Over the recent years, JDT have lead the way for Malaysian football and clubs in particular, and The Southern Tigers are showing no signs of relenting or slowing down any time soon. They are already making big plans for the next step their project, coined the 'JDT Football Project'.
Under the stewardship of club owner HRH Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, JDT have improved leaps and bounds and will be starting their second straight year in the AFC Champions League when the 2020 season commences. The Crown Prince of Johor has often stated that what JDT have accomplished is only a small part of their overall plans.
In the next part of their development, the shiny new Sultan Ibrahim Stadium will be the forefront and the 40,000 seater stadium is expected to complete by January 25 2020. Pending inspection from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), it will be ready for the home match against Guangzhou Evergrande on February 19.
RM75 million has been allocated for the next part of the development around the new stadium that will include world class training facilities including a mini stadium (~8,000 capacity) and two indoor pitches that will house the Super League side all the way down to their Under-12s.
ISL
"Originally I wanted to take a step back and let everything run as it is. But having seen our competitors who are trying to go larger in a bigger scale, as a pioneer who keeps having people copy us, I want to be further ahead. So it felt like the original plan wasn't a good one and I'm motivated to bring the club to be bigger and better. We are not just a club, we are an empire..
"Whenever I make a statement, there are always people who will ridicule what I said but I've been proving people wrong since 2013," said Tunku Ismail.
When the work is completed, their current facilities at Padang Seri Gelam will be put up as part of JDT's asset and properties. A potential windfall for the club is any high value sale could be found. All of which ties into TMJ's plan to make his club worth RM1 billion within the next 24 months.
Four accounting firms will be asked to evaluate and assess JDT's value in terms of their assets, properties, commercial value and branding. Another way that the club is looking to increase their worth will be in shares allocations or sale. Former Italy international Marco Materazzi is one of those potential new shareholders.
TMJ will look to retain 70-80% of the club shares that will keep him as the majority owner while sale of the remaining 20-30% will generate substantial income to JDT's coffers. The Crown Prince also stated in his address that the club are currently valued approximately at RM600 million which will mean a significant push to hit the 1 billion mark.
Follow Goal Malaysia on Instagram