2013 Malaysia Premier League


The 2013 Liga Premier also known as the Astro Liga Premier for sponsorship reasons is the 10th season of the Liga Premier, the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia.
The season was held from 7 January and concluded in 5 July 2013.
The Liga Premier champions for 2013 season was Sarawak. The champions and runners-up were both promoted to 2014 Liga Super.

Changes from last season

Team changes

To Liga Premier

;Promoted from Liga FAM
;Relegated from Liga Super
;Promoted to Liga Super
;Relegated to Liga FAM
A total of twelve teams will contest the league. The teams competing includes the sides finishing 3rd to 6th from the 2012 Liga Premier season, Harimau Muda B who will stay in the league regardless of league position, the champion of 2012 Malaysia FAM League, and the bottom team from the 2012 Liga Super season. The remaining 5 places in the league will be contested in the playoff round between teams from Liga Super, Liga Premier and FAM League.
FAM later decided to withdraw Harimau Muda B from the league and register them in the 2013 S.League, replacing Harimau Muda A who pulled out of the S.League to embark on a tour of friendly matches in Europe, and preparing them for the 2013 Southeast Asian Games. Perlis, who originally were relegated after finishing second bottom in 2012 Liga Premier, were reinstated in the league as a result of the withdrawal.
Kuala Lumpur were relegated from 2012 Liga Super after finishing the season in the last place of the 14-team league table. Sarawak, Kedah and Sabah were also relegated after losing in the play-offs.
2012 Malaysia FAM League champions SPA secured direct promotion to this season Liga Premier. Meanwhile UiTM, the 3rd-place team in FAM League, were invited to replace USM FC, who were withdrawing from Liga Premier due to financial difficulties.

Team summaries

Stadium

Personnel and sponsoring

TeamCoachCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
Betaria Azuan Zain Muhd Shahrul Nizam Abdul HamidAdidas
Johor Azmi Mohamed Mohd Farid RamliKappaIskandar Regional Development Authority
Kedah Marijo Tot Baddrol BakhtiarLine 7PKNK
Kuala Lumpur Stanislav Lievkosky Azizon Abdul KadirKronosRising Sun Travel & Tours
Perlis Yunus Alif Emmanuel OkineWarriors
PDRM R. Nalathamby Mohd Afif AmiruddinLine 7
Pos Malaysia G. Torairaju Abdullah YusoffKappaPos Malaysia
Sabah David McCreery Rhys WestonAdidasGrace One
Sarawak Robert Alberts Mohd Shahrol SaperiStarsportsNAIM Holdings Berhad
Sime Darby Ismail ZakariaKappaSime Darby
SPA Mohd Nizam Jamil Sazali SuwandiKappa
UiTM Azman EusoffUmbroMinistry of Higher Education

Coaching changes

Pre-season

Foreign players

ClubVisa 1Visa 2Asian Players
Betaria Tomáš Chovanec Hillary Echesa-
Johor Muriel Orlando Ezaquiel Gallegos-
Kedah Nelson San Martín Alen Guć-
Kuala Lumpur Kalle Sone-
Perlis Denny Antwi Emmanuel Okine-
PDRM Edrisar Kaye Mohamadou Sumareh-
Pos Malaysia---
Sabah Abdulfatah Safi Koh Traore-
Sarawak Guy Bwele Muamer Salibasic-
Sime Darby Karlo Primorac Togaba Kontiwa Komlan-
SPA Joël Tchami Eddy Viator-
UiTM Koforowola Hameed Adewumi--

League table

Results

Season statistics

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Bobby GonzalesSarawak20
2 Muriel OrlandoJohor17
3 Koh TraoreSabah15
4 Mohd Saufi IbrahimPos Malaysia12
5 Mohd Khyril Muhymeen ZambriKedah9
5 Mohd Farid IderisJohor9
6 Khairul Izuan AbdullahPDRM8
7 Muhd Khairul Akhyar HussainPDRM7
8 Alen GućKedah6

Own goals

Clean sheets