2018 Kedah FA season explained

Club:	Kedah
Season:	2018
Ownertitle:	President
Owner:	Mukhriz Mahathir
Chrtitle:	Manager
Chairman:	Syed Khairul Anuar
Mgrtitle:	Head coach
Manager:	Nidzam Adzha
Stadium:	Darul Aman Stadium (Capacity: 25,000)
League:	Malaysia Super League
League Result:	6th
Cup1:	Charity Shield
Cup1 Result:	Runners-up
Cup2:	Malaysia FA Cup
Cup2 Result:	Round 3
Cup3:	Malaysia Cup
Cup3 Result:	Group stage
League Topscorer:	Sandro (8)
Season Topscorer:	Sandro (10)
Pattern La1:	_blackborder
Pattern B1:	_KedahFAHome2018B
Pattern Ra1:	_blackborder
Leftarm1:	003F14
Rightarm1:	003F14
Shorts1:	F3F307
Socks1:	F3F307
Pattern La2:	_blackborder
Pattern B2:	_KedahFAAway2018B
Pattern Ra2:	_blackborder
Leftarm2:	930006
Rightarm2:	930006
Shorts2:	930006
Socks2:	930006
Prevseason:	2017
Nextseason:	2019

The 2018 season was Kedah's 10th season in the Malaysia Super League since its inception in 2004. They also participated in Malaysia FA Cup and Malaysia Cup.

Key Events

Pre-season

On 3 December 2017, it was reported that two Kedah footballers & coach were alleged match fixing and have their statement taken by the police.^[1] This was after 6 Kedah footballers and coach Nidzam Adzha Yusoff after were accused by a fan on Facebook of throwing the Malaysia Cup final match on Nov 4.^[2]

On 11 December 2017, it was announced that former Kedah assistant head coach Ramon Marcote has returned to the side for the 2018 season, this time as the head coach.^[3]

First team squad

	Name	Nat	Date of Birth (Age)	Signed from
Goalkeepers
1	Abdul Hadi Abdul Hamid		1987 2, df=yes	Youth system
21	Asri Muhamad		1998 10, df=yes	Youth system
25	Ifwat Akmal		1996 8, df=yes	Youth system
31	Syazwan Jamil		1997 3, df=yes	Youth system
60	Ramadhan Hamid		1994 2, df=yes	Kelantan
Defenders
2	Syawal Nordin		1993 3, df=yes	Harimau Muda
4	Álvaro Silva		1984 3, df=yes	Hà Nội
5	Norfiqrie Talib		1996 1, df=yes	Youth system
13	Khairul Helmi Johari		1988 3, df=yes	Youth system
15	Rizal Ghazali		1992 10, df=yes	Perlis
17	Syazwan Tajudin		1994 1, df=yes	Harimau Muda B
24	Asri Mardzuki		1994 5, df=yes	Youth system
Midfielders
7	Baddrol Bakhtiar		1988 2, df=yes	Youth system
8	Liridon Krasniqi		1992 1, df=yes	Fethiyespor
10	Sandro		1983 10, df=yes	ABC Futebol Clube
14	Akram Mahinan		1993 1, df=yes	Johor Darul Ta'zim
16	Amirul Hisyam Awang Kechik		1995 5, df=yes	Harimau Muda B
18	Abdul Halim Saari		1994 11, df=yes	Youth system
22	Syazwan Zainon		1989 11, df=yes	Felda United
23	Hanif Dzahir		1994 1, df=yes	Youth system
27	Ariff Farhan		1996 7, df=yes	Harimau Muda A
28	Zulfahamzie Tarmizi		1996 2, df=yes	Youth system
30	Andik Vermansyah		1991 11, df=yes	Selangor
35	Hidhir Idris		1997 5, df=yes	Youth system
36	Fadzrul Danel		1998 1, df=yes	Youth system
Strikers
9	Paulo Rangel		1985 2, df=yes	Nakhon Ratchasima
11	Zafuan Azeman		1999 6, df=yes	Perlis
19	Farhan Roslan		1996 12, df=yes	Youth system
20	Akhyar Rashid		1999 5, df=yes	Youth system
34	Akmal Azmi		1998 4, df=yes	Youth system

Transfers

In

1st leg

	P		Name		Moving From	Type	Transfer window	Reference
	FW		Zafuan Azeman		Perlis	End of contract	Pre-Season	^[4]
	MF		Zulfahamzie Tarmizi		Youth system	Promoted	Pre-Season	^[5]
	DF		Norfiqrie Talib		Youth system	Promoted	Pre-Season
	GK		Asri Muhamad		Youth system	Promoted	Pre-Season
	MF		Akhyar Rashid		Youth system	Promoted	Pre-Season
	MF		Álvaro Silva		Hà Nội	Free Transfer	Pre-Season	^[6]
	FW		Pablo Pallarès		Ponferradina	Free Transfer	Pre-Season	^[7]
	MF		Andik Vermansyah		Selangor	Free Transfer	Pre-Season

2nd leg

	P		Name		Moving From	Type	Transfer window	Reference
60	GK		Ramadhan Hamid		Kelantan	Undisclosed	Mid-Season
9	FW		Paulo Rangel		Nakhon Ratchasima	Undisclosed	Mid-Season
36	MF		Fadzrul Danel		Youth system	Promoted

Out

1st leg

	P		Name		Moving to	Type	Transfer window	Reference
3	DF		Fitri Omar		Terengganu	End of contract	Pre-Season	^[8]
4	DF		Zac Anderson		PKNS	End of contract	Pre-Season	^[9]
9	FW		Ken Ilsø		Penang	End of contract	Pre-Season
14	FW		Ahmad Fakri Saarani		Melaka United	End of contract	Pre-Season	^[10]
20	FW		Syafiq Ahmad		Johor Darul Ta'zim	End of contract	Pre-Season
21	GK		Farhan Abu Bakar		Petaling Jaya Rangers	Loan	Pre-Season
26	FW		Syazuan Hazani		Petaling Jaya Rangers	End of contract	Pre-Season

2nd leg

	P		Name		Moving to	Type	Transfer window	Reference
9	FW		Pablo Pallarès		Free agent	Free Transfer	Mid-Season
26	DF		Osman Yusoff		Negeri Sembilan	Free Transfer	Mid-Season

Friendlies

Suramadu Super Cup 2018

Competitions

Malaysia Super League

See main article: 2018 Malaysia Super League.

Matches

The fixtures for the 2018 Malaysia Super League season were announced on 11 January 2018.

Malaysia FA Cup

See main article: 2018 Malaysia FA Cup.

Malaysia Cup

See main article: 2018 Malaysia Cup.

Group stage

See main article: 2018 Malaysia Cup group stage.

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		Malaysia Cup		Total		Discipline
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Hadi Hamid	0	0	0	0	4	0	4	0	0	0
2	DF	Syawal Nordin	12	0	0	0	1	0	13	0	1	0
4	DF	Álvaro Silva	12(1)	0	2	0	6	0	20(1)	0	6	0
5	DF	Norfiqrie Talib	7(1)	0	0	0	6	0	13(1)	0	0	0
7	MF	Baddrol Bakhtiar	20	4	2	1	2	0	24	5	1	0
8	MF	Liridon Krasniqi	14	7	2	0	4	3	20	10	3	1
9	FW	Paulo Rangel	7(1)	5	0	0	1(1)	0	8(2)	5	1	1
10	FW	Sandro	14(4)	8	2	0	6	4	23(4)	12	5	0
11	FW	Zafuan Azeman	0(2)	0	0	0	1(1)	0	1(3)	0	1	0
13	DF	Khairul Helmi	16(1)	0	2	0	4	0	22(1)	0	2	0
14	MF	Akram Mahinan	17(3)	1	2	0	5	0	24(3)	1	6	0
15	DF	Rizal Ghazali	20	0	2	0	1	0	23	0	0	0
16	MF	Amirul Hisyam	3(12)	0	0(1)	0	1(2)	0	4(15)	0	1	0
17	DF	Syazwan Tajudin	7(5)	0	0(1)	0	3	0	10(6)	0	2	0
18	MF	Halim Saari	12	0	0	0	5	0	17	0	1	0
19	FW	Farhan Roslan	1(4)	0	1(1)	0	0	0	2(5)	0	0	0
20	FW	Akhyar Rashid	8(9)	3	1	0	2	1	11(9)	4	1	0
21	GK	Asri Muhamad	2(1)	–2	0	0	0	0	2(1)	–2	0	0
22	MF	Syazwan Zainon	13(4)	2	0(1)	0	2(4)	0	15(9)	2	1	0
23	MF	Hanif Dzahir	0(1)	0	0	0	1(1)	0	1(2)	0	0	0
24	DF	Asri Mardzuki	6(3)	0	0	0	4	0	10(3)	0	0	0
25	GK	Ifwat Akmal	13	+4	2	0	0	0	15	+4	0	0
27	MF	Ariff Farhan	9(2)	1	2	0	0	0	11(2)	1	1	0
28	MF	Zulfahamzie Tarmizi	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0(1)	0	0	0
30	MF	Andik Vermansyah	13	2	1	0	2(2)	0	16(2)	2	1	0
31	GK	Syazwan Jamil	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
34	FW	Akmal Azmi	0(2)	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0(3)	0	0	0
35	MF	Hidhir Idris	4(2)	0	0	0	1(1)	0	5(3)	0	1	0
36	MF	Fadzrul Danel <	--vs ter, perak-->	1(1)	0	0	0	2	0	3(1)	0	0	0
60	GK	Ramadhan Hamid	7(1)	–2	0	0	2	–4	9(1)	–6	0	0
		Own goals	–	1	–	0	–	0	–	0	–	–
Left club during season
9	FW	Pablo Pallarès	7	3	0	0	0	0	7	3	0	0
26	DF	Osman Yusoff	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Clean sheets

width=10		width=10		width=150	Player	width=95	League	width=95	FA Cup	width=95	Malaysia Cup	width=95	Total
1	60		3	0	1	4
2	21	Asri Muhamad	1	0	0	1
	25	Ifwat Akmal	0	1	0	1

Notes and References

1. Web site: Police record statements from two Kedah footballers, coach over match fixing allegation.
2. Web site: Police to record statements from Kedah players.
3. Web site: RAMON MARCOTE ANNOUNCED AS KEDAH BOSS FOR 2018 SEASON.
4. Zafuan the new young striker http://www.sinarharian.com.my/sukan/zafuan-akui-sedang-berunding-bersama-kedah-1.759620
5. Kedah bawa tiga pemain mudahttps://www.hmetro.com.my/arena/2017/11/288809/kedah-bawa-tiga-pemain-muda
6. Web site: Kedah announce Alvaro Silva signing in transfer confusion. FOX Sports Asia. 30 December 2017. 4 January 2018. 4 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180104132517/http://www.foxsportsasia.com/football/asian-football/767969/kedah-announce-alvaro-silva-signing-transfer-confusion/. dead.
7. Web site: Pablo Pallares earmarked to take over from Ken Ilso at Kedah. Goal.com. 1 January 2018. 4 January 2018.
8. The Premier League champions missed out on signing Kedah left-back Fitri Omar https://www.nst.com.my/sports/football/2017/11/305042/kl-deny-interest-indra-putra
9. Ken Ilso, Zach Anderson to leave Malaysia Cup champions Kedah http://www.espnfcasia.com/blog/football-asia/153/post/3206477/ken-ilso-zach-anderson-to-leave-malaysia-cup-champions-kedah
10. Web site: Ahmad Fakri ubati kekecewaan MU.