Balikpapan

Early years

The club, known as Tim Selicin Minyak, was founded on 3 August 1950. Since its founding, the club has competed in various tournaments at the provincial and national levels. Before adopting the name Persiba Balikpapan, the club was originally known as PS Belalang, before changing its name in 1963.

1980s: Golden era

The 1980s represented the golden age of Persiba. The club's rise began with the 1983 Third Division title. In the final standings, Persiba faced stiff competition from hosts Persisam Samarinda, who needed a 7–0 victory in the last match to claim first place. Although Persisam came close, PSTK Tarakan prevented the final goal, and the match ended 6–0, leaving Persiba at the top.

The Third Division title earned Persiba a place in the central regional round, hosted by Persipal Palu and Persigo Gorontalo. Despite playing away from home, Persiba defeated each host side 1–0. The club went on to win the Second Division trophy in 1984, earning promotion to the First Division in Yogyakarta.

Persiba continued their strong run and advanced through each round until reaching the final at Diponegoro Stadium in Semarang on Wednesday, 4 December 1985. Their opponents were PSIM Yogyakarta, a well-respected side at the time. Persiba legend Junaedi scored the only goal of the match in the 72nd minute, securing a 1–0 victory and the First Division title. Johny Rinning was named the best player of the tournament, capping a remarkable individual season. Playing as a libero, Rinning collected four best player awards: the Gorontalo Regent's Cup in 1984, the First Division in 1985, the Surabaya Mayor's Cup in 1985, and the East Kalimantan Governor's award.

With their First Division title, Persiba earned a place in the top flight of Indonesian football. During this period, the Persiba Stadium was constructed under the chairmanship of Syarifuddin Yoes, who also served as Mayor of Balikpapan. The stadium was built on Parikesit Street, on land owned by PT Pertamina, and was completed within a year to meet the requirements for Premier Division participants.

In the top flight, Persiba performed respectably, finishing in the top six on two occasions — in the 1987–88 and 1989–90 seasons.

Liga Indonesia era

From the 1994–95 season, the Perserikatan and Galatama competitions were merged to form the Liga Indonesia Premier Division. During this era, Persiba struggled to maintain their place in the top tier, consistently finishing one or two positions above the relegation zone in their first three Premier Division seasons. In 1998–99, the club was eventually relegated to the Liga Indonesia First Division after finishing sixth (last) in the East Division.

Under chairman Zainal Abidin, Persiba went through four changes in leadership before finally winning promotion under Syahril HM Taher, who took charge in 2003. In 2004, the club returned to the Premier Division after finishing fourth in the regional 2 First Division.

Back in the top flight in 2005, Persiba showed immediate promise, finishing fifth in the East Division with 41 points from 26 matches — just two points behind Persebaya Surabaya, who qualified for the second round. In 2006, the club reached the second round after finishing fourth in the East Division, behind Persmin Minahasa, Persik Kediri, and PSM Makassar.

ISL era

In the Indonesia Super League (ISL) era, Persiba's performances were inconsistent. In their first ISL season, under coach Daniel Roekito, the club finished 12th with 45 points.

However, Persiba impressed in the 2009–10 season, with key players including I Made Wirawan, Mijo Dadic, Robertino Pugliara, Gendut Doni, and Julio Lopez. The team finished third, behind Arema Indonesia and Persipura Jayapura, and ahead of both Persib Bandung and Persija Jakarta. The other East Kalimantan clubs, Bontang FC and Persisam Putra Samarinda, finished outside the top ten. That season, Persiba also became the only team to defeat Arema in both home and away fixtures, and the only side to take three points at Kanjuruhan Stadium.

At the Inter Island Cup, a pre-season tournament for leading clubs, Persiba was the only representative from Kalimantan. In the 2010 edition, they defeated the reigning Piala Indonesia champions, Sriwijaya, by a large margin and advanced to the semi-finals. Despite these achievements, Persiba's form declined in subsequent seasons.

2017: Financial problems and relegation to Liga 2

Persiba's performances continued to fluctuate in the years that followed. By the inaugural Liga 1 season, the club — the oldest in East Kalimantan — was struggling financially, with funding heavily dependent on the club's owner and no significant sponsorship secured. The club's nomadic situation was made worse by the fact that Pertamina, the landowner of Persiba Stadium, had scheduled the site for redevelopment, while the replacement venue, Batakan Stadium, was still under construction.

As a temporary measure, Persiba relocated to Gajayana Stadium in Malang, East Java. However, the team failed to win a single home match there and returned to Parikesit after just four games, before eventually settling at Batakan Stadium. The season ended poorly, with only seven wins from 34 matches. Persiba finished second from bottom, alongside Semen Padang and Persegres Gresik United in the relegation zone.

The situation did not improve in Liga 2, where Persiba came close to a second successive relegation, finishing just one point above the drop zone in the East Region.

In November 2018, Syahril HM Taher was reappointed as chairman. He cleared hundreds of billions of rupiah in club debt and announced that Rp 5 billion in shares were available for new investors. Ownership was subsequently transferred back to the Balikpapan City Government, and Balikpapan Deputy Mayor Rahmad Mas'ud was announced as the new owner. Mas'ud set a clear target of returning Persiba to the top division. However, shortly before the new season began, he resigned from the role, citing complications in the ownership transfer process. Despite a personal appeal from Balikpapan Mayor Rizal Effendi to reconsider, Mas'ud's resignation stood.