James Wong Chye Fook

James Wong
Personal information
Full name James Wong Chye Fook
Date of birth (1953-06-26) 26 June 1953 (age 71)
Place of birth Sabah, Malaysia
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Forward, Goalkeeper
Youth career
1968 Tanjung Aru Youth
1969–1970 Kota Kinabalu Youth
1969–1970 Sabah FA
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1970–1974 Sabah
1974–1976 Hakoah Sydney
1976–1985 Sabah
International career
1971–1973 Malaysia U-20
1972–1981 Malaysia 36[1] (23)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Datuk James Wong Chye Fook (born 26 June 1953) is a Malaysian former footballer who is a striker for Malaysian national football team and Sabah. He also played as a goalkeeper for the Malaysia youth team in the 1971 AFC Youth Championship. He was known as King James by the local fans.[2][3]

Career Overview

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Wong was the first Sabahan to represent Malaysia in 1971. In 1974, He went Down Under to join Hakoah Sydney, the Australian club, at the invitation of former Malaysian head coach, Dave MacLaren.[4] He played professionally for the club in New South Wales Premier League for two years.[5] Wong is well-known for his physical and finishing touch. His partnership with Hassan Sani produced many memorable goals for Sabah and Malaysia. The most memorable one was in the 1980 Olympic games qualification. In the qualification, Malaysia won the play-off against South Korea with a 2–1 score at the Merdeka Stadium. Wong himself scored the winning goal off a pass from Hassan.[6][7][8][9] Unfortunately, Malaysia did not participate after joining the US-led boycott against the Soviet Union for its role in supporting the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujahideen. Wong also appeared for Malaysia in six qualifying matches of the FIFA World Cup.[10]

Further career

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In 2015, he together with Hassan was appointed as one of the members for the management team of Sabah FA.[8]

Career statistics

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International goals

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Scores and results list Malaysia's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 5 June 1972 Jakarta, Indonesia  Sri Lanka 3–0 1972 Jakarta Anniversary Tournament
2 18 December 1976 Bangkok, Thailand  Bangladesh 6-0 1976 King's Cup
3
4
5 1 March 1977 Singapore  Thailand 6-4 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)
6
7
8
9 23 November 1977 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Brunei 7-0 1977 SEA Games
10 25 November 1977 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Burma 9-1 1977 SEA Games
11 14 July 1978 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Singapore 6-0 1978 Merdeka Tournament
12
13
14 16 July 1977 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Thailand 2-0 1978 Merdeka Tournament
15 2 May 1979 Bangkok, Thailand  Sri Lanka 3-1 1980 AFC Asian Cup qualification
16 5 May 1979 Bangkok, Thailand  Indonesia 4-1 1980 AFC Asian Cup qualification
17 16 March 1980 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  China 3-1 Friendly Match
18 25 March 1980 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  South Korea 3-0 1980 Summer Olympics - Asian Qualifiers
19 27 March 1980 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Brunei 3-1 1980 Summer Olympics - Asian Qualifiers
20
21 30 March 1980 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Japan 1-1 1980 Summer Olympics - Asian Qualifiers
22 6 April 1980 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  South Korea 2-1 1980 Summer Olympics - Asian Qualifiers
23 21 April 1981 Kuwait City  South Korea 1-2 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)

Honours

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Club

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Sabah Youth
Sabah
  • Borneo Cup: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980

International

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Individual

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Orders

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References

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  1. ^ Mamrud, Roberto. "James Wong Chye Fook - International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Hail King James!". The Star. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  3. ^ John Duerden (21 July 2017). "James Wong: Malaysia's forgotten superstar once told to change his name". FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  4. ^ "WHAT WENT WONG? WHEN MALAYSIA'S FORGOTTEN SUPERSTAR MOVED TO AUSTRALIA". FTBL. Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  5. ^ Terrence Netto (2 December 1976). "Sabahan may be Mokhtar's replacement". The Straits Times. National Library Board. p. 25. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  6. ^ Darian Goh (14 November 2014). "Mokthar Dahari And 12 Other Local Football Legends Every Young Malaysian Should Know". Says.com. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  7. ^ Daryl Goh (10 February 2016). "The glory days of Malaysian football". Star2.com. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  8. ^ a b Mohd Izham Unnip Abdullah (25 December 2015). "Hassan Sani, James Wong curah bakti bersama Sabah" (in Malay). Berita Harian. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  9. ^ Ryan Stanley (14 August 2016). "Jejak Wira Olimpik 1980 : 'The Hurricane' pecahkan tembok Korea Selatan" (in Malay). Berita Harian. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  10. ^ James Wong Chye FookFIFA competition record (archived)
  11. ^ "Meet James Wong, Sabah's Football Pride". Hello Sabah. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Malaysia Premier League 1996". Rhinos Online. Archived from the original on 27 May 2001. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  13. ^ "When 17 teams contested the first ever Malaysian 'league' back in 1979". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  14. ^ "Pandelela terima anugerah Ikon Generasi Muda" (in Malay). MalaysiaKini. Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  15. ^ "From Raja Bola to King James, 'Spiderman' to Safiq - The best Malaysia XI of all time". Goal. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2022.