It has been difficult to establish exactly which South-East Asian football club had the most supporters within the region. However, with the recent phenomenon of social media, it became easier to sort these things out.
The most prominent social network is Facebook, with more than 1.25 billion users, it gives a decent sample of the world’s population, and thus we can get a good insight into the most popular teams in football.
Up to today (Sept 18, 2017), herewith Seasia provides the list of five South-East Asian football clubs with the most “Likes” (or fans) on their official Facebook page.
(1) Persib Bandung - INDONESIA
9,539,522 followers
Persib Bandung or commonly known as Persib is a professional football club based in Bandung, West Java which currently competes in the highest tier of Indonesian football, the Liga 1. The club was founded in June 1933 from a merger of three clubs.
Since the beginning of Liga Indonesia era, the club has never been relegated from the top-flight league.
(2) Muangthong Utd -THAILAND
2,232,501 followers
Based in Muang Thong Thani, Nonthaburi Province, the club currently plays in the Thai League 1. Muangthong United has participated in the Thai Premier League since 2009 after having won the Thai Division 1 League title in 2008.
Muangthong United is one of the richest football clubs in Thailand. The club is widely known as The Twin Qilins.
(3) Johor DT - MALAYSIA
1,835,173 followers
By winning the AFC Cup, Johor DT became the second Malaysian team since 1967 to enter a final of a major continental competition, and the first ever Malaysian club to win a continental title.
JDT is the first team in the country to win four consecutive league titles (2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017). Before this achievement, no team had ever won the league championship more than twice in a row since the league system was first introduced in Malaysia in 1979.
(4) Sriwijaya FC - INDONESIA
1,548,089 followers
This is the first team to have done a double in Indonesia by winning both 2007–08 Liga Indonesia Premier Division and 2008 Piala Indonesia in the same season.
This double winner achievement was also their first titles since the foundation of the club. The years that followed saw Sriwijaya again winning the Piala Indonesia in 2009 and 2010, setting up a record as the first team to have won the Piala Indonesia three years in a row.
They also managed to win the 2011-12 Indonesia Super League, as well as the 2010 and 2012 Indonesian Inter Island Cup.
(5) Buriram United - THAILAND
1,492,827 followers
The club has played at the top level of Thai football for the majority of their existence and is currently competing in the Thai League 1. The club was founded in 1970 and their current home stadium is New I-Mobile Stadium which has a capacity of 32,600.
Buriram United won their first Thai League 1 title in 2008 and the Kor Royal Cup in 1998, as PEA FC (Provincial Electricity Authority Football Club).
The club was previously based in Ayutthaya before moving east to Buriram for the 2010 season. In season 2011, Buriram PEA was the triple champions winning the (2011 Thai Premier League, 2011 Thai FA Cup, and 2011 Thai League Cup) in Thailand.
Source : Team's Facebook Page, Wikipedia, http://footballchannel.asia/2015/09/14/post6771/
