Sarawak FA - The Ngap Sayot Era (1988-1990)

The Ngap Sayot Era (1988-1990)

The Ngap Sayot era witnessed the height of Sarawak's team spirit, robust play, wonderful games, effective strategies, truly Sarawakian and controversial. It is still remembered by older fans and players, and is regarded as the best era ever in Sarawak's football history.

The Ngap Sayot slogan was inspired by the team's former coach, Awang Mahyan Awang Mohamad during the height of their play between 1988 to 1990. During this era, the team were purely Sarawakian without taking any foreign imports into the team. Although being a punchbag for several elite teams in the competition, Sarawak were very strong at their home turf, the legendary Stadium Negeri (State Stadium) and was always packed with fans and noise that could shake any teams against Sarawak. Yet again their fighting spirit in those heyday was very strong that even current players couldn't match. Such spirit was embodied in Ruslan Mustapha one of the stalwarts of that great Sarawakian team, a misunderstood genius who marshaled the defence, wearing his heart on his sleeve he was often in the thick of the action.

There are several events and incidents occurred during the era, including:

• The mysterious black cat incident

A mysterious appearance of a black cat during a league match was regarded by older fans as sensational. Speculations arose that the team is using black magic as claimed by many; however, the black cat actually belonged to a fan that accidentally slipped his cat into the track. Hence the incident, the team assumed the black cat as their mascot for a few years.

• The Satok Bridge jump

When Sarawak FA qualified for the quarter-final round of the Malaysia Cup for the first time, the flamboyant Awang Mahyan led his team jumped off the bridge into Sarawak River to celebrate their triumph. The event was joined by fans and was widely covered by the media nationwide.

• The Stadium Negeri Midnight fiasco

During the second leg of a semi-final match in Kuching, the overloaded crowd, overwhelming atmosphere and unjust decision at the stadium forced the match to be postponed at midnight, taking the match technically played in two days, thus creating history in Malaysian sports until this day. The match was later resumed in Singapore, in which Sarawak lost. Due to the incident, the government refurbished and upgraded the stadium to its current state.

• The Merdeka Stadium incident

This is the biggest crisis so far, to the extend that the national integration nearly shattered. It all started when Steven Ovinis, the match referee misjudged and penalised a Sarawak player for time-wasting. It was so clear at that time that the player was injured and needs medication as well as the referees' biasness towards Sarawak in favour of the Kuala Lumpur team. Knowing that something amiss, the Sarawak captain, along with other players, blasted the decision and asked for referee replacement. Being denied of their rights, Sarawak walked out from the field, boycotting the match as the referee was claimed to be 'pushed' to the ground. At this, the commotion began. Several FRU (Federal Reserve Unit) personnel rushed into the field, attacking Sarawak players in a move to 'protect the players'. Several players were hurt in that incident, and many still remember the horrifying moments. The incident has opted FAS to withdrew from FAM, and strained the relationship between the Federal Government and the Sarawak Government. The national integration was indeed shaken. National papers and media were the targets of attacks and confrontation. Even a federal minister from Kuala Lumpur was advised not to go to Sarawak due to this reason. The issue was later resolved when the deputy president of FAM was sent to bury the hatchet, and FAS finally rejoined FAM.