Indonesia Liga 2 | 02/04 08:30 | 4 | Sriwijaya vs Persikota Tangerang | - | View | |
Indonesia Liga 2 | 02/10 08:30 | 5 | Sriwijaya Palembang vs PSMS Medan | - | View | |
Indonesia Liga 2 | 02/15 08:00 | 6 | Nusantara United FC vs Sriwijaya Palembang | - | View |
Indonesia Liga 2 | 01/30 08:30 | 3 | [4] Persikota Tangerang v Sriwijaya [2] | L | 4-2 | |
Indonesia Liga 2 | 01/24 08:30 | 2 | [4] Sriwijaya v Nusantara United FC [2] | W | 3-0 | |
Indonesia Liga 2 | 01/19 08:30 | 1 | PSMS Medan v Sriwijaya | L | 2-0 | |
Indonesia Liga 2 | 01/11 08:00 | - | PSMS Medan v Sriwijaya | - | View | |
Indonesia Liga 2 | 01/04 08:30 | - | Sriwijaya v Bekasi City | W | 5-3 | |
Indonesia Liga 2 | 12/19 08:00 | - | Persikabo 1973 v Sriwijaya Palembang | D | 0-0 | |
Indonesia Liga 2 | 12/01 08:30 | - | Sriwijaya v Persiraja Aceh | L | 2-4 | |
Indonesia Liga 2 | 11/20 08:00 | - | Persikota Tangerang v Sriwijaya | L | 2-0 | |
Indonesia Liga 2 | 11/15 08:00 | - | PSKC Cimahi v Sriwijaya | L | 2-1 | |
Indonesia Liga 2 | 11/10 08:30 | - | Sriwijaya v Dejan FC | D | 1-1 | |
Indonesia Liga 2 | 10/26 08:30 | - | PSPS Pekanbaru v Sriwijaya | L | 2-0 | |
Indonesia Liga 2 | 10/20 07:30 | - | Bekasi City v Sriwijaya | L | 2-1 |
Total | Home | Away | |
---|---|---|---|
Matches played | 16 | 7 | 9 |
Wins | 3 | 3 | 0 |
Draws | 4 | 3 | 1 |
Losses | 9 | 1 | 8 |
Goals for | 20 | 16 | 4 |
Goals against | 25 | 9 | 16 |
Clean sheets | 4 | 3 | 1 |
Failed to score | 8 | 2 | 6 |
Sriwijaya Football Club (Indonesian pronunciation: [/ˈʃriːwiˈdʒaɪə/]), commonly known as Sriwijaya FC or simply SFC, is an Indonesian professional football club based in Palembang, South Sumatra. The club competes in the Liga 2, the second tier of Indonesian football. Founded on 23 October 2004, the team play their home games at Gelora Sriwijaya Stadium, which has a capacity of 23,000 spectators. The club won its first major honour, the Liga Indonesia Premier Division, in 2008. In the same season the club also won the Copa Indonesia, making them the first and only club in Indonesia to ever achieve the double. Sriwijaya have a fierce rivalry with nearby club Semen Padang, with whom they contest the Andalas derby.
The club was founded on 23 October 2004 as Sriwijaya Football Club after the Government of South Sumatra, led by Syahrial Oesman, bought the debt-ridden Persijatim Solo FC, as the government wanted to manage a Palembang-based football team to compete in the top tier of Indonesian football. The province did not have any football clubs competing in the top tier of Indonesian football after the dissolution of Krama Yudha Tiga Berlian in 1992. The government also did not want the Gelora Sriwijaya Stadium, which was built with billions of rupiah to go wasted after the 2004 National Games. Historically, the club was founded in 1976 as Persijatim Jakarta Timur, which is based in East Jakarta, before changed its name to Persijatim Solo Football Club after the club was sold and moved their home base to Solo, Central Java in 2002. After the acquisition by the South Sumatra government in 2004, Sriwijaya moved its home base to Palembang, South Sumatra. The name "Sriwijaya" come from the ancient Srivijaya empire, that used to rule the land in the old days. Since then, the club is owned by PT Sriwijaya Optimis Mandiri.
Sriwijaya's first competitive season after the new ownership was 2005 Liga Indonesia Premier Division. The club's squad at that time was filled with some players from Persijatim Solo FC, such as Ferry Rotinsulu, Tony Sucipto, and Wijay. Also with the addition of native players from South Sumatra, such as Jarot and Septariyanto.
At the beginning of the season, the club was coached by an Englishman Erick Williams, before he was sacked in the middle of the season due to several poor performances that caused the club to fall into the relegation zone. Jeri Wardin, who was previously Williams' assistant, was appointed as the club's head coach before his position was finally replaced by Suimin Diharja. Under Diharja, Sriwijaya's performance gradually improved, and at the end of the season managed to maintain the club in the flagship competition after finishing in ninth place of West Division.
The 2007–08 season marked the club's golden history, when Sriwijaya became the first and only Indonesian club to achieve the double, by winning both the top division (Liga Indonesia Premier Division), and the primary domestic cup (Copa Indonesia) in the same season. At the start of the season, the club brought in Rahmad Darmawan as head coach, and the squad was filled with quality local players, such as Christian Warobay, Charis Yulianto, and Isnan Ali. Also with the fantastic four foreign players of Anoure Obiora, Zah Rahan, Christian Lenglolo, and Keith "Kayamba" Gumbs. In the first stage, the club managed to top the final standings of the West Division with 66 points from 20 wins from a total of 34 matches, better than Persipura Jayapura in the East Division with only 64 points.
In the next stage, Sriwijaya was included in Group A of the last 8, competing with Persiwa Wamena, PSMS Medan, and Arema Malang. From a total of 3 matches, the club successfully topped the final standings of the group by collecting five points from three matches. This success also led Laskar Wong Kito to the knockout phase. In the semifinals, the club won narrowly 1–0 over Persija Jakarta where the only goal was scored by Kayamba. On 10 February 2008, the club competed in the final against another Sumatran team, PSMS Medan. The full-time result ended in a 1–1 draw which made the match continue to extra time. In the extra time, the club managed to score two goals by Kayamba and Zah Rahan which made the score 3–1 until the end of the match, which made Sriwijaya emerge as the champion of the 2007–08 Liga Indonesia Premier Division. This trophy also became Sriwijaya's first championship since the club was founded.
In the same season, Sriwijaya also successfully won the domestic cup trophy, 2007–08 Copa Indonesia, which made them the first and only double champions in Indonesia to date. In the tournament, the club for the first time reached the final round, while securing this title after defeating Persipura in the final. In the final held at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Sriwijaya emerged as champions after winning the penalty shootout.
In the 2008–09 season, after winning the domestic league and cup in the previous season, Sriwijaya competed on the continental stage for the first time. The club were placed in Group F of the 2009 AFC Champions League along with Gamba Osaka, FC Seoul and Shandong Luneng, but were only able to collect one win from a total of 6 matches. This result made the club bottom of Group F. In domestic competition, Sriwijaya finished in fifth place of the 2008–09 Indonesia Super League with a total of 54 points from 15 matches, and scored 60 goals. In domestic cup, they managed to win the Copa Indonesia for the second time in a row, and gave them a ticket to the AFC Champions League play-offs for the following season.
In the following season, Sriwijaya emerged as the champion of the 2010 Copa Indonesia, while also setting a record as the only domestic cup champion in three consecutive seasons. The result was achieved after the team won 2–1 over Arema Indonesia in the final, held at the Manahan Stadium on 1 August 2010. In the league, Sriwijaya was only able to finish in eighth place with 48 points in the 2009–10 Indonesia Super League, the club's worst result in the last 4 seasons. On the continental stage, the club started by competing against the Singapore Armed Forces in the 2010 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off, but lost 3–0 to the Singapore team, and had to fall to the second level of Asian competition, AFC Cup. The club won the Group F of 2010 AFC Cup by successfully beating Bình Dương, Selangor and Victory SC in the final standings. In the round of 16, Sriwijaya had to fall after losing 1–4 to Thai Port, despite having taken the lead through a goal from Anoure Obiora.
In mid-2010, Sriwijaya terminated Rahmad Darmawan's contract, and appointed Bulgarian coach Ivan Kolev – who had previously coached the Indonesia national team – as head coach. Under Kolev, the club managed to win 2 cup trophies before the league started, 2010 Indonesian Community Shield and Indonesian Inter-Island Cup. In the league, the club captained by Keith "Kayamba" Gumbs, reinforced by a combination of elite local and foreign players, such as Thierry Gathuessy, Achmad Jufrianto, Ponaryo Astaman, Firman Utina, Budi Sudarsono, and Oktavianus Maniani. Despite having a capable squad, at the end of the season, the club was only able to finish in fifth place in the 2010–11 Indonesia Super League with 46 points. This result made the club terminate Ivan Kolev's contract ahead of the next season.
In 2011, Kas Hartadi was promoted as Sriwijaya's head coach after being Kolev's assistant the previous season. The club's new season with Hartadi was to compete in the qualifying play-off round of the 2011 AFC Champions League. In the first match, the team managed to beat Muangthong United on penalties, but lost in the next round to UAE team, Al Ain. This result made the club compete in the AFC Cup for the second time, where Sriwijaya managed to qualify for the knockout stage after finishing as runners-up in the final standings of Group F, alongside group winners Sông Lam Nghệ An. In the round of 16, the team failed to secure a ticket to the quarter-finals after losing to Chonburi 3–0.
In the league, Sriwijaya appeared in the 2011–12 Indonesian Super League, which was under the control of a joint committee to continue to be managed by PT Liga Indonesia. This competition was the first ISL season held without permission from the Football Association of Indonesia due to internal conflict, where PSSI under the leadership of Johar Arifin officially replaced the top league with Indonesian Premier League.
Despite the polemics, Sriwijaya managed to appear mighty throughout the season with the famous duo of Kayamba-Hilton, and managed to win the league for the second time at the end of the season. The team managed to top the final standings with 25 wins – the most in a single season in the history of the Indonesian top-flight. Sriwijaya lifted the league trophy after winning the Perang Bintang (Star Wars) match against the ISL All-Star on 15 July 2012 at the Gelora Sriwijaya Stadium. At the end of the year, Sriwijaya also managed to win the 2012 Indonesian Inter-Island Cup after defeating Persisam Samarinda 5–4 in a penalty shootout on 13 December 2012 at Manahan Stadium.
In early 2018, ahead of a Liga 1 season, coinciding with the club's president at that time, Dodi Reza Alex, who was running for Governor of South Sumatra in the People's Democratic Party, Laskar Wong Kito was intensively active in the transfer market. They brought in 12 players, most of whom were elite local players, such as Hamka Hamzah, Estebán Vizcarra, Syahrian Abimanyu, and Adam Alis – along with 3 foreign players, Mouhamadou N'Diaye, Manuchekhr Dzhalilov, and Makan Konaté. The club also brought back Rahmad Darmawan as head coach, who had coached the club when it won the double in 2008, and the Copa Indonesia three times in a row. The results of this club's activities paid off with the team winning the pre-season tournament, the East Kalimantan Governor's Cup after defeating Arema 3–2 in the final match. However, in the middle of the season, with Dodi Reza's failure in the general election, Sriwijaya suddenly lost several key players and coaches. This caused the team to falter as they entered the second half of the season, and were relegated to Indonesia's second division, Liga 2, for the following season. This happened after they finished second from bottom in the 2018 Liga 1.