Wikipedia - Terengganu FC

Terengganu Football Club is a professional football club based in Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia, that competes in Malaysia Super League, the first division of Malaysian football league system. Nicknamed "The Turtles", the club was founded as Terengganu Football Association on 22 November 1956, changed its name to Terengganu Football Association in 1972 and Terengganu Football Club in 2018.

The club had won major trophies in Malaysian football. Domestically they had won 1 Malaysia Cup, 2 Malaysia FA Cup, 1 Malaysia Charity Shield, 2 Malaysia Premier League titles and 1 FAM League title. Terengganu remains the only state team that has not won the top flight M-League since the introduction of the league in 1982 up until now.

History

This club did not have much success in the 1970s with only a single appearance in the Malaysia Cup final led by Harun Jusoh, losing to Selangor 2–1 in a match played at the Merdeka Stadium. It was the same in the 1980s with another final appearance in 1982, ironically also against Selangor. It was the same outcome with Selangor winning 1–0 after extra-time.

When the semi-Professional League was introduced in 1989, Terengganu were in the second division based on their final position in the previous season.

They recruited giant Dutch defender, Marlon Ricardo van der Sander and Singaporean duo, Ahmad Paijan and Norhalis Shafik to boost their squad and finished the season in a credible fourth place but ultimately failed to win promotion.

In the 1990 season, they went all the way to emerge as the second division champion under the guidance of head coach, Abdullah Mohamed with German striker, Frank Pastor finding the back of the net on regular basis aided by midfield duo Martin Busse and Ahmad Paijan. They lost only once in the league all season to finish three points clear of East Coast rival, Kelantan FA.

In the 1992 season, Terengganu recorded their highest ever finish in the league when they finished as runner-up to Pahang FA. The Elephants broke The Turtles hearts again in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Cup competition after neither side scored in 180 minutes of play, the match went into sudden-death extra-time.

For the next few seasons, Terengganu struggled and their lowest moment came in the 1997 season when they finished bottom of the table, resulting in them being in the second division when the Malaysian League changed into a two-tier competition again in 1998.

In that season, with Abdul Rahman Ibrahim at the helm, Terengganu emerged as second division champion and went all the way to the final of the Malaysia Cup, the first one held at the newly opened Bukit Jalil National Stadium. Perak FA were the opponents and both teams entertained the 100,000 capacity crowd with exciting football. However both teams could not be separated after 120 minutes of play with the result stood at 1–1. The lottery of the penalty shootout was used to determine the winner and in the end it was third time unlucky for Terengganu in a Malaysia Cup final, losing the shootouts 5–3.

In 1999, Che Mat Jusoh, who was the Terengganu President at that time, was appointed to lead the team. He successfully guiding the team Terengganu champion in 2000 and 2011 season and runner-up in the 2004 season of the FA Cup. The team won first title in the Malaysia Cup in the 2001 season and runner-up in 2011 season. Terengganu won the Malaysia Charity Shield in the 2001 season. The team succeed to improve position in 2005/2006 Premier League season. The team ended in runner-up place during the season. In the 2010 season, Terengganu ended at third place in Malaysia Super League.

In the 2011 season, Terengganu had won Malaysia FA Cup, runner-up Malaysia Cup and Malaysia Super League by the guidance of Irfan Bakti.

Terengganu won the title of Malaysia FA Cup for the second time. Therefore, they qualified to compete in 2012 AFC Cup. Nordin Alias became the hero for the team. He scored the winning goal in extra time.

During the Malaysia Cup, Terengganu lost to Negeri Sembilan F.A. during the final match that was held at Shah Alam Stadium. In the quarter-final, Terengganu overcame their rival, Kelantan F.A.. In the semi-final, Selangor F.A. also become prey to The Turtles when beaten 2–0 at home by two goals by Abdul Manaf Mamat. While in the second leg, Terengganu won 2–1 (Agg Terengganu 4–1 Selangor).

In the final, Terengganu opened the scoring with Ashari Samsudin in the 59th minute. In the 81st minute, Negeri Sembilan equalised through S. Kunalan. But, Hairuddin Omar disappointed Terengganu with his bicycle kick in the 86th minute. Terengganu lost to Negeri Sembilan 1–2.

At the end of the season, the coach of Terengganu, Irfan Bakti announced that he will move to another team for the next season.

At the end of the 2013 season, Che Mat Jusoh eventually withdrew from the presidency Terengganu after he failed to bring silverwares to the team as required by Terengganu fans. As Datuk Wan Ahmad Nizam take over Terengganu in 2013, he want to change Terengganu in the upcoming seasons to be a title contender in Malaysian League.

Following years in 2018, Terengganu Fc reached to the Final of Malaysian Cup after dramaticly beating Johor Darul Takzim in semi final.Both team played very well and fierce however The Turtles managed to final after 120 minutes of blood , sweats and tears. In the Final, Terengganu fc loses to Perak fc after 120 minutes of played and the winner is Perak fc after Terengganu fc the penalthy 4-1.The Bos Gaurus have given a greatc omeback and won the final as the Perak fc became underdog in this game. However Terengganu fc have shown a great fight that night and the match was amazing and later became one of the best final match in modern era.




2020 pandemic period

In the 2020 season, Terengganu had performed well to finish third in the Malaysia Super League.

At least 30,000 people came to Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium to watch the first match of the league between Terengganu FC and Perak FA. However, Terengganu lost 1–3 in the match. Terengganu went on to win 4–3 against Kedah FA as the away team and draws 3–3 against Selangor FA.

However, the Malaysian Football League was then postponed for 159 days due to COVID-19.

Terengganu's first game after a long time Malaysian football is put to rest is against Petaling Jaya City FC in Petaling Jaya Stadium where Terengganu won 2–0 against The Phoenix.

Terengganu's 2–1 victory against Pahang FA which is the final match of the league confirms the club's final position in the league.

Terengganu went on to play Petaling Jaya City again in the 2020 Malaysia Cup and won 1–0 to advance to the quarter-finals to face Perak FA which is the same team who defeated Terengganu in the 2018 Malaysia Cup in the epic final match where Perak defeated Terengganu via penalty shootout after the match ended 3-3 after extra time. However, the competition was cancelled following the government's rejection of MFL's appeal due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia.

Return to AFC Cup

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia, the 2020 Malaysia FA Cup was cancelled and declared null and void by the Football Association of Malaysia which originally would see the champion gaining the slot for the 2021 AFC Cup group stage so it were determined only by the results of the 2020 Malaysia Super League in which Terengganu finished in the third place in the league that season. By finishing in the third place, Terengganu will automatically gain a slot in the 2021 AFC Cup which see them being placed in Group I with Visakha, Lalenok United and Geylang International but backed out from the tournament later on.

The Turtles returned to the 2023–24 AFC Cup group stage as 2022 Malaysia Super League runners-up being drawn in Group G with Bali United, Central Coast Mariners and Stallion Laguna. On 20 September 2023, Terengganu gained media attention for their famous 1–0 home win against Australian side, Central Coast Mariners.