1900 to 1978

Football arrived in Malaysia, (Malaya at that time), with the British. The locals soon picked up the game, and soon it was the country's leading sport. Towards the end of the 19th century, football was one of the central pillars of most sports clubs in Malaya. Even when the Selangor Amateur Football League took shape in 1905 – which ensured proper administration and organization – the competition was confined only to clubs in Kuala Lumpur.^[8][9]

The earliest known winners of football competition in Malaysia was YMCA in Penang in 1906.^[10]

In January 1921, the British Royal Navy battleship H. M. S. Malaya was called at Port Swettenham (now Port Klang), Singapore, Malacca, Penang and Port Dickson.^[11] During its stay, the crew competed in friendly matches in football, rugby, hockey, sailing and golf against local clubs.^[11]

Three months later, the Chief Secretary of the Federated Malay States received a letter from Captain H. T. Buller of the H. M. S. Malaya, which offered two cups to be competed for in football and rugby as tokens of their gratitude for the reception they received in Malaya.^[11] The cup for football were then known as the Malaya Cup The offer was accepted and various club representatives met to organize the tournament.^[11] Malaya Cup committee was set up and it was decided to run the football competition in northern and southern sections. The first tournament were entrusted to be run by the Selangor Club.^[11] The first ever Malaya Cup match was played on 20 August 1921, with Selangor defeating Penang 5–1 in front of an estimated crowd of 5,000 in Kuala Lumpur.^[11] The inaugural tournament were played by six teams and won by Singapore.^[12] During 1923, a newspaper described it as “by far the greatest sporting event of the year (in Malaya)”.^[11]

In 1933, Football Association of Malaya (FAM) was founded.^[13] By 1954, FAM joins FIFA as a member in AFC.

The Malaysia FAM Cup was established in 1952 as a secondary knockout competition to the more prestigious Malaya Cup. The competitions were held between the state teams, including Singapore, the Police, Army and the Prisons Department of Malaysia, in their early days.^[14][15]

In 1959, the Malaya Cup departed from the traditional one-round tournament to a two-round home and away format in three zones (East, South, and North).^[16]

FAM changed its name to Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) in the early 1960s to coincide with the formation of Malaysia.^[8] A new trophy for the Malaya Cup was inaugurated in 1967, and since then, the competition has been known as the Malaysia Cup.^[17]

Starting in 1974, the state teams were barred from entering the FAM Cup, and only the club sides could enter.^[15] In 1976 Penang was the first club from Malaysia which won the Aga Khan Gold Cup.

1979–1988: Era of Amateur Football League

A Malaysian football league competition involving the representatives of the state football associations was first held in 1979.^[18][19] When it began, it was intended primarily as a qualifying tournament for the final knock-out stages of the Malaysia Cup, where teams compete in a one-round league before advancing to the knock-out stage.^[18] The top four teams at the end of the league would face off in two semi-finals before the winners made it to the finals. In 1981, the quarter-final stage was introduced, where eight teams qualified from the preliminary stage.^[20]

However, it was not until 1982 that a league trophy was introduced to recognise the winners of the preliminary stage as the league champions.^[21] Since then, the Malaysia Cup has been held after the conclusion of the league each year, with only the best-performing teams in the league qualifying.

1989–1993: Era of semi-pro football League

Over the years, the league competition has gained important stature in its own right. From 1982 until 1988, the league continued its purpose as a qualifying round for Malaysia Cup. In 1989, it was changed to a new format, the Malaysian Semi-Pro Football League (MSPFL), nearing fully professional status.

Initially, the only teams allowed to participate in the league were the state FA's sides, teams representing the Armed Forces and the Police, and teams representing the neighboring countries of Singapore and Brunei (though the Football Association of Singapore pulled out of the Malaysian League after the 1994 season following a dispute with the FAM).

The inaugural season of the MSPFL consisted of nine teams in First Division I and eight teams in Second Division. The Malaysian Police joined Division II in 1990.^[22] Games were played on a home and away basis for about four months, roughly between the end of April or early May and the end of August or early September. Under the new format, only the top six teams in Division I and the Division II champions and runners-up would be involved in the Malaysia Cup.^[22] The Malaysia Cup was played in the quarter-final stage, scheduled for November after the league was finished.^[22]

In 1990, a new national knockout competition was introduced by the FAM, called the Malaysia FA Cup.^[15] Perak is the winner of the inaugural season of the cup.^[15]

In 1992, FAM created another amateur league for local clubs, the Liga Nasional.^[23] The league was managed by an outside FAM entity, Super Club Sdn. Bhd. Some of the clubs that competed in the league were Hong Chin, Muar FA, PKNK Kedah, DBKL, PKNS, BSN, LPN, BBMB, Proton, PPC and PKENJ. Unfortunately, the league only ran for one season before folding. Some of the clubs then evolved and joined the main league, such as PKENJ, which became Johor FC.

In 1993, the format of the competition was changed to include a two-group league, followed by the traditional knockout format. Promotion to the professional Malaysian League was introduced for the first time in 1997. Johor FC and NS Chempaka FC were the first two sides to be promoted that year.^[15]

1994 to 1997: Era of professional football

MSPFL was the nation's top-tier league until the formation of the Malaysia Premier League (1994–97) in 1994 by the FAM.

In its inaugural season, 16 teams competed in the league. The teams were based in all states in Malaysia and two foreign teams; Singapore and Brunei.

1998 to 2003: Clubs inclusion in main league

In 1998, the Malaysia Premier League was divided into two divisions, consisting of Malaysia Premier League 1 and Malaysia Premier League 2 (Liga Perdana 1 and Liga Perdana 2).^[24][25]

During 1998, Malaysia Premier League 1 consisted of 12 teams, while Malaysia Premier League 2 had 8 teams.^[24] 10 teams that previously played in the 1997 Malaysia Premier League were automatically qualified for the Malaysia Premier League 1. The other two spots were filled by a playoff round of the five lowest teams and the Malaysian Olympic football team. They were then put into the Malaysia Premier League 2 alongside Police, Malaysia Military, Negeri Sembilan Chempaka F.C., and PKN Johor. At this time, the league still consisted of semi-pro teams, where each team was allowed to register 25 players (minimum of 12 professionals for MPL 1 and 6 professionals for MPL 2).^[24]

2004 to present: Era of Malaysia Super League

Both leagues continued until 2003, when the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) decided to privatize the league and the Malaysia Super League was formed. Teams in Malaysia Premier League 1 and Malaysia Premier League 2 were then put through a qualification and play-off process to be promoted into the Malaysia Super League. Teams that failed the qualification were put into a new second-tier Malaysia Premier League.

Starting in 2016, the Football Malaysia LLP (FMLLP), which is now known as the Malaysian Football League (MFL), took over all the top-tier professional football competitions. Under the new management, all clubs in the Malaysian league enjoyed their first ever season in 2021 as private football clubs. The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has been pushing its member clubs towards privatization in a bid to end their reliance on state funds.^[26]

Further changes were made to the Malaysia FAM Cup in 2008, where the knockout stages were abolished and the double round-robin format was introduced. The tournament became known as the Malaysia FAM League.^[27] In 2018, a new subsidiary of the company was formed known as the Amateur Football League (AFL), which was tasked with managing the third division and below from 2019 onward.^[28] The AFL officially confirmed the formation of the Malaysia M3 League and the Malaysia M4 League as the third and fourth divisions of the Malaysian football league system as amateur league competitions.

League

Cups

Three major professional-era competitions (1994–present)

Quadruple

Treble

Double