Bhayangkara Football Club, is an Indonesian professional football club based in Surakarta, Indonesia. The club is linked to the Indonesian Police with many of its players serving as policemen. They currently compete in the Liga 1, the top-flight league in Indonesia. Bhayangkara won the 2017 Liga 1 competition.

Bhayangkara FC

Full name	Bhayangkara Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Guardian
Founded	2010; 12 years ago (2010), as Persebaya (DU) [1]
Ground	Manahan Stadium[2]
Capacity	3,000
Owner	Indonesian National Police
CEO	Istiono
Manager	I Nyoman Yogi Hermawan
Coach	Widodo Cahyono Putro
League	Liga 1
2021–22	Liga 1, 3rd of 18
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

History

A Persebaya Offspring (2010-2016)

Bhayangkara FC has a complicated history as it was a by-product of internal conflict in one of Indonesia's oldest clubs, Persebaya Surabaya. As the conflict was peaking in 2010, a rebel faction in Persebaya acquired Persikubar West Kutai, a second-tier club based in West Kutai on jungle-clad Borneo island, following the decision of the main faction to pull Persebaya out of the Indonesian Super League (ISL) and register it for the inaugural season of the Indonesian Premier League (IPL). The competition schism itself derived from a rift between the ISL organizers and the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI). The rebel faction renamed Persikubar into Persebaya and moved its base to Surabaya so that the latter could still have a representation in the 2011 season of ISL, albeit in its second-tier.

When this Persebaya team managed to win promotion into the top-tier of ISL in 2015, the naming issue became a legal battle as another Persebaya was playing in the top-tier of IPL. In a span of a year (August 2015 to September 2016), this team changed names four times in order to circumvent legal challenges from different parties, including the notorious Persebaya ultras, known as Bonek. In April 2016, this team, known at that time as Surabaya United, merged with PS Polri, the amateur club of the Indonesian National Police, to obtain legal backing and create Bhayangkara Surabaya United.[3][4]

A Police Team (2016-present)

On 10 September 2016, the Indonesian National Police became the main operator of the club and renamed it into its current identification, Bhayangkara FC, which no longer has any visible link to Persebaya Surabaya. Bhayangkara itself is a nickname for the Indonesian police, deriving from the name of the guardians of the ancient kingdom of Majapahit. That is why the club from 2016 has been known as the Guardians. In November 2020, the club moved its base from Jakarta to Surakarta after failing to win support from football fans in the national capital who are already loyal to one of the most popular club in the country, Persija Jakarta, and planned to change its name to Bhayangkara Solo. However, the renaming plan was canceled in 2021.[5]

First National Trophy

In 2017, Bhayangkara FC won the 2017 Liga 1 championship on a head-to-head decision, which was seen as controversial by football fans nationwide who preferred the runner-up Bali United, which had collected the same number of points. While the procedure was legal and both teams were made out of controversial mergers, fans considered Bhayangkara as an elitist creation of the police with no popular support while Bali United had won the hearts of the people in Bali.[6]

Colours and badges

Bhayangkara FC's main colour is gold, which is associated with the golden badge of police officers. The golden badge is also clearly included at the top section of its logo.

• 
  Bhayangkara Surabaya United logo, used from April 2016 until the name change to Bhayangkara F.C. in September 2016
• 
  Bhayangkara F.C. logo from September 2016–present

Honours

Stadium

Bhayangkara FC played their home matches in stadiums in the Greater Jakarta conurbation and trained at the PTIK Stadium, a small stadium inside the Indonesian National Police higher learning centre in South Jakarta, for the 2017–2020 seasons.[10] When they won the 2017 Liga 1 season, they used the Patriot Chandrabhaga Stadium in Bekasi, which is part of Greater Jakarta, along with Persija Jakarta.[11]

Supporters

Bhayangkara's supporters are called Bhara Mania and the majority of them are linked to the Indonesian National Police. While the club has collected the best players in the league, it lacks loyal grassroots supporters who are uncomfortable with the police connections. The November 2020 plan to move to Surakarta. which is also known as Solo, was an attempt to win supporters. However, that plan was cancelled before the 2021 Liga 1 season after lukewarm reception from football fans in that city.[12][13]

Sponsorship

The club is financially supported by a company owned by the police's traffic division. Sometimes, it can win external sponsorship but from state-owned enterprises, such as Bank BNI.[14]

Players

Current squad

As of 01:20, Thursday, May 19, 2022 (UTC)[15]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  IDN Aqil Savik 2 DF  IDN Putu Gede 3 DF  IDN Dodi Irawan 4 DF  BRA Anderson Salles 5 DF  IDN Muhammad Fatchurohman 7 MF  IDN Andik Vermansah 8 MF  IDN Muhammad Hargianto 12 GK  IDN Awan Setho (captain) 13 DF  IDN Yanto Basna 14 DF  IDN Ruben Sanadi 19 MF  IDN Teuku Ichsan 20 MF  IDN Sani Rizki Fauzi 21 FW  IDN Titan Agung 22 FW  IDN Dendy Sulistyawan

No. Pos. Nation Player 23 MF  IDN Wahyu Suboseto 27 DF  IDN Indra Kahfi 28 DF  IDN Alsan Sanda 32 DF  IDN Nurhidayat 38 GK  IDN Indra Adi Nugraha 42 DF  IDN Surya Maulana 77 GK  IDN Panggih Prio 91 MF  IDN Ichwan Tuharea 99 FW  IDN Herman Dzumafo — DF  IDN Asyraq Gufron — FW  ESP Youssef Ezzejjari — MF  JPN Katsuyoshi Kimishima — MF  MAR Youness Mokhtar — MF  IDN Kasim Botan

Naturalized players

Country	Player
Cameroon	Herman Dzumafo

Staff

Position	Name
Manager	Arief Kurniawan
Head Coach	Widodo Cahyono Putro
Assistant Coach	Agus Sugeng Riyanto
Assistant Coach	Gendut Doni
Fiteness Coach	Muchtar Hendra
Goalkepper Coach	Hendro Kartiko
Analyst	Regi Yonathan
Team Doctor	M. Yusuf Zulfikar
Team Physiotherapist	Rian Panji Pangestu
Masseur	Syefrina Salsabila
Head Media Officer	Kukuh Setiawan
Kit & Equipment Manager	Mansyur

See also

• List of football clubs in Indonesia
• Indonesian football league system
• Indonesia national football team

References