The 2023 Malaysia M3 League, known as the 2023 MBSB Bank Championship for sponsorship reasons, was the third season of the MBSB Bank Championship, the second tier football league in Malaysia, since its establishment in 2019.[1] The season lasted from March to October.

Establishment and format

This new season saw the format restructuring by the Amateur Football League (AFL). On 19 January 2020, the AFL has announced the format changes for the Malaysia M3 League and Malaysia M4 League in preparation for the transition of the amateur team to semi-professionals by 2021.[2]

The league will kick-off with 14 teams into one single group of league. The top four teams will play in the play-offs to determine which teams will qualify for promotion to the Super League in the 2024 season. The bottom two teams will be relegated to the M4 League.[3]

Team changes

The following teams have changed division since the 2022 season.

Name changes

  • Ultimate was renamed to Naga Ultimate Kuala Selangor FC (Naga UKS).

Teams

As of 29 December 2022, 14 clubs confirmed their participation in the 2023 Malaysia M3 League.

Club locations

class=notpageimage|
Locations of teams in the 2022 Malaysia M3 League

Venues

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Armed Forces Kuala Lumpur Mindef Stadium 1,000
BRM Kuala Kangsar Perak Stadium 42,500
Bukit Tambun Bukit Tambun Penang State Stadium 40,000
Harini Kuala Selangor UPM Stadium 3,000
Immigration Putrajaya UPM Stadium 3,000
Kuala Lumpur Rovers Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur Stadium 16,000
Malaysian University Kuala Lumpur UM Arena Stadium 1,000
Manjung City Seri Manjung Manjung Stadium 15,000
Melaka Malacca City Hang Jebat Stadium 40,000
Naga Ultimate Kuala Selangor Kuala Selangor Kuala Selangor Stadium 1,000
Perlis United Kangar Tuanku Syed Putra Stadium 20,000
PIB Shah Alam Shah Alam USIM Stadium 1,000
SAINS Seremban Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium 45,000
Sarawak United Kuching Sarawak State Stadium 20,000

Personnel and sponsoring

Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Sponsor
Armed Forces England Kevin Lee Cooper Malaysia Venice Elphi AL Sports MBSB Bank
BRM Malaysia Mohd Ali Khan Abdullah Malaysia Kamarul Effandi Abdul Rahim AL Sports Raudhah Islamic School
Jasmin7
Bukit Tambun Malaysia Mahamud Harun Malaysia Hafidz Romly AL Sports GIMmedia
Harini Malaysia P. Maniam Malaysia Norshahrul Idlan Talaha Ma7ch Harini
MBSB Bank
Immigration Malaysia Mat Zan Mat Aris Malaysia Mohd Nasriq Baharom Let's Play Performance redONE
MBSB Bank
Kuala Lumpur Rovers Malaysia Wan Mustaffa Wan Ismail Malaysia Firdaus Fauzi Ma7ch MBSB Bank
Malaysian University Malaysia Ridzuan Abu Shah Malaysia Amirul Fazly Zamri Ma7ch
Manjung City Malaysia Rafae Isa Malaysia Faizzzwan Dorahim Cheetah Majlis Perbandaran Manjung
ANE Group
Melaka Portugal Pedro Hipólito Malaysia Idris Ahmad Puma
Naga Ultimate Kuala Selangor Serbia Dusan Momcilovic Malaysia Mohamad Firdaus Yusof AL Sports
Perlis United Malaysia Azhar Abdul Rahman Malaysia Azizi Matt Rose Ma7ch SGT Power
PIB Shah Alam Malaysia Yusrizal Yusoff Malaysia Adam Syafiq Fuad AL Sports MBSB Bank
SAINS Malaysia Hamizar Hamzah Malaysia Alif Samsudin Kaki Jersi MBI Negeri Sembilan
Sarawak United Malaysia S. Balachandran Malaysia Nor Azizi Ramlee AL Sports Punggor Wibawa

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Immigration (C) 24 17 4 3 53 15 +38 55
2 Kuala Lumpur Rovers 24 16 6 2 48 14 +34 54 Qualified to the 2023 Malaysia Cup
3 Harini 24 15 6 3 56 21 +35 51
4 Bukit Tambun 24 14 3 7 36 27 +9 45
5 SAINS 24 11 5 8 34 30 +4 38 Withdrawal from 2024–25 A1 Semi-Pro League[a]
6 Malaysian University 24 11 3 10 43 28 +15 36
7 Manjung City 24 9 7 8 35 31 +4 34
8 Perlis United 24 9 5 10 35 31 +4 32 Withdrawal from 2024–25 A1 Semi-Pro League[a]
9 PIB Shah Alam 24 9 4 11 32 31 +1 31
10 Melaka 24 8 7 9 38 38 0 31
11 Armed Forces 24 7 5 12 34 30 +4 26
12 Sarawak United 24 1 1 22 18 80 −62 4 Withdrawal from 2024–25 A1 Semi-Pro League[a]
13 Naga Ultimate Kuala Selangor (R) 24 1 0 23 14 100 −86 3 Relegation to the 2024 Al - Ikhsan Cup
14 BRM FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Withdrew[b]
Source: FAM-CMS
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored.
(C) League Champion; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c SAINS, Perlis United & Sarawak United withdrew from Liga M3 before the start of 2024 season.[4]
  2. ^ On 20 Jun 2023 AFL announced they accepted the withdrawal of BRM FC, based on the letter citing financial problems. AFL also announced all matches involving BRM FC were annulled.[5][6]

Position by round

Team ╲ Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324
Immigration554653335433333333222121
Kuala Lumpur Rovers211211111211111111111212
Harini143342222122222222333333
Bukit Tambun436524543544444444444444
SAINS322135454355555555655555
Malaysian University10115467769111110119101066667666
Manjung City899111010101086789106689976697
Perlis United71010886676766668977788878
PIB Shah Alam911111212111111108977798101010111111109
Melaka12127778897101011101177988999810
Armed Forces688911998119898811111111111010101111
Sarawak United131212101212121212121212121212121212121212121212
Naga Ultimate Kuala Selangor111313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313
League Leader
Qualified to 2023 Malaysia Cup
Qualified to 2023 Malaysia Cup
Relegation to Al-Ikhsan Cup
Source: MFL

Results table

Home \ Away ARM BKT BRM HAR IFC KLR MAU MCT MEL NAG PLU PIB KSR SWU
Armed Forces 1–2 3–1 1–2 0–1 0–2 1–3 1–1 1–0 3–0 1–1 1–2 1–1 4–2
Bukit Tambun 2–1 NIL 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–0 3–1 0–1 1–0 2–1 1–2 3–1 2–0
BRM NIL 0–4 NIL 0–1 NIL 3–0 NIL NIL NIL NIL 0–5 NIL NIL
Harini Selangor 3–1 3–1 3–1 1–2 1–1 3–1 0–0 3–3 5–1 2–3 1–1 2–1 3–0
Immigration 1–1 1–1 NIL 1–0 1–1 3–0 2–1 1–2 3–1 3–2 3–0 3–0 5–0
Kuala Lumpur Rovers 0–0 1–2 NIL 1–1 1–0 1–0 3–0 3–1 4–1 2–0 2–1 0–0 6–1
Malaysian University 2–1 3–1 NIL 1–2 2–3 0–3 1–2 1–1 4–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 5–1
Manjung City 2–0 2–3 0–2 0–4 0–3 2–0 0–2 3–3 3–0 3–2 0–0 2–0 4–0
Melaka 0–2 1–0 NIL 1–3 0–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–2 1–3 2–0
Naga Ultimate Kuala Selangor 0–6 1–2 NIL 0–8 0–6 0–5 1–10 1–3 1–7 0–8 2–6 0–3 3–2
Perlis United 0–2 1–3 2–1 0–3 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 2–2 2–1 0–0 2–1 1–0
PIB Shah Alam 1–0 1–0 NIL 1–2 0–4 0–2 0–2 0–0 3–4 2–0 1–2 0–1 6–1
SAINS 2–1 1–2 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–2 2–1 1–1 2–3 2–0 1–1 1–0 3–2
Sarawak United 0–4 1–3 NIL 0–2 0–4 1–4 0–2 0–4 1–1 4–1 0–4 0–3 2–4
Source: FAM
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of matches played on 21 October 2023
Rank Player Club Goals[7]
1 Malaysia Azim Rahim Immigration 24
2 Malaysia Afeeq Iqmal Manjung City 13
Malaysia Zulkiffli Zakaria Harini
4 Malaysia Amer Saidin KL Rovers 12
5 Malaysia Khyril Muhymeen Harini 11
6 Malaysia Firdaus Azizul Sains 10
Malaysia Sadam Hashim Perlis United
8 Malaysia Ikhmal Ibrahim Perlis United 9
9 Malaysia Fakhrul Aiman Sidid Melaka 8
Malaysia Rafie Mat Yaccob KL Rovers

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Result Date
Malaysia Alief Najmi Radzi Malaysian University Naga UKS FC 1-10 (A)[8] 11 March 2023
Malaysia Syukur Saidin Bukit Tambum BRM Kuala Kangsar 0-4 (A)[9] 6 May 2023
Malaysia Ikhmal Ibrahim Perlis United Naga UKS 0-8 (A)[10] 20 May 2023
Malaysia Sadam Hashim Perlis United Naga UKS 0-8 (A)[10] 20 May 2023
Malaysia Afeeq Iqmal Manjung City Sarawak United 0-4 (A)[11] 10 June 2023
Malaysia Azim Rahim4 Immigration Naga UKS 0-6 (A)[12] 24 June 2023
Malaysia Fauzi Kadar Bukit Tambun Manjung City 2-3 (A)[13] 8 July 2023
Malaysia Khyril Muhymeen Harini Armed Forces 3-1 (H)[14] 15 August 2023
Malaysia Azim Rahim Immigration PIB Shah Alam 3-0 (H)[15] 2 September 2023
Malaysia Zulkiffli Zakaria Harini Naga UKS 0-8 (A)[16] 4 September 2023
Malaysia Amirul Nizam PIB Naga UKS 2-6 (A)[17] 14 October 2023
Notes

4 Player scored 4 goals
5 Player scored 5 goals
(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team

Clean sheets

As of 21 October 2023
Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1 Malaysia Ameerul Eqwan Fauzi KL Rovers 14
2 Malaysia Firdaus Suhaimi Manjung 8
3 Malaysia Hafizul Hakim Harini 7
Malaysia Izarul Adli Immigration
4 Malaysia Ashraf Fadhil Malaysian University 6
Malaysia Kaharuddin Rahman Sains
7 Malaysia Solehin Mamat Immigration 5
Malaysia Shahrizan Shafiq Armed Forces
9 Malaysia Hafidz Romly Bukit

Tambun

4
Malaysia Hafiz Abu Bakar Perlis
Malaysia Izzat Abdul Rahim PIB Shah Alam
Malaysia Wan Azraie PIB Shah Alam
13 Malaysia Asri Muhamad Perlis United 2
Malaysia Nasrullah Aziz Melaka
15 Malaysia Amar Haziq Malaysian University 1
Malaysia Asfa Abiddin Bukit Tambun
Malaysia Hafizudin Azuhar Armed Forces
Malaysia Daniel Wafiuddin Melaka
Malaysia Izzat Hakimi Sains

See also

References

  1. ^ "Liga M3 pada musim 2023 akan guna format baru". Harimau Malaya. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  2. ^ "MFL: No M3 league teams to play in restructured 2023 Super League". MalayMail. 27 Sep 2022.
  3. ^ "Amateur Football League (AFL) Umum Penstrukturan Semula Liga M3, 20 Pasukan Dalam Saingan Musim 2020". Vocket.fc. 19 January 2020.
  4. ^ "3 Pasukan Tarik Diri Sebelum Saingan Musim 2024/25". MakanBola. 11 April 2024.
  5. ^ SUHAIMI, MUHAMAD ARDIE PUTRA (20 June 2023). "Liga M3: Kuala Kangsar BRM FC sah tarik diri". Kosmo Digital (in Malay). Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  6. ^ "Penarikan Diri Kuala Kangsar BRM FC Dari Saingan MBSB Bank Championship 2023". AFL (in Malay). 20 June 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  7. ^ "FAM - CMS". cms.fam.org.my. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  8. ^ "FAM - CMS".
  9. ^ "FAM - CMS".
  10. ^ a b "FAM - CMS".
  11. ^ "FAM - CMS".
  12. ^ "FAM - CMS".
  13. ^ "FAM - CMS".
  14. ^ "FAM - CMS".
  15. ^ "FAM - CMS".
  16. ^ "FAM - CMS".
  17. ^ "FAM - CMS".
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Malaysia_M3_League
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