PENANG: It was a shot in the arm for the Penang Panthers as they raked in RM500,000 for their Premier I campaign this season after a fund-raising dinner on Friday.
Magnum Corporation and Toray Pen Group contributed the lion's share during the do, attended by the FA of Malaysia’s top brass, which included FAM president Sultan Ahmad Shah who were in Penang for its council meeting.
The two corporations donated RM200,000 each to the Penang FA while the rest were raised from the dinner itself.
FA president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said that Penang's target this season would be to win one of the three titles at stake.
Penang have show tremendous improvement since that drastic clean-up in 1994 season. They were the FA Cup runner-up to Selangor in 1997 and went on to be crowned Premier League champions in the next year. They were also league runner-ups in 1999 and 2000, FA Cup runner-up (2000), Premier I champions (2001) and FA Cup champions last year.
There was also more cheers for the FA when the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) donated a piece of land in Batu Kawan for the contruction of the academy.
“The land will not only house our intended academy, but is big enough for us to have two training pitches as well,” said Dr Koh.
The Panthers will open their Premier I campaign with a Charity Shield clash against Selangor at the Shah Alam Stadium on Feb 8.