Leeds United post-season tour: A brief history of football in Myanmar

The Whites will play two post-season friendlies against the national side and a select XI from the country's main domestic competition. We take a brief look back at Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, and its association with the sport of football...

Myanmar Football Federation

The Myanmar Football Federation was founded in 1947 and became a member of FIFA just a year later. The chairman of the governing body is Burmese business tycoon Zaw Zaw who has been in post since 2005 and oversees the national team and league structure in the country.

His efforts have been recognised by the ASEAN Football Federation on a number of occasions, most recently in 2017 for outstanding acts of gestures on or off the pitch.

Myanmar National Team

The Myanmar national team sit 135th in the FIFA world rankings, they were known as Burma until 1989 when the country officially changed its name. They enjoyed great success participating in the Summer Olympics in 1972 and famously won the Asian Games on a number of occasions during the 1960s and early 1970s.

Myanmar played in its first World Cup qualifiers against China in 2007 but were beaten comprehensively 4-0 and 7-0, they have never qualified for the quadrennial tournament.

The current head coach is Zaw Win Tun and they play their home games at the Thuwunna Stadium, which holds up to 50,000 people, in the capital city of the Yangon Region.

After years of decline 2011 was seen as a major turning point for football in the country amidst political change. The arrival of German coach Gerd Zeise helped revamp the national set up with the under-20s side stunning football's elite by qualifying for the 2015 World Cup, their first ever FIFA tournament, in New Zealand after reaching the semi-finals of the Asian Football Confederation under-19 tournament.

Myanmar's home strip consists of red shirts, shorts and socks whilst the away from home they play in all white.

Myanmar National League

During a restructure of football in the country the Myanmar Premier League was renamed the Myanmar National League in 2009 as they announced the arrival of their first ever professional league.

The old format was introduced in 1996 and lasted 22 years, it was made up of amateur teams put together by government ministries from the Yangon region along with several private clubs. Finance and Revenue FC were the most successful side of the older format winning the league eleven times, to go along with their 17 Burma First Division titles that predated the MPL, with Yangon City Development and Commerce (two) taking the others.

The new MNL now consists of 12 professional teams from around the whole country and in 2014 the governing body introduced a second division with seven teams to include a promotion/relegation element.

Yangon United have won the top division in its current form four times along with arch rivals Yadanarbon, in 2017 Shan United claimed their first ever league title and became only the third team to win the domestic league since its reform - the average attendance across the top flight in 2018 is 369.

The domestic cup competition is the MFF Charity Cup which is a traditional knockout competition, the most recent winners are Yangon United who defeated Shan United 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in normal time.

The biggest match in the country, which is commonly known as the Myanmar derby, is played between the two most successful football clubs of the modern era, Yangon United and Yadanarbon, who most recently played out a 3-3 draw in what is usually a hotly contested affair and is known for its intense atmosphere.