The 2021/22 Liga 3 Indonesia season has reached its climax, with 8 teams having sealed promotion out of the third tier of Indonesian football and into next season’s Liga 2. Four out of these eight will fight it out on the Liga 3 semifinals, where they will do battle for two tickets for this season’s Liga 3 final.
The eight teams who have sealed qualification into the 2022 Liga 2 Indonesia season are a good balance of already established teams and ambitious newcomers ready to upset the order. Four out of the eight teams were even members of the Indonesian top-flight at some point in their history.
Without further ado, here are the eight teams who will be part of next season’s Liga 2!
PSDS Deli Serdang (Group AA winners)
The Traktor Kuning were once mainstays of the Indonesian top-flight prior to the inception of the Liga Super Indonesia in the 2008/09 season, however, things go downhill for them once the Liga Super was formed. Despite escaping relegation in the 2008/09 season, PSDS subsequently withdrew from Indonesian football due to financial problems, spending a good majority of their recent history languishing in the lower tiers of the footballing pyramid.
Having won three editions of the Liga 3 North Sumatra regional league but failing to make their mark in the national rounds, PSDS finally made their comeback into the second tier of Indonesian football after a 12-year absence, thus renewing their age-old rivalry with local rivals PSMS Medan in the process. Relying on Yusrizal Muzakki, brother of FK Senica star Egy Maulana Vikri, PSDS will be looking to add their promotion ticket to the Liga 2 with the Liga 3 title.
Deltras Sidoarjo (Group AA runners-up)
Another name synonymous with the Indonesian top-flight, Deltras were one of the founders of the Liga Super Indonesia back in the 2008/09 season, however, they were relegated from the top-flight at the conclusion of that season. The Lobsters bounced back in their first attempt by sealing promotion to the 2010/11 Liga Super Indonesia season as runners-up of the 2009/10 Premier Division, however financial issues soon plagued the club and Deltras returned back to the second tier at the end of the 2011/12 season, before going further down into the third tier at the conclusion of the 2014 season.
With a who’s who list of former players that include Hariono, Gustavo Chena, Marwal Iskandar, Bagus Nirwanto, Indra Kahfi, Wawan Hendrawan, Budi Sudarsono, Hilton Moreira, and Boy Jati Asmara to name a few, Deltras was faced with their darkest hour in the 2020 season, when their former patron Saiful Ilah – then the regent of Sidoarjo – was found guilty of pumping funds embezzled from the people of Sidoarjo into the club. This forced the Lobsters to drop out of that season’s Liga 3 campaign, however, the COVID-19 pandemic served as an unlikely savior as it gave Deltras time to regroup, recover, and find themselves a new owner.
Led by former Indonesia U-19 star Martinus Novianto, Deltras finally clawed their way back into Liga 2 after an eight year-absence, much to the delight of their long-suffering Deltamania supporters group.
Karo United (Group BB winners)
Founded in 2019, Karo United’s promotion to the Liga 2 meant that the Laskar Simbisa will finally turn out in the second tier of Indonesian football for the first time in their brief history, after several years of near-misses.
Based in North Sumatra’s Karo Regency, Karo United’s promotion means that they face the prospect of facing two of the province’s more established teams in PSMS and PSDS in the Liga 2. With former PSMS and PS TNI head coach Suharto AD at the helm and with youngster Kardinata Tarigan bagging the goals, Karo United have proven themselves to be a force to be reckoned with in this season’s Liga 3, and they managed to redeem themselves from their past failures in the national round by earning themselves a shot at the Liga 3 title, with a ticket to the Liga 2 to boot.
Despite being only three years old as of 2022, Karo United have already received the support of two North Sumatra-born celebrities in singer Judika and actor Tanta Ginting, and the Laskar Simbisa are seeking to upset both PSMS and PSDS for footballing supremacy in the North Sumatra region.
Persikab Kabupaten Bandung (Group BB runners-up)
The first team who booked themselves a trip to the Liga 2 but missed out on the semifinals thanks to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Karo United in the final match of their round of 16 group, Persikab were huge favorites to clinch promotion out of the Liga 3 at the end of the season.
With brand new owners and players from the successful East Java team that played in the 2020 National Sports Week, many pundits are backing Persikab to steamroll their way through the Liga 3 and earn themselves that golden ticket to the second tier. The Laskar Dalem Bandung duly did so, winning the 2021 Liga 3 West Java before conquering rounds after rounds in the nationals, however, defeat in their final round of 16 match means that they’re missing out on the Liga 3 title.
Having last played in the Indonesian top-flight all the way back in 2002, Persikab found themselves being in the shadows of their more-established local rivals Persib Bandung, before going further down into the pecking order following the promotion of their other local rivals PSKC Kota Cimahi into the Liga 2 back in the 2019 season. But with promotion to the Liga 2 confirmed, Persikab will be more than happy to challenge PSKC for supremacy over the Greater Bandung region in the upcoming season, and should the Laskar Dalem Bandung earn promotion to the Liga 1, they will finally have Persib within their sights.
Putra Delta Sidoarjo (Group CC winners)
One of the two promotion-winning clubs who were founded in 2021, Putra Delta Sidoarjo came into being after Putra Jombang was relocated from their city to Sidoarjo – adding more to the city’s bustling football scene that already saw the likes of Persida Sidoarjo, the aforementioned Deltras, and another newly-relocated team, PS Hizbul Wathan Sidoarjo.
As a newly-established team playing in a city packed with clubs already, gathering supporters is the biggest challenge faced by PDS this season, despite the club boasting Liga 1-calibre veterans in Feri Aman Saragih and Okky Derry Andryan. Almost immediately PDS were unwelcomed by Deltras’ Deltamania, who saw the club’s name as an offshoot of Deltras’ own name (Putra Delta Sidoarjo vs Delta Raya Sidoarjo, formerly Delta Putra Sidoarjo), before the entire Indonesian footballing fraternity went after PDS’ heads after it was discovered that Vigit Waluyo, Deltras’ former owner who had been banned for life from football due to match-fixing, had allegedly backed the Laskar Candi Pari, down to allowing PDS’ players to sleep at his house.
Immediately the allegations were shot down by the PDS management and the club did not let any gossips affect them, winning Group CC to seal themselves a slot in the Liga 2 and earn themselves a chance at the Liga 3 title – potentially creating history of their own.
Persipa Pati (Group CC runners-up)
Despite losing the backing of vice-regent Saiful Arifin at the beginning of the 2021 season – with Saiful instead investing in the newly-relocated AHHA PS Pati alongside YouTuber Atta Halilintar and entrepreneur Putra Siregar – Persipa did not let any off-field issues affect them as they plowed their way through the 2021 Liga 3 Central Java before performing decently in the national rounds, sealing themselves a place in the Liga 2 in the process. Like Karo United and PDS, this will be Persipa’s debut in the second tier of Indonesian football, although unlike the aforementioned two who only had to wait a little bit for their promotion, Persipa had to wait a staggering 71 years for their chance.
The likes of Tri Handoko Putro and Ali Koroy have proven themselves to be deadly assets for the Laskar Saridin in this season’s Liga 3 and with AHHA PS Pati being universally hated within Pati Regency, the time is nigh for Persipa to finally claim their title as kings of Pati from their “imposter” of a rival, with a promising prospect of a Muria Derby with Persijap Jepara also in the horizon.
Mataram Utama (Group DD winners)
Founded in 2021, Mataram Utama, alongside PDS, were the youngest out of the eight promoted teams, but the Yogyakarta-based club is more than determined to punch above their weight in the second tier next season.
Initially conceived nine months prior to their promotion as a football club backed by the sporting section of Yogyakarta’s sports journalists association (SIWO PWI), Mataram Utama turned heads after winning the 2021 Liga 3 Yogyakarta Special Region, edging out the more established Sleman United 3-1 in the final. In the nationals, Mataram Utama eliminated the likes of Citeureup Raya, Persisam United, PS Sandeq, renowned giant-killers Persidago Gorontalo and spectacularly heavy favorites PSGC Ciamis to seal themselves a spot in next season’s Liga 2, with their position as Group DD winners also allowing them a shot at the Liga 3 title.
Like PDS, it’ll be interesting to see how Mataram Utama will fare next season, especially with the fact that they will be facing their more established city rivals in PSIM Yogyakarta in Liga 2.
Gresik United (Group DD runners-up)
The last team to be promoted to next season’s Liga 2 is also the most recent team out of the eight to have played in Liga 1. Gresik United were part of the inaugural edition of the current incarnation of the Indonesian top-flight back in 2017, however they ended up partaking in one of the worst seasons ever experienced by an Indonesian club as they were relegated dead last with only seven points to their name.
Things got worse for the Kebo Giras as they were relegated out of the Liga 2 in 2018, meaning that they have suffered a second-straight relegation. Gresik United then failed to get promoted out of the 2019 Liga 3 season, in a season that saw fan protests, a change of ownerships, and a ship steadied too little, too late.
2021 saw Subangkit taking charge of the team through the 2021 Liga 3 East Java campaign where Gresik United finished 3rd before Khusaeri took over for the nationals following Subangkit’s resignation. With fans criticizing his stale brand of football, Khusaeri’s Gresik United scraped their way through the nationals, before turning up the heat and delivered their best performance of this season by battering PSGC 3-0 in their last round of 16 match, ensuring Gresik United their place in the Liga 2 while at the same time eliminating PSGC. With the Kebo Giras now back in the Liga 2 with a brand new management to boot, Gresik United will be looking for further changes in fortunes as they seek to make their way back into the big time, with Persik Kediri’s triple promotion success – going from the Liga 3 to the Liga 1 in a space of just three years – as their inspiration.