Kelantan Darul Naim F.C.
| Full name | Kelantan Darul Naim Football Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Real Warrior[1] | |||
| Short name | KDNFC | |||
| Founded | 2016, as MPKB-BRI UBeS Football Club 2019, as Kelantan United Football Club 2024, as Kelantan Darul Naim Football Club | |||
| Ground | Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 22,000 | |||
| President | Rozi Muhamad | |||
| CEO | Irwan Rizal | |||
| Head coach | E. Elavarasan | |||
| League | Malaysia Super League | |||
| 2024–25 | Malaysia Super League, 13th of 13 | |||
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Kelantan Darul Naim Football Club (Malay: Kelab Bola Sepak Kelantan Darul Naim) is a Malaysian professional football club based in Kota Bharu, Kelantan.[2][3][4] The club plays in the Malaysia Super League, the top-flight football league of Malaysia, after being promoted from the Malaysia Premier League in 2022.[5]
History
Formation and early years
Kelantan Darul Naim was previously known as Majlis Perbandaran Kota Bharu-Bandar Raya Islam Urusetia Belia and Sukan Negeri Kelantan Football Club (MPKB-BRI UBeS FC), the club entered the Malaysian football competition in 2016 when the club was accepted to compete in the FAM League.[6] The club finished the season at the eight place.
For the 2017 season, the club participated in the Malaysia FA Cup.[7][8][9] The club was later 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 win in the top flight against city rivals Kelantan, with the score of 4–1.
Rebranded
In the 2024–25 Malaysia Super League season, Kelantan United Football Club was rebranded as Kelantan Darul Naim Football Club. The club's President, Rozi Muhammad said the club's rebranding comes from the management's desire to unite Kelantan supporters under one banner.[10] In November 2024, the club travelled to India and took part in the 2024 edition of the Sikkim Gold Cup.[11][12]
Crest and colours
Crest
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.[13][14]
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2016
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2017–2018
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2019–2022
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2023
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2024
(sponsorship crest)
Colours
Kelantan Darul Naim have always worn black with mixture of red for shirts as their home kit.[15] For 2017 season, the club play in red with a trim of white for home kit.[14]
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.[14]
Ownership and finances
Sponsorship
| Years | Kit manufacturer | Financial sponsors |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Sala | Minyak Mestika, SH Prima Trading |
| 2017 | GomoGi | MPKB-BRI |
| 2018 | Kronos | Gelumbang Jaya |
| 2019 | SkyHawk | U-Shop, MySports Station |
| 2020 | Visit Kelantan 2020, Jaya Mas Mining | |
| 2021 | Umbro | Kelantan Melangkah Kehadapan, Yakult |
| 2022 | Gatti | |
| 2023 | IAM | Kelantan Melangkah Kehadapan, Nasken Coffee |
| 2024–25 | PUC Sport | Visit Kelantan 2024 |
Season by season record
| 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 | 26 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 29 | 65 | -36 | 17 | 12th | – | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | – | – |
| 2024–25 | MSL | 24 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 16 | 82 | -36 | 17 | 13th | – | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | – | – |
- ^ The Malaysia Cup, Challenge and FAM Cup
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
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Club top scorer
| 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 |
| 2023 | OJ Porteria | 7 |
| 2024–25 | Oday Kharoub | 4 |
Coaches
| Name | Nationality | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | ||
| Mahadi Yusof | Malaysia | 2015 | 2016 |
| Abdullah Muhammad | Malaysia | 2016 | 2016 |
| Azli Mahmood | Malaysia | 2016 | 2016 |
| Kamarudin Muhamad | Malaysia | 2017 | 2017 |
| Abdullah Muhammad | Malaysia | 2018 | 2018 |
| Zahasmi Ismail | Malaysia | 2019 | 17 September 2020 |
| Akira Higashiyama | Japan | 1 January 2021 | 30 June 2021 |
| Nazrulerwan Makmor | Malaysia | 19 July 2021 | 9 January 2022 |
| Syamsul Saad | Malaysia | 10 January 2022 | 8 August 2022 |
| Tomáš Trucha | Czech Republic | 30 December 2022 | 8 April 2023 |
| Ailton Silva | Brazil | 15 June 2023 | 21 November 2023 |
| Park Jae-hong | South Korea | 19 April 2024 | 24 January 2025 |
| E. Elavarasan | Malaysia | 1 July 2025 | current |
Club officials
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| President | Rozi Muhamad |
| CEO | Irwan Rizal |
| Technical director | Sazami Shafii |
| Head coach | E. Elavarasan |
| Assistant head coach | Kamaruddin Muhammad |
| Assistant coach | Hafizi Awang Farisham Ismail Zairul Fitree Ishak Ashadi Mohd Yusoff |
| Goalkeeping coach | Abdul Rahman Baba |
| Fitness coach | Mohd Fazrul Jafar Mohd Hafezi Mat Zain |
| Team doctor | Muhammad Faiz Affandi |
| Physiotherapist | Muhammad Amir Fadzlan |
| Media officer | Ahmad Fadhli Sukardi |
| Photographer | Tarmizi Nafi |
| Masseur | Wan Muhamad Afif |
| Kitman | Wan Muhamad Najib Shahrul Ridzuan Samsudin |
Honours
Domestic competitions
League
- Division 3/M3 League
- Champions (1): 2019
International competitions
- All India Governor's Gold Cup
- Quarter-Finals: 2024
References
- ^ "KDN FC Kini Berjulukan The Real Warrior". Sukanz. 26 June 2025.
- ^ Felda United And Kuala Lumpur Draw Tough Opponents In FA Cup Competition
- ^ Felda, KL berdepan laluan getir di pusingan kedua
- ^ azmi. "U-BeS FC rebut Piala FAM musim ini". Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
- ^ "five new teams make it to FAM League". FootballSentral.com. 31 December 2015. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
- ^ Keputusan Penuh Undian Piala FAM, Piala Presiden & Piala Belia 2016
- ^ Keputusan Penuh Undian Piala FAM, Piala Presiden & Piala Belia 2017
- ^ MPKB BRI-UBeS FC kekal patuh syariah
- ^ MPKB-BRI Ubes Fc bawa elemen patuh syariah dalam saingan Piala FAM 2017
- ^ "KUFC rebranded as Kelantan Darul Naim this season". nst.com.my. NST. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
- ^ "Gangtok Himalayan SC sets up quarterfinal clash with Malaysian club". Gangtok. 13 November 2024. Archived from the original on 18 November 2024. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
- ^ Gurung, Bijoy (18 November 2024). "GANGTOK HIMALAYAN STUNS MALAYSIAN CLUB, BOOKS SF BERTH". The Sikkim Express. Gangtok. Archived from the original on 18 November 2024. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
- ^ "MPKB-BRI UBES FC Merekodkan Nama Kelab Kedua Terpanjang di Dunia". Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- ^ a b c "MPKB BRI-UBes FC duta promosi Negeri Kelantan – Ahmad Yakob | Stadium Astro". Archived from the original on 6 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017. MPKB BRI-UBes FC duta promosi Negeri Kelantan – Ahmad Yakob
- ^ MPKB-BRI UBeS FC perlu bangkit