Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Bandung ( 'Indonesian Football Association of Bandung'), commonly referred to as Persib Bandung or simply Persib, is an Indonesian professional football club based in Bandung, West Java, which competes in Liga 1, the top tier of Indonesian football. Founded in 1923 as (BIVB), it adopted its current name in 1933. Persib is among Indonesia's most successful clubs, having won five Perserikatan titles and two Liga Indonesia titles. The team's home base is at the Gelora Bandung Lautan Api Stadium with a capacity of 38,000. The team's nicknames include (Bandung Tigers) and (Blue Princes).
The club won its first Indonesian Super League (now known as Liga 1) title in 2014. Before the current league format, Persib won the 1994–95 Liga Indonesia Premier Division title, and five Perserikatan titles, all of which through tournament structures. Persib has also reached the quarter-finals of the Asian Club Championship in 1995.
History
Founding years (1933–1940) The earliest football organization in Bandung was the Bandoeng Inlandsche Voetbal Bond (BIVB) (Dutch for 'Bandung Domestic Football Federation') formed in 1923. It was succeeded by Persatuan Sepak Bola Indonesia Bandung (PSIB) ('Bandung Indonesian Football Association') and teams affiliated to the National Voetball Bond (NVB). These outfits merged on 14 March 1933 to form Persib.
Persib won the 1937 Dutch Indies football tournament and reached the finals in the 1933, 1934 and 1936 editions before Indonesia's 1945 independence.
Perserikatan era (1940–1994)
After Indonesia's independence, Persib was reformed in Bandung in 1948, during the Indonesian National Revolution. In the 1950s, Persib players Aang Witarsa and Anas appeared for the Indonesia national football team.
In the Perserikatan era, when Indonesian football clubs were amateur outfits funded by local governments, Persib won their second national title in 1961 and competed in that year's Aga Khan Gold Cup. The club's next significant achievement was as runner-up in the 1966 season. Persib's success declined in the 1970s culminating with their relegation to the First Division in the 1978–79 season. In response, the club hired Polish coach Marek Janota to lead the youth squad and Risnandar Soendoro to manage the senior team. Under their guidance, Persib earned a promotion to the Premier Division, with players including Robby Darwis, Adeng Hudaya, Adjat Sudrajat and Suryamin. The team finished as runners-up in the 1982–83 and 1984–85 seasons.
The club won the league in 1986 by beating Perseman Manokwari by a goal from Djadjang Nurdjaman at the Senayan Stadium. They became champions again in 1990, beating Persebaya Surabaya 2–0. Among the players of this golden era were Samai Setiadi, Ade Mulyono, Asep Sumantri and Djadjang Nurdjaman who would become the only person to win a national title for Persib as a player and coach.
Persib became champions in the final season of the Perserikatan era before it was merged with the fledgling, semi-professional Galatama league to become the Liga Indonesia Premier Division and so earned the right to keep the President Cup in perpetuity.
Modern era and recent history (1994–2014)
Persib Bandung in 1995 became the first champion of the newly formed Liga Indonesia Premier Division by beating Petrokimia Putra 1–0 in the final, which gave the club the right to compete at the Asian level. In 1995, Persib managed to reach the quarter-finals of the Asian Club Championship after beating teams from Thailand and the Philippines. While Persib failed to advance further, coach Indra Tohir was selected as the Best of Coach in Asia by the Asian Football Confederation.
Persib struggled to emulate the 1995 success in the next two decades. In 2008, Persib hired coach Jaya Hartono, who managed to push unheralded team Persik Kediri all the way to win the 2003 Liga Indonesia, to bring back its glory. Unfortunately, he only got Persib to third place. They had also used many foreign coaches such as Marek Andrzej Sledzianowski, Juan Páez and Arcan Iurie but the national title was elusive.
As a result of 2006-07 national government policies that restricted the use of state budget in professional football clubs after a series of financial scandals involving politicians and clubs in their jurisdictions, 36 stakeholders compelled then-Bandung mayor Dada Rosada to cut ties between the city's government and Persib. Their campaign led to the 20 August 2009 establishment of PT Persib Bandung Bermartabat, the company that currently runs Persib.