Within the context of Southeast Asian football, second-tier leagues are more often or not, discussed rather sparsely within the public discourse. Whilst competition there can be quite exciting at times, more often than not second-tier leagues within SEA lacked the glitz and glamour that top-flight leagues have, leading to discussions regarding them slipping underneath the radar for most of the time.
However, 2021 could see a change in such status quo, especially with the huge amount of investments being thrown in recent times into the Indonesian second tier, the Liga 2 Indonesia.
The arrival of owners with deep pockets saw the rise of a number of star-studded sides within the Liga 2, which could see the league eclipsing the top-flight Liga 1 Indonesia in terms of popularity and excitement for at least the time being.
Make no mistake though, other second-tier leagues within SEA have their own reasons for people to be excited for in 2021.
In Thailand, the ambitious Muangkan United are signing talent left, right, and center as they seek to make it successive promotions, having being promoted from the third tier in 2020.
Malaysia’s Liga Premier has an equally ambitious side in Sarawak United, who are currently leading the way in the league having signed a number of top-flight calibre players during the off-season.
Last but not least, the Vietnamese second tier has two previous top flight champions in Long An FC and Quang Nam FC trying their best to keep up with the challenge thrown at them by two ambitious upstarts, Pho Hien FC and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, while simultaneously having to contend with former top-flight bronze medalists Khanh Hoa FC who are also looking for a way back into the promised land.
However, none of those leagues could compare with the level of ambition shown by the Liga 2.
Saiful Arifin was the man who kick-started this boom, with the vice-regent of Pati taking ownership of cash-strapped Putra Sinar Giri Gresik. Relocating the team to Pati and rebranding it into Putra Safin Group Pati (PSG Pati), Saiful invested in his new team heavily, integrating them with his football academy, improving their facilities, and although they did not attract any star players, head coach Ibnu Grahan is on-hand to polish these youngsters into future world-beaters.
Kevin Hardiman was next and alongside his business partner Rendra Soedjono, a former football commentator for ANTV, Kevin bought out another cash-strapped Liga 2 side in Martapura FC and added them into his portfolio of sports teams that included an eSports team and a basketball team, all of them playing underneath the Dewa United banner.
The newly established football section of Dewa United was relocated to Tangerang, with plans of establishing their very own stadium in South Tangerang to go with their planned youth academy being mulled by the club’s management. The club managed to attract a cache of top-flight level players, with goalkeepers Shahar Ginanjar and Rivky Mokodompit, alongside naturalized striker Herman Dzumafo, midfielder Rangga Muslim, and striker Rishadi Fauzi having pledged their allegiances with the new boys on the block.
Then the investment boom became even more serious with the arrivals of actor/presenter Raffi Ahmad and Kaesang Pangarep, son of President Joko Widodo, on the Liga 2 scene.
Kaesang, alongside business partners Kevin Nugroho and former Inter Milan owner Erick Thohir, took control of 7-time Indonesian top-flight champions Persis Solo, a sleeping giant of the country. Determined to restore the glory days to the Laskar Sambernyawa, Kaesang drafted in a flurry of quality players from Liga 1 clubs, such as Bali United duo Irfan Jauhari and Arapenta Poerba, both of whom joined Persis on loan, Persiraja Banda Aceh trio Eriyanto, Assanur Rijal and Miftahul Hamdi, former Persipura Jayapura man Marinus Wanewar, former Bhayangkara Solo FC goalkeeper Wahyu Tri Nugroho, and naturalized striker Beto Goncalves from Madura United.
Whilst Kaesang’s investment saw him improving Persis’ roster and keeping the club’s identity and heritage intact, Raffi’s investment was much more drastic. The actor, together with his friend Rudy Salim, purchased Cilegon United who were in a state of financial distress and rebranding the team into RANS Cilegon FC.
In a rather controversial move, Raffi plans to ditch the “Cilegon” part in his new team’s name, changing it into RANS United and relocating the team to South Jakarta, something that understandably did not go well with the Cilegon public. Nonetheless, Raffi’s rebrand came with a revamped management team, the return of Cilegon fan-favorite Bambang Nurdiansyah as head coach, plans to establish youth academies and other footballing facilities, and a selection of Liga 1 stalwarts for the first team squad.
RANS Cilegon also managed to convince both Cristian Gonzales and Syamsir Alam to come out from their lengthy sabbaticals to join them for the 2021 season. Approaching his 50s, 44-year old Uruguayan-born Gonzales would love to give Kazuyoshi Miura a run for his money in the “veterans still playing football” department, while Syamsir is looking to revive a footballing career that has been on hiatus ever since he stepped into the glitz and glamour world of Indonesian entertainment.
Elevating the excitement for the upcoming Liga 2 season even higher is the first-ever foreign ownership of an Indonesian football club, as Norizam “ZamSaham” Tukiman, the Malaysian businessman who saved Kelantan FC from financial demise last year, made his plunge into Indonesian football with his purchase of PSPS Riau.
Like Kaesang, Norizam has decided to respect the identity and heritage of PSPS by not rebranding and relocating the team, promising that he would elevate both the Askyar Bertuah and the Red Warriors of Kelantan FC into new heights in the coming years – hinting a cooperation between the two sides in the near future.
The arrivals of Saiful, Kevin, Kaesang, Raffi, and Norizam into the Liga 2 scene promises to herald a new chapter in the history of the Indonesian second tier, with the quintet set to place themselves as the league’s front-runners.
However, one must not ignore the perennial favorites for promotion who are more than eager to crush the quintet’s ambitions before they can develop further.
The Sumatran trio of PSMS Medan, Sriwijaya FC, and Semen Padang, names that are associated with the Indonesian top-flight in recent years, are still fancying their chances of breaking their way out of the Liga 2.
Although rocked by Paulo Sitanggang forcing his way out of the club for a move to top-flight Borneo FC, PSMS remained a decent-looking side with Ghozali Siregar, Diego Banowo, Ilham Fathoni and I Gede Sukadana in their squad.
Former Indonesian champions Sriwijaya are also looking to restore their honor as a top-flight mainstay after agonizingly missing out on an immediate return to the Liga 1 in 2019, although with YouTuber Atta Halilintar and actor Baim Wong eying some shares within the Laskar Wong Kito‘s ownership, the Palembang-based club might be joining the ongoing investor boom sooner than later.
As for Semen Padang, they have announced a 25-man squad for the 2021 season, which includes former Persib Bandung man Dedi Gusmawan, former Persiraja danger man Vivi Asrizal, and a returning Manda Cingi.
The likes of Mitra Kukar and PSIM Yogyakarta cannot be underestimated as well.
Although Mitra Kukar has been passive in recent times, the Naga Mekes, like Sriwijaya, were top-flight mainstays as recently as a few years ago and they would love to regain that status sooner or later.
PSIM, on the other hand, lacked the assortment of star players that their competitors have but their head coach Seto Nurdiantoro knew his way around the Liga 2 like the back of his hand, having won the league with PS Sleman all the way back in 2018.
With interest in Liga 2 at an all-time high, it is safe to say that the league is SEA’s most interesting second-tier league at the moment. The presence of investors, quality players, and the old guard refusing to concede to the new upstarts ensure that the race for those promotion tickets to the Liga 1 this year will be an exciting one, an excitement that could eclipse this year’s Liga 1 altogether.