GLOBALLY, most football giants have spent their fair share of time at the top of the rung (or bottom in some cases) and have taken turns to rule an era.
In recent decades, Barcelona and Real Madrid did it in Spain while Liverpool, Manchester United and now, Manchester City ruled in England. Bayern Munich rules German football while the 'resurrection of both Milan clubs is threatening Juventus' Serie A dominance.
In Malaysia, Johor Darul Ta’zim FC (JDT) has become a household name ─ synonymous with domestic football ─ despite being established as a brand a mere eight years ago.
Interestingly enough, Johor's football saw very little success pre-2013 and were barely mentioned among historically-strong teams in Malaysia.
Yet, in less than a decade, JDT has hoisted the Johor flag up high and firmly established themselves as Malaysia's leading football club with aspirations to break into Asia's elite ─ both on and off the pitch.
While JDT continues to find new ways to set the benchmark off the field — be it facilities, commercial deals or practices — the seven-time consecutive Malaysia Super League champion has rewritten football records with their abundant success.
No team has ever had more than two consecutive league titles, but JDT did it seven times. The previous overall record of titles garnered over a few decades was six but JDT has managed to secure seven titles over a period of seven years.
JDT's AFC Cup triumph in 2015 was a first, not just for Malaysia, but for East Asia. No Southeast Asian team has ever played in the finals before JDT's appearance while no other Malaysian team has ever clinched a place in the last four.
Selangor FA still holds the record of most major trophies won but JDT has won almost one-third (17) in one-tenth of the time it took the former giants. The Klang Valley side also holds the record for the once-prestigious (now third in significance) Malaysia Cup for the foreseeable future with 33 trophies compared to JDT's two, but the Southern Tigers have often downplayed the importance of the Cup as compared to the league because it doesn't offer a route to Asian competitions.
Yet where it matters, JDT have been dominant in blowing away old Super League records.
JDT has set new league records for home & away undefeated streaks, scoring runs, winning streaks, and overall unbeaten runs — all of which were previously held by the once-dominant Selangor FA.
JDT went 75 matches unbeaten at home compared to the previous record of 24, 28 matches (and counting) since their last away defeat compared to the previous mark of 10, and an overall of 39 league matches without being beaten compared to the old yardstick of 20. The new records for consecutive scoring and winning runs set by JDT are 39 and 12 matches, respectively.
Best attack in a single season? Most resilient defence? It’s all JDT.
JDT is also the only team to have won the Super League undefeated, achieving invincible status in 2016 and 2020. ─ The Vibes, 1 April, 2021
Former journalist Vijhay is Head of Content at Johor Darul Ta'zim FC following stints with Malay Mail, Sports247.my, FourFourTwo Malaysia and FOX Malaysia. You may have also heard him on BFM Football or watched him on Media Prima's football programmes. Vijhay can be reached at @vijhayvick on Twitter.
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