A group of former national footballers, calling themselves the Friendship Circle, want the stadium renamed Stadium Shebby after the former national defender, who died on Jan 12.
Group founder G Vivegandram, known in footballing circles as Bob, said Serbegeth had contributed immensely to the nation and his hometown, where he had held free coaching clinics for budding footballers.
Bob said the campaign to rename the stadium will be launched on March 19, when a memorial match will be held at the stadium between former internationals and Kluang All Stars.
Invitations to play have been made to former Singapore greats Fandi Ahmad and V Sundramoorthy and Malaysian stars such as Dollah Salleh, See Kim Seng, Subadron Aziz, Malek Awab, Azraai Khor Abdullah, Mohamad Zakaria, K Ravichandran, A Rukumaran, Rahim Mohamad and Hasnulhisham Yaakob.
“Most of them had played alongside Shebby in various teams and had been his good friend,” he told FMT.
Bob said Shebby was an active member of the group comprising 200 members and had helped raise funds for former sportsmen who were struggling to make ends meet and others who needed help for medical treatment.
One of Shebby’s closest friends in Kluang, Faisal Wong, said Kluang had mattered greatly to the late footballer, who had spent a lot of time in his hometown, wanting to develop young football talents at his own expense.
“We urge the authorities to rename the venue Stadium Shebby as it will be such an honour for him and the football fraternity. It is something money can’t buy. We hope the Johor government will seriously consider this,” he said.
Shebby made his international debut in 1982, and was a key member of the national team for nine years, representing Malaysia in the Asian Games in 1982, 1986 and 1990, and winning a SEA Games bronze medal in 1985 and a gold medal in 1989.
He was capped 61 times, playing his final game against England in a friendly at Merdeka Stadium in 1991.
Shebby played for his home state of Johor as well as for Kuala Lumpur, where he achieved his greatest success as a player, winning every major domestic honour.
He was part of the legendary Kuala Lumpur side of the 1980s, which included Fandi. The team lifted the M-League title twice, in 1986 and 1988, besides winning the prestigious Malaysia Cup in 1987, 1988 and 1989, and two FA Cup titles in 1993 and 1994.
He also played for Pahang, Negeri Sembilan and Perak in the 1990s.
After retiring from active football, he became a regular football pundit on TV, working with Astro SuperSport, FoxSports and ESPN Asia. In June 2012, Shebby was appointed a global adviser for Blackburn Rovers, which was then in the second tier English League Championship.