2023 Malaysia M3 League

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.

MBSB Bank Championship
Season2023
ChampionsImmigration FC
RelegatedNaga UKS
Matches played165
Goals scored501 (3.04 per match)
Top goalscorerAzim Rahim (24 goals)
Biggest home winHarini 5–1 Naga UKS (27 May)
Biggest away winNaga UKS 1–10 Malaysia University (11 March)
Highest scoring11 goals
Naga UKS 1–10 Malaysia University (11 March)
Longest winning run7 matches (KL Rovers)
Longest unbeaten run17 matches (KL Rovers)
Longest winless run19 matches (Naga UKS)
Longest losing run19 matches (Naga UKS)
2022
All statistics correct as of 21 October 2023.

Establishment and format

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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]

Clubs

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

Season changes

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The following teams have changed division since the 2022 season.

To MBSB Bank Championship

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Ejected from the Super League

New Team

Name changes

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

Club locations

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Venues

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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

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

League table

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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 Withdrew from 2024–25 MBSB Bank Championship.
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 Withdrew from 2024–25 MBSB Bank Championship.
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 Withdrew from 2024–25 MBSB Bank Championship.
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 Withdrewa
Source: https://cms.fam.org.my/v1/standings
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored.
(C) League Champion; (R) Relegated
Notes

a 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.[4][5]

Position by round

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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

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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

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Top scorers

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

Hat-tricks

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Player For Against Result Date
  Alief Najmi Radzi Malaysian University Naga UKS FC 1-10 (A)[7] 11 March 2023
  Syukur Saidin Bukit Tambum BRM Kuala Kangsar 0-4 (A)[8] 6 May 2023
  Ikhmal Ibrahim Perlis United Naga UKS 0-8 (A)[9] 20 May 2023
  Sadam Hashim Perlis United Naga UKS 0-8 (A)[9] 20 May 2023
  Afeeq Iqmal Manjung City Sarawak United 0-4 (A)[10] 10 June 2023
  Azim Rahim4 Immigration Naga UKS 0-6 (A)[11] 24 June 2023
  Fauzi Kadar Bukit Tambun Manjung City 2-3 (A)[12] 8 July 2023
  Khyril Muhymeen Harini Armed Forces 3-1 (H)[13] 15 August 2023
  Azim Rahim Immigration PIB Shah Alam 3-0 (H)[14] 2 September 2023
  Zulkiffli Zakaria Harini Naga UKS 0-8 (A)[15] 4 September 2023
  Amirul Nizam PIB Naga UKS 2-6 (A)[16] 14 October 2023
Notes

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

Clean sheets

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

Tambun

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

See also

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References

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  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. ^ SUHAIMI, MUHAMAD ARDIE PUTRA (20 June 2023). "Liga M3: Kuala Kangsar BRM FC sah tarik diri". Kosmo Digital (in Malay). Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Penarikan Diri Kuala Kangsar BRM FC Dari Saingan MBSB Bank Championship 2023". AFL (in Malay). 20 June 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  6. ^ "FAM - CMS". cms.fam.org.my. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  7. ^ "FAM - CMS".
  8. ^ "FAM - CMS".
  9. ^ a b "FAM - CMS".
  10. ^ "FAM - CMS".
  11. ^ "FAM - CMS".
  12. ^ "FAM - CMS".
  13. ^ "FAM - CMS".
  14. ^ "FAM - CMS".
  15. ^ "FAM - CMS".
  16. ^ "FAM - CMS".
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