Home United, DPMM considered joining another league in the Southeast Asia region. Reports by Singapore press in October 2018 revealed that DPMM have submitted an official enquiry to join Thai League 1 for the 2019 season.[18] The club would later announce that they will be competing in the 2019 Singapore Premier League,[19] but afterwards expressed an interest to join Indonesia's Liga 1 in 2020.[20]

On 15 September 2019, DPMM were confirmed champions of the 2019 Singapore Premier League after their closest rivals Hougang United only managed to play a 4–4 draw with Geylang International, leaving the Bruneian club with an unassailable four-point lead at the top of the table.[21] They also reached the semi-finals of the 2019 Singapore Cup before being eliminated by via penalty shootout to Warriors on 30 October.[22]

In 2020, DPMM participated in the Singapore Premier League, but could only play one game before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the league to be suspended until October.[23] The team was unable to fulfill the remaining fixtures due to travel restrictions between Brunei and Singapore, resulting in the inevitable exclusion from the year's SPL season.[24]

DPMM once again withdrew from the 2021 Singapore Premier League due to the ongoing travel restrictions imposed by the Brunei government, but not before showing intent to participate in the league.[25]

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Shah Razen Said's header against Kota Ranger during the 2022 FA Cup

Return to Brunei and back to using first team players (2019–2022)

In 2019, DPMM sent a youth team to play in the 2018–19 Brunei Premier League, with three first teamers namely Azim Izamuddin Suhaimi, Abdul Azizi Ali Rahman and Azwan Ali Rahman also registered with the team.[26] They finished in first place at the end of the season, winning promotion to the 2020 Brunei Super League.[27] The 'B' team which began to boast import players like Shuhei Sasahara only completed two games before the season was eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[28]

Due to the first team's withdrawal from the Singapore Premier League for the 2021 season, coach Adrian Pennock announced that his team will be lacing up for the 2021 Brunei Super League that would commence in June of that year.[29] The league was suspended three months later due to increasing COVID-19 cases in Brunei and was eventually cancelled for the second successive season.[30]

DPMM competed in the 2022 Brunei FA Cup which was the only competition to be held for the year by the Football Association of Brunei Darussalam.[31] On 4 December 2022, they became the winners of the competition by beating Kasuka in the final with a 2–1 score.[32]

Second stint in Singapore (2023–present)

DPMM began the process of returning to the Singapore Premier League after the restrictions necessitated by the pandemic eased since the year of 2022. The AFC ratified the move in August of that year.[33] The Singapore Premier League website officially announced DPMM's participation for the 2023 season on 27 January 2023.[34] DPMM also qualified for the 2023–24 AFC Cup qualification round for the first time in their history qualifying in the Preliminary round 2 where they face Myanmar club, Yangon United at the Thuwunna Stadium on 16 August 2023, but unfortunately DPMM conceded a last minute goal which saw them exit the tournament. They finished seventh in the league and fourth in the 2023 Singapore Cup. For the first time in the club history, DPMM featured main sponsor on their jersey ahead of the 2024–25 season, striking a deal with Royal Brunei Airlines where they will provide the team the necessity of travelling back and forth to Brunei for the league matches.

In early July 2024, just six games into the season, the club had to replace coach Rui Capela who left for personal reasons, and appointed Scotsman Jamie McAllister in his place.[35]

Stadium

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Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium

DPMM played their home games at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium. The stadium can accommodate 30,000 spectators, which includes 110 seats for the royalties, 500 for the VIPs, and 3,000 in the grandstand section. The building is oriented in north–south direction with the grandstand located at the western section. It has a football field which fulfills FIFA standards, as well as the running track which fulfills IAAF standards. The stadium has a video-matrix scoreboard located at the northern section; it can display both Latin and Jawi writing.

Ahead of the 2024–25 Singapore Premier League season, DPMM will play their home matches at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium after a year hiatus of temporary playing their home matches at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore. On 20 April 2024, DPMM returned to playing at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium after two years playing in a pre-season friendly against China League One side, Guangxi Pingguo Haliao winning them 3–1. On 22 June, DPMM played their first league match since 2019 where they drew against Geylang International 3–3.

Players

Current squad

As of 5 January 2025[36]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Club officials

More information Position, Staff ...
Position Staff
Chairman Brunei Al-Muhtadee Billah[37]
Vice-chairman Brunei Abdul Rahim Kemaluddin Al-Haj[38]
Team manager Brunei Mohamad Ali Momin[39]
Assistant manager Brunei Rosmin Kamis[39]
Head coach Scotland Jamie McAllister
Assistant coach Brunei Moksen Mohammad[40]
Fitness coach Portugal Miguel Bragança[41]
Goalkeeping coach Brazil Jorge Ferreira
Marketing manager Brunei Momin Ja'afar[39]
Kitman Brunei Kasim Amit[42]
Physiotherapist Brunei Faisal Hashim[42]
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League and cup history

More information Season, League ...
Season League Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Brunei Brunei FA Cup/
Malaysia Malaysia FA Cup/
Singapore
League Cup
Top goalscorer Goals Head coach
Singapore Singapore Cup
2001 Brunei Pepsi Cup League 2nd 8 7 0 1 42 4 15 Brunei Radiman Abdul Rahman 17 Slovenia Sandi Sejdinovski
2002 Brunei Brunei Premier League 1st 14 13 1 0 55 16 40 Quarter Final United States Sean Lockhart 10 Bulgaria Yordan Stoykov
2003 2nd 18 14 2 2 65 12 44 Round 2 Nigeria Ajayi Oluseye 28 Malaysia Azman Eusoff
2004 1st 18 17 1 0 81 7 52 Winners 30 Bosnia and Herzegovina Amir Alagic
2005 Withdrew Quarter Final Croatia Goran Vujanović 17 England Graham Paddon
05-06 Malaysia Malaysia Premier League 3rd 21 9 6 6 40 33 33 Brazil Tiago dos Santos 10 Croatia Ranko Buketa
06-07 Malaysia Malaysia Super League 3rd 24 13 5 6 46 29 44 Brunei Shahrazen Said 21
07-08 10th 24 4 10 10 27 34 22 First Round Brunei Shahrazen Said
Brunei Rosmin Kamis
5 Bulgaria Yordan Stoykov
2009 Singapore S.League Expelled from the league[43][44] Quarter Final Winners Brunei Shahrazen Said 8 Croatia Vjeran Simunić
10-11 Banned by FIFA
2012 Singapore S.League 2nd 24 15 3 6 49 26 48 Preliminary Winners Brunei Shahrazen Said 13 Croatia Vjeran Simunić
2013 8th 27 9 8 10 38 48 35 Quarter Final Runners-up Brazil Rodrigo Tosi 8
2014 2nd 27 15 5 7 63 30 50 Third Place Winners 24 Scotland Steve Kean
2015 1st 27 15 7 5 48 26 52 Third Place First Round Brazil Rafael Ramazotti 21
2016 3rd 24 12 5 7 47 37 41 Quarter Final Runners-up 20
2017 8th 24 5 2 17 30 61 17 Quarter Final Semi Final 14
2018 Singapore Singapore Premier League 3rd 24 11 8 5 46 38 41 Runners-up Ukraine Volodymyr Pryyomov 18 Brazil Renê Weber
2019 1st 24 15 5 4 51 25 50 Fourth Place Belarus Andrey Varankow 21 England Adrian Pennock
2020 Withdrew[24] England Charlie Clough
Belarus Andrey Varankow
1
2021 Brunei Brunei Super League League abandoned[30] Belarus Andrey Varankow 22
2022 No league competition Winners Brunei Shahrazen Said 19 Brunei Helme Panjang
2023 Singapore Singapore Premier League 7th 24 6 5 13 39 43 23 Fourth Place Brunei Hakeme Yazid Said 12 England Adrian Pennock
24–25 Portugal Rui Capela
Scotland Jamie McAllister
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Continental record

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Records and statistics

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Perspective

Top 10 all-time appearances

Appearances statistics below are only based on records from the 2009 S.League season onwards, includes cup games.

More information Rank, Player ...
Rank Player Years Appearances
1 Brunei Azwan Saleh 2006–present 259+
2 Brunei Wardun Yussof 2004, 2005–2024 238+
3 Brunei Azwan Ali Rahman 2013–present 229
4 Brunei Shah Razen Said 2005–2022 226+
5 Brunei Helmi Zambin 2009–2024 226
6 Brunei Rosmin Kamis 2004–2009, 2012–2017 213+
7 Brunei Hendra Azam Idris 2012–2024 213
8 Brunei Najib Tarif 2012–present 180
9 Brunei Adi Said 2012–2018, 2019 161
10 Brunei Sairol Sahari 2006–2016 144+
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Top 10 all-time scorers

Goal statistics below are only based on records from the 2002 B-League season onwards, includes cup games

More information Rank, Player ...
Rank Player Appearances Total goals
1 Brunei Shah Razen Said 207+ 101
2 Nigeria Ajayi Oluseye 76+
3 Brazil Rafael Ramazotti 89 66
4 Belarus Andrey Voronkov 59 58
5 Brunei Azwan Ali Rahman 229 53
6 Brazil Rodrigo Tosi 54 50
7 Brunei Adi Said 161 41
8 Brunei Hakeme Yazid Said 60 37
9 Australia Peter Grierson 30
10 Brunei Rosmin Kamis 213+ 27
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Honours

League

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DPMM winning the 2022 Brunei FA Cup

Brunei

Singapore

Cups

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DPMM winning the 2009 Singapore League Cup

Brunei

  • Pengiran Sengamara Di Raja Cup
    • Runners-up (1): 2000
  • DPMM FC Invitational Cup
    • Champions (1): 2002
  • Brunei Super Cup
    • Champions (2): 2002, 2004
  • Brunei FA Cup
    • Champions (2): 2004, 2022

Singapore

References

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