As we have been knowing, football is still the most favorite sport in Indonesia until now. There are some reasons why Indonesians love football so much. One of the reasons is because football is for everyone. No matter what your gender is, how old you are, or where you come from, everybody loves football very much. As time goes by, more and more fan clubs for the football team have been increasing significantly. It seems like the influence of football can be quite big as well and now becoming one of the most popular sports in Indonesia.
Now, let’s find out the biggest and most supported football teams in Indonesia. You must be surprised by how many fans they have. Even, 6 teams are included into 200 Famous Football Teams in the World based on the research done by The Global Digital Football Benchmark. Those teams will be mentioned below.
1. Persib
Oh yes, everybody surely knows this team very well. This football team comes from Bandung, the capital city of West Java. Fans club for this team is known as “Viking” and was born on 17th July 1993. The important fact is this fans club had been established before other football fan clubs had been found. This team also can be seen as a pioneer to make history of soccer in Indonesia.
Based on social media, Persib Bandung has approximately 16 million followers. This number is quite big and until now it is still growing. Mostly, Persib gains followers from Facebook. Not only in digital platform, in real life Persib has a lot of supportive fans from every age and gender.
“Viking” was taken as the name of Persib Bandung’s fans club for some reason, such as it is inspired by ethnic Viking in Scandinavia. Viking in Scandinavia is known as one kind of ethnic that loves to travel the world.
Now, Viking fans club has official followers more than seventy thousand people. They have scattered in entirely West Java. Not only in West Java, even in every province, you can always find Viking fans club there.
2. Persija
As the most popular sport for children in Indonesia, football has influenced people in many ways. Then, football becomes very important to Indonesians, so it makes sense if more and more Indonesians know all about Indonesian football teams, including Persija. It could be understandable if so many Indonesians have known this football team. We feel familiar with the “orange touch” on every occasion if Persija will compete in some championships. Persija has a unique name for its fans club: Jakmania. The Jakmania was found on 19th December 1997. The most important pioneer behind the establishment of the Jakmania was Rasyid Ali. He was known as the manager of Persija.
We also know that Persija is a popular football team from our capital city, DKI Jakarta. Since the Jakmania has been established, the government of DKI Jakarta has strongly supported it, especially when DKI Jakarta was led by Sutiyoso.
The Jakmania has its own basecamp. The basecamp is located in Lebak Bulus Stadion, where they hold a lot of routines and fun activities to strengthen relations with each other. You don’t have to worry, because the Jakmania will always do an open recruitment for new members.
3. Arema
Not only Bandung and DKI Jakarta that has a powerful football team, but also Malang. Because their players have gorgeous skills, this football team is nicknamed “Singo Edan”. Some surveys also show that Arema has a lot of followers, approximately 2.3 million followers on the internet.
Fans club for Arema is known as “Aremania”. Unlike the Jakmania which is involved in the organizational structure of Persija, Aremania is not part of the organizational structure of Arema. People who loved Arema established “Aremania” to be a supportive fans club for Arema whenever Arema is in competitions.
What makes Aremania special is Aremania is the most loyal supporter in our country. For them, it’s not that important to see the victory in Arema. What’s the most important is just their strong volition to support Arema wholeheartedly.
4. Sriwijaya
Now, let’s move to the fourth position of the biggest and most supported football teams in Indonesia. It is Sriwijaya football team which comes from Palembang, South Sumatra. This football team is found on 23rd October 2004. Sriwijaya football team is also known as “Elang Andalas Laskar Wong Kito”.
Sriwijaya also has a lot of supportive followers, they are Sriwijaya Mania. They often come to several competitions whenever Sriwijaya has a match.
5. Bali United
This football team which comes from Bali is almost as popular as Sriwijaya FC. Their difference in total numbers of digital followers is not far. Bali United has 1.5 million communities on the internet. So, it seems like Bali United has its own popularity in Indonesia’s football world.
6. Persebaya
Last but not least, Persebaya! Yes, this football team from Surabaya is pretty popular, isn’t it? Persebaya has approximately 1.1 million communities on the digital platform. Persebaya calls its fans club “Bonek”. Not only Bonek but also there is another supporter club for Persebaya, that is Yayasan Supporter Surabaya (YSS).
So, that’s all for the biggest and most supported football teams in Indonesia. No matter which football team that you choose, what’s the most important is that you are wise enough to be a supportive supporter. As long as football is the best outdoor activities in Indonesia which will bring some sort of happiness and togetherness, it’s really important to keep the nice relation between each other.
