T

housands of soccer fans packed Andi Mattalatta stadium in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Monday evening.

Bells and whistles were heard from the afternoon as the crowd celebrated 100 years of Persatuan Sepakbola Makassar, popularly known as PSM Makassar or PSM, the oldest soccer club in the country.

Monday'€™s festivities began with performances featuring traditional Makassarese music and dances, including ma'€™raga, which involves rattan-made balls, and pepe'€™-pepe'€™ka ri makka dances, as well as a hundreds of PSM Makassar supporters forming the number 100. As many as 100 lampions were released.

An exhibition match was held between PSM Liga Indonesia 2000 and PSM All Stars in the evening.

Prior to the match, fans chanted and sang motivational songs for the club. Several groups of supporters even brought drums.

The fans got even louder when the exhibition match started. They lit up fireworks, causing smoke to fill up the stadium, forcing the referee to pause the match.

PSM Makassar Liga Indonesia 2000 won the match 2-1. The winning side was powered by most of the club'€™s players from the year 2000, including Hendro Kartiko, Yeyen Tumena, Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto, Bima Sakti, Miro Baldo Bento and Ortizan Solossa.

Meanwhile, the losing PSM All Stars consisted of the club'€™s legends, such as Ansar Abdullah, Mustari Ato, Erwin Wijaya, Syamsul Bachri and Sumirlan, who is now the club'€™s technical director.

Makassar Mayor Mohamad Ramdhan Pomanto said that he would continue to push for improvements to the club.

'€œNext year, I will build a headquarters for PSM. Plus, I will also build a customized statue at Losari Beach, and, of course, [help the club win] a title at a credible competition,'€ said the mayor at the party.

Several former players said they were honored to have been part of the club, which is also known as '€œAyam Jantan dari Timur'€, or The Eastern Rooster. The former players claimed that PSM was among the most powerful squads in the nation and was supported by loyal fans.

'€œI am honored to ever have been part of this club. PSM made me into who I am today,'€ said former Indonesian national team player Miro Baldo Bento, who played for the club from 1999 until 2002.

Another former player of the national team, Ortizan Solossa, also expressed his gratitude toward the club he played for from 1999 until 2004.

'€œI hope PSM Makassar continues to thrive and improves every day,'€ said the big brother of Boaz Solossa, another talented Indonesian soccer player.

Sumirlan shared his thoughts about the club during the festivities.

'€œI'€™m proud of the club despite the state of soccer in the country,'€ he said, adding that PSM Makassar along with other clubs were suffering following the suspension of the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI).

PSM Makassar was born on Nov. 2, 1915 under the name Makassaarche voetbal bond (MVB) when Indonesia was still under Dutch rule.

MVB participated in several competitions, including matches against overseas teams. When Japan came in to topple the Dutch, MVB'€™s name was changed to PSM.

PSM transformed into a big club in the 1950s. At that time, one of the club'€™s strikers, Ramang Rusli, was known for his superb attack skills.

With the popularity of Ramang, PSM also became known as '€œPasukan Ramang'€ (Ramang'€™s Warriors).

 PSM won the top local Perserikatan (Commonwealth) titles in 1957, 1959, 1966, 1967 and 1992. Meanwhile, in the era of PSSI, PSM nailed the top spot in 1999/2000 and was a four-time runner-up (1995/1996, 2001, 2003, 2004).