PETALING JAYA, Aug 1 — PKNS FC will pave the way for professional football when they privatise their team by the end of the year.

Yesterday, PKNS scored another first when they revealed their plans to bring Liverpool FC for a friendly match next year.

The move by PKNS to privatise their club is in line with FA of Malaysia’s proposal for all teams in the Malaysian League to be privatised.

PKNS, one of the oldest club-based team are currently managed by the Selangor Development Corporation’s (PKNS) sports divison, but the soccer club will soon be under its own flagship — PKNS FC Sdn Bhd. 

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PKNS FC president Noor Hisham Mohd Ghouth said they received the green light from their audit committee last week to form the company to manage the team.

“We are in the process of doing the paperwork to privatise the team and expect to submit the proposal to the audit committee by November for their final approval.

“PKNS will be our biggest shareholder while the others will comprise PKNS group of companies and the public,” he said.

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Noor Hisham said the move was to ensure the sustainability of the  clubs in Europe, South Korea and Japan.

“This is also an opening for sponsors to support us,” he said.

Noor Hisham said the club is run as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme and limited budget is allocated yearly.

At the same time, he said that in the future PKNS shares in the club could be diluted and sold to other shareholders. However, he said the club will still be called PKNS FC as a legacy of the corporation. 

PKNS have been in existence since 1964 and were a powerhouse in the Selangor League, winning it thrice before graduating to the national club championship — the FAM Cup.

PKNS won the prestigious club silverware in 1979 and 2003.

In 2004, PKNS earned promotion to the Premier League and won the title in 2011 to move to the Super League.

This season, PKNS finished eighth and are drawn in Group B with Johor Darul Takzim FC, Felda United FC and T-Team FC for the Malaysia Cup which begins on August 20.

Indeed, PKNS have a long history and are still going strong while many other club teams that started with them, including UMNO, Hong Chin, MCIS, Cholan Youth, Mara, Sultan Sulaiman Club, VOC, South City, Pantai Youngsters and Belia Sinaran, to name a few, have either folded or are struggling to stay afloat.

Among the top players who have donned PKNS’ colours are the late Datuk Mokhtar Dahari, the late Datuk R. Arumugam, Datuk Santokh Singh, Reduan Abdullah, Shah Norbit, Datuk K. Rajagobal, Walter Biggs and Khaidir Buyong.

It has been an eventful journey for the club, but they have stood the test of time.

Now, they are moving to the next level by becoming the first professional football club team in the country and putting to shame some of the more established state FAs that are still amateurs.