Kelantan Darul Naim Football Club (Malay: Kelab Bola Sepak Kelantan Darul Naim), previously known as Kelantan United, is a Malaysian professional football club based in Kota Bharu, Kelantan.[1][2][3] The club currently plays in the Malaysia Super League.[4]
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| Full name | Kelantan Darul Naim Football Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Golden Deers | |||
| Short name | KDNFC | |||
| Founded | 2016, as MPKB-BRI FC 2019, as Kelantan United | |||
| Ground | Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 22,000 | |||
| President | Rozi Muhamad | |||
| League | Malaysia Super League | |||
| 2023 | Malaysia Super League, 12th of 14 | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
History edit
Kelantan Darul Naim Football Club is a professional football club founded in 2016. Previously knows as Majlis Perbandaran Kota Bharu-Bandar Raya Islam Urusetia Belia dan Sukan Negeri Kelantan Football Club (MPKB-BRI UBeS FC) and also as Majlis Perbandaran Kota Bharu-Bandar Raya Islam Football Club (MPKB-BRI FC) enter the Malaysian football competition in 2016 when the club was accepted to compete in 2016 Malaysia FAM League.[5] The club finished the season at the eight place.
For the 2017 season, the club will compete in Malaysia FAM League and participated in 2017 Malaysia FA Cup.[6][7][8] Starting from 2019 season, the club has been rebranded to Kelantan United Football Club as an effort to bring in support in the local area. In 2023, the club was promoted to the Malaysia Super League for the first time in their history. On 2 June 2023, Kelantan United recorded their first ever win in the top flight against city rivals, Kelantan winning 4–1.
In the 2024–25 Malaysia Super League season, Kelantan United will be rebranded as Kelantan Darul Naim for the Malaysia League competition. Club president Rozi Muhammad said the rebranding of name and logo of the club is the desire of the management to unite all Kelantan football supporters under one proud banner and flag for the state. He said the name and logo change is not aimed at replacing the main team, 'Kelantan" but it is a change made to see the club as being more competitive and is able to compete in the highest hierarchy of the Malaysian League with other major clubs.[9]
Crest and colours edit
Crest edit
Kelantan Darul Naim has used one primary crest since the club participation in the national level football league competition before the club introduce a new crest starting in 2017 season to solidify its new branding.[10][11]
2016 crest
2017–2018 crest
2019—2022 crest
2023 crest
2024—present crest
Colours edit
Kelantan Darul Naim have always worn black with mixture of red for shirts as their home kit.[12] For 2017 season, the club play in red with a trim of white for home kit.[11]
Kelantan Darul Naim's away colours are usually white with green trim. For 2017 season, the club play in white with a trim of red for away kit while the white with a green trim for the third kit.[11]
Grounds edit
Stadium Sultan Muhammad IV edit
Ownership and finances edit
Sponsorship edit
Season by season record edit
| Season | League | Cup | Asia | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | D | Pts | Pos | Charity | Malaysia[a] | FA | Competition | Result | |
| 2016 | FAM | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 23 | -11 | 10 | 8th Group B | – | Not qualified | – | – | – |
| 2017 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 21 | 16 | -5 | 21 | 5th Group A | – | Not qualified | Second round | – | – | |
| 2018 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 21 | -8 | 8 | 7th Group A | – | Not qualified | – | – | – | |
| 2019 | M3 | 26 | 21 | 3 | 2 | 93 | 20 | +73 | 66 | 1st | – | TBD | Third round | – | – |
| 2020 | MPL | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 19 | -6 | 12 | 8th | – | Qualified | Second round | – | – |
| 2021 | 20 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 25 | 28 | -3 | 27 | 7th | – | Qualified | – | – | – | |
| 2022 | 18 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 23 | 19 | +4 | 25 | 5th | – | Qualified | – | – | – | |
| 2023 | MSL | 21 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 22 | 54 | -32 | 11 | 12th | – | Qualified | Second round | – | – |
- ^ The Malaysia Cup, Challenge and FAM Cup
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
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Club top scorer edit
| Season | Player | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 |  Raim Azmi | 4 |
| 2018 | Masri Asyraf | 5 |
| 2019 | Fakhrul Zaman | 35 |
| 2020 |  Gassama Alfussainey | 6 |
| 2021 | Gassama Alfussainey | 12 |
| 2022 |  Jacob Njoku | 10 |
Players edit
First-team squad edit
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Coaches edit
Mahadi Yusof (2015–2016)- Abdullah Muhammad (2016)
- Mohd Azli Mahmood (2016)
- Kamarudin Muhamad (2017)
- Abdullah Muhammad (2018)
- Zahasmi Ismail (2019–2020)
- Nazrulerwan Makmor (2020, 2023)
Akira Higashiyama (2021)- Syamsul Saad (2022)
Tomáš Trucha (2023)
Ailton Silva (2023)
Park Jae-hong (2024)
Coaching staff edit
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| CEO | Wan Mohd Zul Ikman Wan Abdul Aziz |
| Technical director | Sazami Shafii |
| Head coach |  Park Jae-hong |
| Assistant coach | Rezal Zambery Yahya |
| Ashadi Yusoff | |
| Goalkeeping coach | Abdul Rahman Baba |
| Fitness coach | Mohd Fazrul Jafar |
| Team doctor | Dr. Zairuddin |
| Physiotherapist | Muhammad Amir Fadzlan |
| Media officer | Ahmad Fadhli Sukardi |
| Photographer | Tarmizi Nafi |
| Masseur | Wan Muhamad Afif |
| Kitman | Fadhli Ikram |
Honours edit
Domestic competitions edit
League edit
- Malaysia M3 League
- Champions (1): 2019