Myanmar_National_League

Myanmar National League

Myanmar National League

Football league

The Myanmar National League (Burmese: မြန်မာ နေရှင်နယ် လိဂ်; abbreviated MNL) is the premier national professional football league of Myanmar. In 2009, the league replaced the Myanmar Premier League, which consisted only of 14 Yangon-based football clubs, with eight professional clubs representing different regions across the nation.[1] On 16 May 2009, the league launched its inaugural two-month tournament, the Myanmar National League Cup 2009 in preparation for the first full season in 2010.[2] Despite its national ambitions, the league held the MNL Cup 2009 matches in the country's two main stadiums in Yangon due to the lack of adequate facilities elsewhere. On 5 July 2009, Yadanabon FC defeated Yangon United FC in the MNL Cup final to become the first-ever MNL Champions.

Quick Facts Founded, First season ...

The league added three clubs for the 2010 season[3] and one more club joined for the 2011 season, bringing the total to twelve clubs.[4] Two more clubs representing the Chin and Shan States will participate in the MNL season starting in January 2012.[5]

Promotion and relegation will be added by the 2014 season as the MNL looks to expand once again.[6]

History

Origins

In the past, professional football competition in Myanmar has only existed in a limited form. All premier leagues up to this point have been made up of Yangon-based football clubs, most of which were affiliated with government Ministries. It was only after 1996, when the Premier League (Burmese: ပထမတန်း) was relaunched as the Myanmar Premier League that non-government clubs were invited to join the league. Still, the league was based only in Yangon, and never caught the imagination of Burmese football fans, who follow European football with near religious fervor.

The Myanmar Football Federation sought approval from the government to launch a nationwide league in February 2008, and finally received permission to set up private clubs in December 2008. Each club was permitted to sign at most five foreign players and one foreign coach. The government granted each club tax exemptions for an initial three-year period, while each club owner must provide a minimum initial investment of Ks.200 million (approximately US$200,000). It was expected that the annual operating cost for each club would be about Ks.500 million (US$500,000).[1] The investment apparently covers costs such as salaries, transportation and equipment, but does not include the club stadiums, which are all nationalized.[7]

Myanmar Derby

Myanmar Derby or The Classic Match of Myanmar is the matchup between Yangon United and Yadanarbon. It is the matchup that presents Myanmar football in the modern era. The name was given to the encounter of two teams due to the hype and massive atmosphere around the match. The first encounter between them happened in the 2009 MNL Cup season. On 18 June 2009, Yadanarbon and Yangon United met at Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon. Before the match, Yadanarbon was the leader in the table after 3 matches of the season while Yangon followed in second with one less point. Yadanarbon made the lead by 2–1 in the first forty-five minutes but Yangon bounced back to draw by the 2–2 result at the end. The match was full of the exciting and dramatic moments. Then, it was considered one of the most classic matches in Myanmar League history. The Yangon United versus Yadanarbon matchup was dubbed as "Myanmar Derby" ever since then.

Yangon Utd dominance

The Yangon Utd Dominance refers to the 2011 to 2013 season, which Yangon United won Myanmar National League in three consecutive seasons as the first club in the league history.

The first invincibles and consecutive titles

In 2019 season, Shan United under U Aung Naing head coach Myanmar, had become the first club in the league history that completed the season with an unbeaten record. Shan United finished at the top of the final standing with 12 wins and 10 draws. They have earned a second invincible season, this time with U Han Win Aung. They have won 15 matches and drew three. Between these two seasons, they had secured the 2020 Myanmar National League as well.

Shan Utd dominance

The Shan Utd Dominance refers to the 2019, 2020 and 2022 season, which Shan United won Myanmar National League in three consecutive seasons as the second club in the league.

Champions

(For Burmese Champions before 2009, see Myanmar Premier League)

More information #, Year ...

Wins by club

More information Club, Champions ...

The Invincibles

Unbeaten champions:

Clubs

Name changes

Delta United changed their name to Ayeyawady United to represent the Ayeyawady Division. Okkthar United changed their name to Hantharwaddy United to represent the Bago Division. Mahar United changed their name to Sagaing United to represent the Sagaing Division.

Personnel and sponsoring

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

More information Team, Head coach ...

Records

See also: Football records in Myanmar

All-time top scorers

As of 31 May 2024
More information Rank, Player ...

Figures for active players (in bold).

All-time appearances

As of 31 May 2024
More information Rank, Player ...

Figures for active players (in bold) .

Player statistics

All-time multiple hat-tricks

More information Rank, Country ...

All-time clean sheets

More information Rank, Country ...

All-time Assists

More information Rank, Country ...

Prize money

  • Champion: Ks.10,00,00,000/-More than
  • Runner-up: Ks.7,50,00,000/-More than
  • Third Place: Ks.5,00,00,000/-More than

Awards

Top scorers

More information Year, Nation ...

Coach of the Year

More information Season, Coach ...

Player of the Year

More information Season, Player ...

Titles won

More information No, Player ...

Managers

Winning managers

More information Manager, Club(s) ...

Competition format and sponsorship

Competition

There are 12 clubs in the Myanmar League. During the course of a season, which lasts from January to October, each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 22 games. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then head-to-head, then goal difference, and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned champion. If points are equal, the head-to-head, the goal difference and then goals scored determine the winner. If still equal, teams are deemed to occupy the same position. If there is a tie for the championship, for relegation, or for qualification to other competitions, a play-off match at a neutral venue decides rank. The two lowest placed teams are relegated into the MNL-2 and the top two teams from the MNL-2 are promoted in their place.

Qualification for Asian competitions

See also: Myanmar clubs in the Asian Club Championship, Myanmar clubs in the AFC Champions League, and Myanmar clubs in the AFC Cup

In the past the champions will play in AFC Champions League playoffs and AFC Cup for the champions of General Aung San Shield.

Sponsorship

The Myanmar League has been sponsored since 2009 until 2010 and has been sponsored again since 2015. The sponsor has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. The list below details who the sponsors have been and what they called the competition:

More information Period, Sponsor ...

Since 2013, 100PLUS has been the sponsor of Myanmar Football Federation and MNL. The sponsorship is extended to 2020 to support major football events in the country, the various football teams within the national setup, football tournaments for youth development and the local professional competitions.[10]

Match balls

Youth League

Like the reserve league, the youth league is open to all the youth teams of all professional clubs in Myanmar.

Other tournaments

Domestic tournaments
International tournaments

AFC club ranking

As of 15. 3. 2023.[11]
More information Current Rank, Points ...

Broadcasters

TV broadcasters: Sky Net, Channel 9 Myanmar, MNTV Myanmar, Sky Net Sports channels numbered 1 to 6.

Online streaming: MNL YouTube Channel, MNL-2 YouTube Channel, Genius Sports, Eleven Sports, MyCujoo, AI Soccer, Be Soccer, Sky Net DTH YouTube Channel

References

  1. [1]
    Han Oo Khin (March 9–15, 2009). "New era for football". The Myanmar Times. Archived from the original on February 15, 2012.
  2. [2]
    Han Oo Khin (March 30 – April 5, 2009). "MFF announces May domestic cup competition". The Myanmar Times. Archived from the original on February 14, 2012.
  3. [3]
    "MNL season opens in style". Myanmar Times. 2010. Archived from the original on 5 October 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  4. [4]
    "MNL expands ahead of 2011 season launch". Myanmar Times. January 2011. Archived from the original on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  5. [5]
    "၂၀၁၂ ပြိုင်ပွဲတွင် ချင်းကိုယ်စားပြု အသင်းတစ်သင်း ပါဝင် ယှဉ်ပြိုင်မည်". Soccer Myanmar. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  6. [6]
    "MNL TO INTRODUCE PROMOTION-RELEGATION SYSTEM BY 2014". ASEAN Football. 7 May 2011. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  7. [7]
    Min Lwin (2009-04-20). "Burmese Soccer League an Election Ploy?". The Irrawaddy. Archived from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
  8. [8]
    "2020 MNL Title won". themnl.com. 2020. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  9. [9]
    "2020 Top Scorer". themnl.com. 2020. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  10. [10]
    "100PLUS Renews Hydration Partnership with MFF and MNL till 2020". Myanmar Business Today. Archived from the original on 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  11. [11]
    "AFC Football / Soccer Clubs Ranking". Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Myanmar_National_League, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.