James Wong Chye Fook

In this Chinese name, the family name is Wong.

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.^[2][3]

James Wong

Personal information
Full name	James Wong Chye Fook
Date of birth	(1953-06-26) 26 June 1953 (age 71)
Place of birth	Sabah, Malaysia
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Forward, Goalkeeper
Youth career
1968	Tanjung Aru Youth
1969–1970	Kota Kinabalu Youth
1969–1970	Sabah FA
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1970–1974	Sabah
1974–1976	Hakoah Sydney
1976–1985	Sabah
International career
1971–1973	Malaysia U-20
1972–1981	Malaysia	36[1]	(23)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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.^[4] He played professionally for the club in New South Wales Premier League for two years.^[5] 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.^[6][7][8][9] 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.^[10]

Further career

In 2015, he together with Hassan was appointed as one of the members for the management team of Sabah FA.^[8]

Career statistics

International goals

Scores and results list Malaysia's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	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
4
5	1 March 1977	Singapore	Thailand		6-4	1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)
6
7
8
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
13
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
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^[11]

Sabah

• Malaysian League Tournament runner-up: 1979^[12][13]

• 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^[14]

• Goal.com The best Malaysia XI of all time: 2020^[15]

Orders

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

References

1. Mamrud, Roberto. "James Wong Chye Fook - International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
2. "Hail King James!". The Star. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
3. John Duerden (21 July 2017). "James Wong: Malaysia's forgotten superstar once told to change his name". FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
4. "WHAT WENT WONG? WHEN MALAYSIA'S FORGOTTEN SUPERSTAR MOVED TO AUSTRALIA". FTBL. Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
5. Terrence Netto (2 December 1976). "Sabahan may be Mokhtar's replacement". The Straits Times. National Library Board. p. 25. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
6. Darian Goh (14 November 2014). "Mokthar Dahari And 12 Other Local Football Legends Every Young Malaysian Should Know". Says.com. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
7. Daryl Goh (10 February 2016). "The glory days of Malaysian football". Star2.com. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
8. Mohd Izham Unnip Abdullah (25 December 2015). "Hassan Sani, James Wong curah bakti bersama Sabah" (in Malay). Berita Harian. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
9. Ryan Stanley (14 August 2016). "Jejak Wira Olimpik 1980 : 'The Hurricane' pecahkan tembok Korea Selatan" (in Malay). Berita Harian. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
10. James Wong Chye Fook – FIFA competition record (archived)
11. "Meet James Wong, Sabah's Football Pride". Hello Sabah. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
12. "Malaysia Premier League 1996". Rhinos Online. Archived from the original on 27 May 2001. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
13. "When 17 teams contested the first ever Malaysian 'league' back in 1979". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
14. "Pandelela terima anugerah Ikon Generasi Muda" (in Malay). MalaysiaKini. Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
15. "From Raja Bola to King James, 'Spiderman' to Safiq - The best Malaysia XI of all time". Goal. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2022.