It's been a challenging year for just about everyone. The promise of 2020 has turned into a nightmare under peculiar circumstances due to the globally affecting Covid-19 pandemic.
Plenty has been put on the back burner. We are looking forward to 2021 with both optimism and fear it could be yet another sombre affair.
Football's no different after a premature end to an already troubled campaign that saw financial instability, empty stadiums and the absence of real excitement that longer seasons and Cup competitions bring.
2021 remains a mystery. Would we have overcome the pandemic when the Malaysian season resumes in February? Would football even be allowed to resume? Would there be fans in stadiums?
It is as depressing as it sounds.
But do take a leaf from Johor Darul Ta'zim FC (JDT).
While the results on the pitch were spectacular with comprehensive big wins over Selangor, Perak and Melaka United but the Southern Tigers, like almost every other football club worldwide, suffered financially too. JDT revealed a deficit of RM35million in income. The players and staff took a pay cut and still donated a portion of their salaries to the Johor Disaster Fund.
The cancellation of the Malaysia Cup, FA Cup and AFC Champions League restriction meant less brand exposure.
Yet in a statement on Saturday, HRH Major General Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, Crown Prince of Johor and JDT owner expressed more optimism than disappointment when addressing the early end of the 2020 campaign.
Fortunately for JDT, long term planning has been among the key mantras and the club managed to stay on top of things. Not only did JDT benefit from previous efforts, but the club also managed to announce major plans moving forward.
Having launched the state-of-the-art Sultan Ibrahim Stadium and won an AFC Champions League match there, JDT announced a soon-to-be-released docu-series titled 'Fearless: The Rise of the Johor Southern Tigers', a proposed new one-stop training centre, a public gymnasium and revealed that talks were on-going with new foreign sponsors.
There were also improvements to the facilities with new equipment added and the construction of a Medical Centre at the JDT Training Centre. The JDT Academy saw several upgrades in facilities too.
JDT's positive approach is reaping fruits too. On Monday, the club announced a new sponsorship with foreign-based electric vehicle makers SWAG and revealed that two more international brands are lined-up.
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.
