PDB and ABDB in Super League curtain-raiser

Jake Ten

The DST Super League 2012 will be kicking off on Dec 14, with the curtain-raising match placing MS PDB against MS ABDB at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.

The league will serve as Brunei's 'Premier League', and will place the top 10 teams from last season's DST National Football League in the top tier of Brunei Football.

The teams which have made the cut are MS PDB, MS ABDB, Jerudong FC, Majra FC, Indera SC, QAF FC, LLRC FC, Najip FC, Kilanas FC and Wijaya FC.

The two teams at the top of the table come the end of the first season will receive $7,000 and $5,000 respectively, whilst relegations will not be introduced until the second season, meaning all 10 teams can enjoy two full seasons at the pinnacle of Brunei football.

Speaking during a team managers' meeting at the NFABD House in Berakas yesterday, President of the NFABD, Dato Paduka Haji Abdul Rahman Hj Mohiddin was confident that the league represented yet another step forward for football in Brunei.

"Congratulations to the 10 teams that have qualified for the Super League. For football to develop in Brunei, we need clubs to become semi-pro, and we at the NFABD want to help these 10 teams to become semi-professional clubs," remarked Dato Haji Abdul Rahman.

By establishing themselves as semi-professional clubs, the teams will open more doors, namely the possibility of playing in Asia's Premier Football Club competition, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League.

"Not all 10 clubs will become semi-pro immediately, but maybe four will at first. For them to do that, they will need to find an office, a field and potential sponsors to back them. Then they will be able to start thinking about competing at AFC level competitions," explained the President of the NFABD.

"There are plans at all levels of football in the country. Our U-19s will be competing at the 2013 SEA Games and the Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy in 2014, whilst the Telbru U-16 league is about to kick-off."

"We need to strengthen local football, and our target is for some of the teams to become semi-pro within the next one or two years."