1965 MALAYA CUP FINAL

1965 Malaya Cup Final match programme

It was a blessing to get my hands on the souvenir match programme of the 1965 Malaya Cup Final, a piece of football history that is so meaningful to Singapore's football history.

The significance of it is that this was the last time Singapore won the esteemed tournament as a member of the Federation of Malaysia before the Separation on 9th August 1965, and it was barely less than two weeks before the expulsion took place when the match was played on 31st July at Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.

In his foreword, Tengku Azman Shah, the then regent of Selangor, wrote that this booklet should not just serve as a guide for the match itself, but also allow future generations to appreciate and understand the history and development of the game in Malaysia (which included Singapore at the time of publication).

Foreword by Tengku Azman Shah (from programme)

Besides the Selangor prince, other dignitaries who penned their forewords in this souvenir programme included the then Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Selangor, Dato' Harun Idris who was also the president of the Football Association of Selangor, and Hussein Kumari, the then president of the Singapore Amateur Football Association (SAFA, the former name of the Football Association of Singapore).

THREE ZONAL FORMAT

The programme also saw the late Dato' Peter Velappan, who served as the assistant honorary secretary of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) before he became a prominent figure in Asian football as the long-serving General Secretary of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), explained why the 1965 tournament was switched to a three-zonal format (North, South, East zone) because of financial difficulties that strained some of the participating teams' budgets when it competed under the two-zonal format (North and South) in the previous two years.

The match ticket to the 1965 Malaya Cup Final 

One of the main flaws of the three-zonal format would see Kelantan having an easy ride over her perennial East zone opponents - Trengganu (now Terengganu) and Pahang before having to take on either the North or South zone winners (depending on that year's tournament rules) in their bid to make it to the Malaya Cup final.

Facing the defending champions Singapore in the final was Selangor, their fiercest rivals in this tournament.

Prior to this encounter, the duo had pitted against each other for the sixteenth time in the final, with the first duel taking place when the tournament was inaugurated in 1921, with Singapore etching their name in history books as the first winners.

Although the 1965 final was only the second time the two nemeses met after the end of World War II (Selangor beat Singapore 2-1 in their first meeting in a final after the war in 1956).

ROUTE TO MERDEKA STADIUM

Due to the competition rules of that year, Selangor were guaranteed a spot in the final after topping the North Zone which comprised teams like Perlis, Perak, Penang, Kedah, and the Malaysian Armed Forces.

While South Zone winners Singapore had to overcome East Zone winners Kelantan on a "home-and-away" play-off to book their berth in Kuala Lumpur following the completion of their group fixtures against the likes of Negri Sembilan, Johor, Malacca, and Singapore Joint Services (a team formed by British troops based on the island).

INTRIGUING DETAILS BY NORMAN SIEBEL

In his preview on the red letter date for The Straits Times, legendary journalist Norman Siebel (1917-1969) filled his story with intriguing facts and statistics about both teams that captivated his readers, as always.

One interesting nugget shared was that Arthur Koh, the Selangor captain, once played for Singapore in the 1958 final under the captaincy of Singapore defender Lee Kok Seng.

Malaya Cup Final record (from programme)

Lee, who was a police officer, would be leading the Singaporeans for the one last time before hanging up his boots after this final. ∆ (see details at the near bottom of the page)

"So much of the Malaya Cup's history has been written around Singapore and Selangor that it is surprising to find that they will be breaking new ground tonight. They have not yet met in a Final at the Merdeka Stadium." wrote Siebel, who highlighted the duo squaring off for the first time in a Malaya Cup (which was renamed the Malaysia Cup in 1967) final at the said venue.

In total, Singapore and Selangor faced each other six times in the abovementioned Cup final matches at the Merdeka Stadium, with the latter walking away with the prize on four occasions (1975, 1976, 1978, 1979) while the former did so in 1965 and 1980.

SINGAPORE RETAINED THE CUP VIA LATE EFFORTS.

The match was graced by the presence of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong (The Malaysian King) and the Raja Permaisuri Agong (the Queen), who were with the crowds to witness a scoreless first half.

The "Gergasi Merah" drew the first blood when they took the lead in the 57th minute through Agus Salim.

The defending champions staged a late comeback in the last 20 minutes of the encounter with Majid Ariff equalised in the 73rd minute.

Siebel summed up that moment with these eye-catching words when he wrote: "Singapore had at last struck gold and they dug in hard. All the game's action began to blast like fireworks in front of Selangor's goal and the 76th minute became the moment of decision."

That "decision" saw Quah Kim Swee take the lead for Singapore with his trademark header before doubling his tally in the dying moments to see them retain the prestigious trophy which was one of the two donated by the crewmen of the British warship HMS Malaya in 1921.

Lee received the Cup from the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong ✓✓ (see details at the near bottom of the page)

It was a fitting end for Lee when he received the Cup from the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong at the end of the day, capping an illustrious playing career that saw him skippered both Malaysia and Singapore on a number of occasions since the 1950s.

LOWER THAN EXPECTED

The only blemish that tainted this, otherwise, fairytale match was the lower-than-expected attendance of the 39th final of this tournament.

Only about 25,000 turned up at the stadium said a spokesman of the FAM in a report published by the Straits Times on 5th August when they were expecting a capacity crowd of 32,000 to witness the usually gigantic showdown between the two powerhouses of Malaysian football.

Not only that, it was revealed the total gate collection was $15,000 less than the previous year's intake when only $49,218 was collected.

The Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Tun Yusof Ishak (extreme right) met Lee Kok Seng (extreme left) with the Malaya Cup trophy in the middle ✓✓ §§ (see details at the near bottom of the page)

Nevertheless, the Cup victory shall be seen as an important piece in piecing together a jigsaw puzzle in illustrating Singapore football folklore for its significance that led to what happened in less than a month's time - the unexpected independence of Singapore in less than two weeks.

(P.S 1: Some images in this entry were reproduced from sources, as credited, should anyone feel it's inappropriate to have any of the media shown, please kindly email me as soon as possible and I will remove them upon request.)

(P.S 2: I stand to be corrected should there be any mistake in this entry, please feel free to email me if there is, thanks)

(P.S 3: The illustrations with ✓✓ are from the publication「新加坡能夺取冠军吗? : 1977 大马金杯足球赛特辑 (1977)」, published in 1977 by 「真善美」)

∆ Lee was named in the squad for the Aw Hoe Cup and SEAP Games on 30th September 1965 despite making known his intention to retire after the Malaya Cup final but was eventually left out of the SEAP Games after being medically ordered to rest.

§§ It was not known when the reception took place. If it was before the Separation, it would be Tun Yusof Ishak meeting the SAFA contingent in his capacity as the Yang Di-Pertuan Negara (Head of State) of Singapore.