 Nicknamed "Pesut Mahakam", they won Liga Indonesia Premier Division titles in 2008–09 season.The club was formed in 1989 as Putra Samarinda Football Club, or often called Pusam, by a local businessman, Harbiansyah Hanafiah, to competed in semi-professional competition Galatama.But when the top two competition in Indonesia, Perserikatan and Galatama, merged to form Liga Indonesia, Pusam suffered a financial crisis throughout the time.