THE State Burnley Cup squad that emerged joint champions with Selangor in 1969 finally received recognition after more than half a century later.
The Under-19 football tournament was played in Melaka which ended in a 1-1 draw and I was then the goalkeeper for the team as a 15-year-old.
I was later selected to represent Malaysia at the Asian Youth Championship in Japan.
There were 17 players in that historic trip to Melaka and six had since passed away as well as all the team officials.
Apart from me, the other players were captain Datuk Uzair Yahya, Datuk Shariman Abdullah, Ahmad Alidin, Tony Wong, Frankie Chong, Omar Pilang, Jumat Tahir, Hajim Singku, Mohd Shafie, Asral Tambutit, Adinta Matusin (D), Jaya Aman (D), Saharan Kening (D), Jews Sinau (D), Charles Ayub (D) and Jaman Amat (D).
Our effort was acknowledged and recognised by Sabah Football Association (Safa) and each of us received a memento contributed by Safa president and Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya.
It was presented by Sabah Sports Council director and guest of honour Mohd Asneh Noor at the Ex-State Footballers Association’s 4th reunion dinner at the Tanjung Aru Beach Hotel after our AGM recently.
I have to express my sincere gratitude to Datuk Shahelmey and Safa for the generous contribution.
I am certain that all the players who received the acknowledgement felt grateful to be recognised.
Though six of the players had passed away, their representatives were there to proudly receive their memento.
Special mention must also go to the late Stanley Augustin, who was the team manager and he was like a father figure to all the players.
Many of us went on to play for the State senior team that kick-started the golden era of Sabah football featuring all local talents in the seventies.
Meanwhile, we were also pleased to have invited some of the ex-State women footballers to join us for the reunion dinner.
These footballers deserved to be mentioned as they were exceptionally outstanding and were crowned champions of the Tun Sharifah Rodziah Cup for a record 11 times.
Credit must go to these ladies for their efforts and sacrifice for the State. Most of them were also ex-internationals and some were silver medallists at the Chiang Mai SEA Games played in Thailand in 1995.
We also have a plan to provide an avenue for the ex-State women footballers to join the association to help and compliment Safa on the development of football in the State.
