UPB-MyTeam to focus on youth development

2009/11/05

Devinder Singh

UPB-MyTeam will not cease to exist despite the withdrawal of the club from next season's Super League as they turn their attention towards youth development.

Financial considerations forced the club's withdrawal after just three seasons in the league when talks with leading plantation conglomerate Sime Darby fell through.

MyTeam president Khairy Jamaluddin said discussions hit a snag when Sime Darby indicated it wanted to take the club over as a whole.

"They wanted to take over the club clean. They wrote to us stating their intentions but nothing came of it. So that left us with no choice but to withdraw from the Super League," said Khairy, who is also the FA of Malaysia deputy president, after the National Football Awards in Petaling Jaya yesterday.

MyTeam rose from a television reality series highlighting budding football talent to become a full-fledged professional club in 2006 when they merged with Perak's United Plantations Berhad, who were then playing in the Premier League.

UPB-MyTeam earned promotion to the Super League in their debut season when they emerged runners-up in the Premier League in 2007 before finishing 11th the next two seasons in the top flight besides making the quarter-finals of Malaysia Cup in 2008 and FA Cup this season.

Khairy said when the club plunged into professional football they were in it for the long-term, which he stills believes in.

"We will find a way for MyTeam to continue as I want to take the club into development. We still want to be involved in football but we must find a sustainable model to do so," said Khairy, who added that all the players from last season's squad are free to join other teams.

UPB-MyTeam players including goalkeeper Syed Adney Syed Hussein, Bunyamin Umar, Stanley Bernard, Norshahrul Idlan Talaha and Azmi Muslim are among those who will be highly sought after.