DPMM FC
Full nameBrunei Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota Football Club
Founded2000 (2000)
GroundHassanal Bolkiah National Stadium
Capacity28,000
ChairmanPrince Al-Muhtadee Billah
Head coachRui Capela
LeagueSingapore Premier League
20237th
WebsiteClub website

Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota Football Club (English: His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Brunei Football Club; abbrev: DPMM FC) is a professional football club based in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. The club played in the Brunei Premier League in the early 2000s, winning the league title in 2002 and 2004.

The club then decided to play in Malaysia, and joined the 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 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, 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 title in 2015, just after a near-miss in 2014.

DPMM FC is owned by the Crown Prince of Brunei, Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah, who previously played as a goalkeeper for the team.

History

Beginnings in Brunei

DPMM FC started out as a college team in 1994, before being officially established as a commercial club in 2000. After being the most successful team in college-level football in Brunei, most of the team's talented players joined DPMM FC when it became a commercial team and the club became stronger and more established.[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 Malaysian league

In 2005, DPMM FC 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 FC 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 S.League, and suspension

After leaving the Malaysia Super League, DPMM FC joined Singapore's S.League for the 2009 season, becoming the first team in the league to play their home matches outside Singapore. The club quickly made an impact on the Singapore football scene by winning the Singapore League Cup in June 2009. They defeated the Singapore Armed Forces Football Club (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 FC 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, and success in Singapore

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

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 2012, 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 of the S.League

Since the 2016 season, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) has been reducing the number of imports allowed per 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 FC 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 Football Malaysia LLP, which stipulated that DPMM FC 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 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 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 same age restrictions as the local S.League clubs. 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 and Home United, DPMM considered joining another league. 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 would 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 to be 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 Singapore Cup before being eliminated by via penalty shootout to Warriors FC 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]

Return to Brunei

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]

Back to using first team players

Due to the first team's withdrawal from the Singapore Premier League for the 2021 season, head 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 FC 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, they became the winners of the competition by beating Kasuka FC in the final with a 2–1 score.[32]

Second stint in Singapore

DPMM FC began the process of returning to the Singapore Premier League after the restrictions necessitated by the pandemic eased since the year 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 qualified for the 2023–24 AFC Cup 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 see them exit from the tournament. They finished seventh in the league and ended their year in fourth place in the following Singapore Cup.

Stadium

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 videomatrix scoreboard located at the northern section; it can display both Latin and Jawi writing.

Players

Current squad

As of 12 January 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF Brunei BRU Wafi Aminuddin
3 DF Brunei BRU Abdul Mu'iz Sisa
4 MF Brunei BRU Hanif Farhan Azman
5 MF Afghanistan AFG Farshad Noor
6 MF Brunei BRU Azwan Saleh
7 MF Brunei BRU Azwan Ali Rahman (Captain)
8 MF Brunei BRU Hendra Azam Idris
9 FW Brunei BRU Abdul Azizi Ali Rahman
11 MF Brunei BRU Najib Tarif
12 GK Brunei BRU Haimie Abdullah Nyaring
13 DF Brunei BRU Hanif Hamir
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 DF Brunei BRU Helmi Zambin
15 MF Brunei BRU Syafiq Hilmi Shahrom
16 MF Brunei BRU Eddy Shahrol Omar
17 FW Brunei BRU Hakeme Yazid Said
18 FW Brunei BRU Razimie Ramlli
19 MF Brunei BRU Nur Ikhwan Othman
20 DF Brunei BRU Fakharrazi Hassan
21 DF Brunei BRU Hirzi Zulfaqar Mahzan
22 FW Brunei BRU Nazirrudin Ismail
23 DF Brunei BRU Yura Indera Putera
25 GK Brunei BRU Wardun Yussof

Club officials

Position Staff
Chairman Brunei Al-Muhtadee Billah[35]
Vice-chairman Brunei Abdul Rahim Kemaluddin Al-Haj[36]
Team manager Brunei Mohamad Ali Momin[37]
Assistant manager Brunei Momin Ja'afar[38]
Head coach Portugal Rui Capela Batista[39]
Assistant coach Brunei Moksen Mohammad[40]
Fitness coach England Jason Moriarty
Brunei Rosmin Kamis[41]
Goalkeeping coach Brazil Jorge Ferreira Barbosa
Media Officer Brunei Rahman Tamit[42]
Kitman Brunei Kasim Amit[43]
Physiotherapist Brunei Faisal Hashim[43]

League and Cup history

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[44][45] 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

Continental record

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2002–03 AFC Champions League Qualifiers Round 2 Singapore Geylang United 0–3 4–0 0–7
2003 ASEAN Club Championship Group B Malaysia Perak FA 3–0 3rd
Singapore Singapore Armed Forces 2–2
2005 ASEAN Club Championship Group B Thailand Thailand Tobacco Monopoly 2–2 2nd
Myanmar Finance and Revenue 1–2
Singapore Tampines Rovers 0–1
Semi final Malaysia Pahang 1–0
2023–24 AFC Cup Preliminary Round 2 Myanmar Yangon United 1–2

Records and statistics

Top 10 all-time appearances

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

Rank Player Years Club appearances
1 Brunei Azwan Saleh 2006–present 250+
2 Brunei Wardun Yussof 2004, 2005–present 238+
3 Brunei Shah Razen Said 2005–2022 226+
4 Brunei Helmi Zambin 2009–present 226
5 Brunei Azwan Ali Rahman 2013–present 217
6 Brunei Rosmin Kamis 2004–2009

2012–2017

213+
7 Brunei Hendra Azam Idris 2012–present 213
8 Brunei Najib Tarif 2012–present 162
9 Brunei Adi Said 2012–2018,

2019

161
10 Brunei Sairol Sahari 2006–2016 144+

Top 10 all-time scorers

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

Rank Player Club 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 217 51
6 Brazil Rodrigo Tosi 54 50
7 Brunei Adi Said 161 41
8 Brunei Hakeme Yazid Said 44 32
9 Australia Peter Grierson 30
10 Brunei Rosmin Kamis 213+ 27
  • Biggest Win: 18–0 vs Seri Wira FC (On 13 August 2022)
  • Heaviest Defeat: 9-3 vs Home United (On 25 May 2017)
  • Youngest Goal scorer: Hakeme Yazid Said ~ 16 years 5 months 25 days old (On 2 August 2019 vs Geylang International)
  • Oldest Goal scorer: Abdul Azizi ~ 36 years 5 months 21 days old (On 8 July 2023 vs Albirex Niigata Singapore)
  • Youngest ever debutant: Hakeme Yazid Said ~ 16 years 5 months 25 days old (On 2 August 2019 vs Geylang International)
  • Oldest fielded player: Alizanda Sitom ~ 46 years, 9 months and 26 days (On 25 May 2017 vs Home United)

Honours

League

DPMM winning the 2022 FA Cup

Brunei

Singapore

Cups

DPMM winning the 2009 Singapore League Cup

Brunei

  • Pengiran Sengamara Di Raja Cup
    • Runner-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

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