One man who has Johor and Kuala Lumpur close to his heart is none other than former international Serbegeth Singh.
Popularly known as Shebby, the former international is widely known as a television pundit. Serbegeth started his football career with his home state Johor in 1978, earned his first international cap in 1982, and went on to be part of a fearsome Kuala Lumpur team when he was recruited at the end of the 1983 football season.
Tonight, Kuala Lumpur City FC will play Johor Darul Ta’zim in the Malaysia Cup final (National Stadium, Bukit Jalil; 9pm).
While the Southern Tigers’ entry into the final was expected – given their impressive track record over the years – Kuala Lumpur City’s fairy tale run has certainly stirred the imagination.
The last time the city squad made it to the Malaysia Cup final was in 1989. Serbegeth was part of the winning team then as Kuala Lumpur edged Kedah 2-1 to lift the trophy.
“I didn’t realise that it has been 32 years since Kuala Lumpur last made it to the final,” said Serbegeth, who turned 61 on Aug 20.
“Thanks for reminding me how old I am!
“We won the Malaysia Cup in 1989. I remember setting up the ball for Subadron (Aziz) to score (the first goal).”
Saidin Othman scored the winning goal for Kuala Lumpur, while Kedah obtained their goal through their import, Singaporean V. Sundram Moorthy.
“I left Johor to win things, and I did so with Kuala Lumpur. Today, the footballers go to Johor (JDT) to win things.
“It’s good to see Kuala Lumpur in the final, and I’m happy for the team. I truly hope Kuala Lumpur City honours its former technical adviser, the late S. Subramaniam, for it was he, who brought in (Slovakian coach) Dr Jozef Venglos, and laid the foundation for Kuala Lumpur to achieve big things in the 80s.”
Thanks to Subramaniam and then Kuala Lumpur FA president cum mayor Tan Sri Elyas Omar, the city outfit were a celebrated team in the late 80s as they were league champions in 1986 and 1988 and won the prestigious Malaysia Cup for three consecutive years (1987, 1988 and 1989). Venglos, who also coached the national team, played an instrumental role in Kuala Lumpur’s success then.
In fact, Subramaniam had recruited Serbegeth at the end of the 1983 season.
Serbegeth, a columnist with Twentytwo13, credited Kuala Lumpur City’s chief executive officer Stanley Bernard for the team’s success. Bernard is also a former Kuala Lumpur player.
“I look at Kuala Lumpur and I think it is the team at the moment. Stanley is there, he has done well and will want to use this success as a way of attracting better players.
“Hopefully this (being in the final) will be a stepping stone for him and the team to achieve more success.”
Serbegeth, who runs a mechanical engineering company in Johor Bahru, also enjoyed a brief stint with JDT from 2014 to 2015. He then served as a football consultant for the club owner, who is also the Crown Prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Ibrahim.
While Serbegeth has plenty of fond memories in Kuala Lumpur, his loyalty remains with his birth state, Johor.
“I would like to thank both teams and I would like to think that I was good for them.
“At the end of the day, if you ask me which team will win (the final), it has to be Johor,” he added.