2017 Penang FA season

On 28 November, Ashley Westwood was unveiled as the new head coach of Penang, signing a two-year contract. On 30 November, Penang received RM 4 millions allocation from the state government.

On 1 December, Penang confirmed that Legea will be the official kit manufacturer for three years from 2017. On 5 December, Penang announced it had retained 16 players from last season.^[1] On 22 December, it was announced that on the FA Cup second round, Penang will play at away against MPKB-BRI U-BeS.^[2] On 30 December, it was announced that on the opening day, Penang will kick-off the season at away against Selangor.^[3]

Penang won its first pre-season match, against Felcra FC, which ended in a 2–0 victory. In the following match four days later, Penang won 2–1 against PDRM. On 9 January, Faiz Subri won the 2016 FIFA Puskás Award, becoming the first Asian to win the award. On 13 January, Penang confirmed the signings of Amirul Asyraf Suhaidi, K. Reuben, Yong Kuong Yong, Zulkhairi Zulkeply, Shazalee Ramlee, Nigel Dabinyaba, Diogo Ferreira and Andy Russell. Penang concluded its pre-season campaign with a 0–1 defeat to Nagaworld FC from Cambodia on the same day.^[4] On 18 January, Penang completed the signings of Syed Adney and G. Mahathevan, while Elias Sulaiman and Darwira Sazan were released. Penang lost 0–2 in their opening match against Selangor on 21 January at Selayang. On 27 January, Penang lost again in the league campaign against Perak.

Penang recorded their third and fourth consecutive loss as they lost 0–1 to T-Team at away on 4 February and Sarawak at home on 11 February. Three days later, Penang finally scored the first goal of the season in the FA Cup match against MPKB-BRI U-BeS which was also the first victory of the season. The Panthers failed to arrest their four-match defeat and goalless streaks in the league as they were demolished by Pahang at away with the score 1–6. FIFA Puskas Award winner Faiz Subri ended his year-long goal drought but could not prevent Penang from going down 3–1 to Super League leaders Kedah in Alor Star on 25 February.

Penang picked up their first point of the season after coming from behind to hold Melaka United to a 1–1 draw at the State Stadium on 1 March. 3 days later, Penang recorded another 1–1 draw in Shah Alam against PKNS FC. On 11 March, Penang was knocked out from the FA Cup campaign, losing 1–4 to Negeri Sembilan after extra time in Paroi. The management board mutually terminated the contract of their coach, Ashley Westwood, following a spate of poor results in the M-League. On 24 March, Zainal Abidin Hassan was unveiled as Penang's head coach to replace the former.

After nine attempts, Penang finally achieved their first league victory of the season after defeating Felda United 1–0 at Tun Abdul Razak Stadium on 9 April. However, the panthers failed to continue the momentum, losing 1–5 to Kelantan at home 6 days later. Penang confirmed their absence from the Malaysia Cup for the second consecutive seasons as they lost 1–2 to Johor Darul Ta'zim at home on 26 April.

Despite Nigel Dabinyaba's fourth goal of the season, Penang moved closer to the drop after a 2–1 home defeat to Felda United on 7 May. 8 days later, Penang re-signed Darwira Sazan and Elias Sulaiman, Andy Russell and Diogo Ferreira were released on the same day. On 18 May, Penang confirmed the signings of Azidan Sarudin and R. Surendran from Kuala Lumpur and free Agent respectively. On the next day, former Gambia international, Sanna Nyassi signed with the team. New signing, Nyassi scored a brace in his debut with Penang against Kelantan which ended 2–2 on 24 May.

On 7 June, Penang completed the sixth transfer of the summer transfer window, signing former Sarawak's striker, Mark Hartmann. On the next day, Brandon McDonald signed with Penang, replacing Reinaldo Lobo who is injured.

Penang continued the losing streak, losing 0–2 to the Super League defending champion, Johor Darul Ta'zim at Johor Bahru on 1 July.

On 20 September 2017, Penang has been relegated to second-tier Malaysia Premier League next year. The club's fate has been sealed following the 2–0 home defeat to T-Team.^[5]

As of 7 June 2017^[6]

Squad No.	Name	Nationality	Position(s)	Date of birth (age)
Goalkeepers
1	Syed Adney Syed Hussein		GK	(1986-11-29) 29 November 1986 (age 39)
22	Sani Anuar Kamsani		GK	(1983-04-05) 5 April 1983 (age 42)
25	Amirul Asyraf Suhaidi		GK	(1994-03-04) 4 March 1994 (age 31)
40	Adam Zairi Fitri Zaini U21		GK	(1998-01-30) 30 January 1998 (age 28)
Defenders
2	Mafry Balang		RB / CB / LB / DM	(1984-03-26) 26 March 1984 (age 41)
3	Darwira Sazan		CB	(1988-08-11) 11 August 1988 (age 37)
4	Brandon McDonald FP		RB / CB / DM	(1986-01-16) 16 January 1986 (age 40)
6	Yong Kuong Yong		RB / CB / LB / CM / RW / CF	(1988-09-18) 18 September 1988 (age 37)
18	Zulkhairi Zulkeply		RB / CB / LB	(1995-05-02) 2 May 1995 (age 30)
19	Mohd Redzuan Suhaidi		CB / LB / DM	(1995-10-06) 6 October 1995 (age 30)
26	Abdul Qayyum		CB	(1995-08-14) 14 August 1995 (age 30)
27	K. Reuben		RB / CB / DM	(1990-04-02) 2 April 1990 (age 35)
30	G. Mahathevan		CB / DM	(1988-05-31) 31 May 1988 (age 37)
—	Reinaldo Lobo NR		CB / DM	(1988-04-05) 5 April 1988 (age 37)
Midfielders
5	Azidan Sarudin		CM	(1986-05-31) 31 May 1986 (age 39)
8	Mohd Syukur Saidin		DM / CM	(1991-11-12) 12 November 1991 (age 34)
11	Mohd Azrul Ahmad		DM / CM / RB / RW / CF	(1985-03-25) 25 March 1985 (age 40)
15	Shazalee Ramlee		DM / CM	(1994-07-02) 2 July 1994 (age 31)
20	Rafiuddin Rodin (Captain)		CM / LB / LW	(1989-08-22) 22 August 1989 (age 36)
29	Elias Sulaiman		CM / AM / LW / CF	(1986-04-29) 29 April 1986 (age 39)
35	Thivandaran a/l Karnan U21		LW/LM	1999
36	Khairul Akmal Rokisham U21		DM/CM	(1998-05-28) 28 May 1998 (age 27)
37	Mohamad Norfais Johari U21		AM/ CM	(1999-03-27) 27 March 1999 (age 26)
Strikers
7	Jafri Firdaus Chew U21		RW / LW / AM / CF	(1997-06-11) 11 June 1997 (age 28)
9	Mark Hartmann FP		CF	(1992-01-20) 20 January 1992 (age 34)
10	Nigel Dabinyaba FP		RW / CF	(1992-10-26) 26 October 1992 (age 33)
12	S. Kumaahran U21		RW / LW / CF	(1996-07-03) 3 July 1996 (age 29)
13	Mohd Faiz Subri		LW / CF	(1987-11-08) 8 November 1987 (age 38)
14	Syamer Kutty Abba U21		RW / LW / CF	(1997-10-01) 1 October 1997 (age 28)
16	Sanna Nyassi		RW / LW / AM / CF	(1989-01-31) 31 January 1989 (age 37)
17	Faizat Ghazli		RW / LW / AM / CF	(1994-11-28) 28 November 1994 (age 31)
21	Failee Ghazli		RW / CF	(1987-09-05) 5 September 1987 (age 38)
23	R. Surendran		AM / CF	(1982-10-26) 26 October 1982 (age 43)

• FP = Foreign player
• U21 = Under-21 player
• NR = Not registered

Winter:

Date	Pos	Player	Transferred From	Source
13 January 2017	FW	Nigel Dabinyaba	Canterbury United FC
13 January 2017	DF	K. Reuben	Kuala Lumpur FA
13 January 2017	DF	Yong Kuong Yong	Terengganu FA
13 January 2017	MF	Shazalee Ramlee	Kuantan FA
13 January 2017	DF	Zulkhairi Zulkeply	UiTM F.C.
13 January 2017	GK	Amirul Asyraf Suhaidi	UiTM F.C.
13 January 2017	MF	Diogo Ferreira	Persib Bandung
13 January 2017	DF	Andrew James Russell	South China AA
18 Jan 2017	DF	G. Mahathevan	Megah Murni F.C.
18 Jan 2017	GK	Syed Adney Syed Hussein	T-Team F.C.

Summer:

Date	Pos	Player	Transferred From	Source
15 May 2017	DF	Darwira Sazan	Free agent
15 May 2017	MF	Elias Sulaiman	Free agent
18 May 2017	MF	Azidan Sarudin	Kuala Lumpur
18 May 2017	FW	R. Surendran	Free agent
19 May 2017	FW	Sanna Nyassi	Free agent
7 June 2017	FW	Mark Hartmann	Free agent
8 June 2017	DF	Brandon McDonald	Rovers FC

Winter:

Date	Pos	Player	Transferred To	Source
1 December 2016	DF	Mohd Fitri Omar	Kedah
1 December 2016	DF	Mazlizam Mohamad	Perlis
1 December 2016	DF	Mohd Farisham Ismail	Kelantan	loan return
1 December 2016	DF	Mat Saiful Mohamad	Retired
1 December 2016	MF	Jeong Seok-min	Released
1 December 2016	MF	Mohd Redzuan Nawi	MISC-MIFA
1 December 2016	MF	Mohd Zharif bin Hasna	Released
1 December 2016	MF	Ikhmal Ibrahim	Sime Darby F.C.
1 December 2016	MF	Matias Córdoba	PS Barito Putera
1 December 2016	MF	Mohd Fauzan Dzulkifli	PKNS FC
1 December 2016	MF	Muhd Nursalam Zainal Abidin	UiTM FC
1 December 2016	FW	Ranti Martins	SGFC Eagles Maryland
1 December 2016	GK	Khairul Amri Salehuddin	Perak
1 December 2016	GK	Mohd Firdaus Muhamad	Melaka United
19 January 2017	MF	Elias Sulaiman	Released
19 January 2017	DF	Darwira Sazan	Released

Summer:

Date	Pos	Player	Transferred To	Source
15 May 2017	DF	Andrew James Russell	Tai Po FC
15 May 2017	MF	Diogo Ferreira	Mohun Bagan AC