Kuching City F.C. Explained

Clubname:Kuching City
Upright:0.9
Fullname:Kuching City Football Club
Nickname:Il Gatto (The Cats)
Short Name:KCC
Founded:, as Kuching FA
, as Kuching City
Ground:Sarawak State Stadium
Capacity:40,000
Owntitle:Co-owner
Owner:Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman
Kamaludin Akil
Chairman:Iswandi Ali Hassan[1]
Chrtitle:CEO
Mgrtitle:Head coach
Manager:Aidil Sharin Sahak
League:Malaysia Super League
Season:2023
Position:aMsl, 13th of 14
Current:2024-25 Kuching City F.C. season
Website:https://kuchingcityfc.com/index.php

Kuching City Football Club, simply known as Kuching City, is a professional football club based in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia that plays in the Malaysia Super League. It is also the youngest club to join the highest level of the Malaysian football league system, having been founded in 2015.[2] It is the third professional football club based in the state of Sarawak.

History

In 2015, with the commencement of the People Football League introduced by the Football Association of Malaysia, the purpose of the league was to transform lower leagues in Malaysia and promote amateur football in all districts and states across Malaysia.[3] [4] Consequently, Kuching F.A. was founded alongside it to represent the district of Kuching in Sarawak.

FAM Cup

In the 2015–16 Liga Bolasepak Rakyat, Kuching won the inaugural edition[5] after beating Padang Besar 3–1 at the Selayang Stadium. With the championship, Kuching got an automatic promotion into the 2017 Piala FAM.

In their first season in FAM League, Kuching achieved 4th place in Group B, qualifying the team for the play-offs. They were knocked out in the quarter-final stage by UKM F.C., which later gained promotion to 2018 Malaysia Premier League as finalist of the play-offs. Kuching's second season in the FAM League saw them in the 4th place in Group A, the same as previous season. Unfortunately, changes in the play-off qualifying saw them miss out on the knock-out stage as only top two teams of each group chosen. Kuching were registered to play in the 2019 Malaysia FAM Cup, but were also invited by FAM to play in the 2019 Malaysia Premier League, as a number of teams pull out from the league.[6]

After announcing their promotion to the 2020 Malaysia Premier League, Kuching changed their kit to a new one to kick start their new journey, the colours are green with white stripes and "City of Unity" is written in the middle of the kit. The following season, they added ''City'' to back of Kuching.

First cup final

Kuching City reach promotion to 2023 Malaysia Super League for the first time in history after the MFL License have been approved for the 2023 season. On 2 August 2023, former Singaporean legend, Aidil Sharin Sahak was announced as the new head coach of the club signing Namibia captain, Petrus Shitembi and Tajikistani midfielder Nuriddin Davronov. Aidil Sharin guided the club to a great run in the 2023 MFL Challenge Cup winning 4–0 on aggregate against his former club, Kedah Darul Aman in the quarter-finals, a 3–1 on aggregate against Kelantan United in the semi-finals which saw the club first ever cup final in their history.

Crest and colours

Kuching's crest has a yellow shield and the flag of Sarawak where the club originated from, and a green-white stripped tiger. "City of Unity" is written in the middle of the crest.

Crest

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

SeasonKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
2017–2023StarsportLSC & Kuching City of Unity
LSC, Yakult & Kuching City of Unity
Serba Dinamik, LSC & Yakult

Players

Other players under contract

Development squads

Kuching City B (U23)

Head coach: Oleg Kuzmianok[7]

Season by season record

Updated on 1 November 2022.

SeasonDivisionPositionMalaysia CupMalaysian FA CupMalaysian Charity ShieldRegionalTop Scorer (All Competitions)
2015–16Liga LBRChampionsDNQ
2017FAM League4th of 7 Group BDNQ
2018FAM League4th of 7 Group ADNQSecond round Shafitri Salim (4)
2019Liga M32nd DNQSecond round Joseph Kalang Tie (18)
2020Premier League4th CancelledCancelled Bryan Jones (4)
2021Premier League5th 3rd of 4th Group stage BNot held
2022Premier League3rd Quarter-finalsQuarter-finals Abu Kamara (12)
2023Super League

Foreign players (since 2019)

SeasonPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5Player 6Player 7Player 8Player 9Former Player
2019 Yuta Suzuki
2020 Hudson Jesus Bryan Jones Anicézio Yuta Suzuki Yuki Tanigawa
2021 Hudson Jesus Ijezie Michael Yuta Suzuki Bryan Jones
2022 Gabryel Abu Kamara Yuki Tanigawa Keanu Marsh-Brown
2023 Célio Santos Aylton Alemão Bruno Dybal Yuki Tanigawa Mihailo Jovanović Abu Kamara Dechi Marcel Petrus Shitembi Pedro Henrique

Sirojiddin Kuziev

Club staff

[8]

Team management
Role Person
Presidentvacant
Technical director Wan Jamak Wan Hassan
Manager Irwanshah Mohamad[9]
Assistant manager Ismail Haji Hamdin
Head coach Aidil Sharin Sahak[10]
Assistant coach Firdaus Morshidi
GK coach Khairul Azman Mohamed[11]
Fitness coach Mohd Aidil Idham Fadzil Halmi
Video analyst Ahmad Mundir
Team doctor Muhamad Karbela Reza Ramlan
Physiotherapist Mohd Khairul Nizam Suhaimi, Ferdinand Lisa
Media officer Darul Imran Azmi
Masseur Mohamed Zawawi Ali Hassan, Mohd Shahrizan Sahari
Kitman Mohammad Hysham Adenan, Azarul Nazriq

Honours

League

Cup

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: New imports set to bolster Kuching City's Super League 2023 campaign . The Borneo Post. 6 January 2023. 22 July 2023.
  2. Web site: Kuching Joins Liga FAM. SarawakCrocs.com – Sarawak's No.1 Football Site. 2 January 2017 .
  3. Web site: Liga Bola Sepak Rakyat (LBR) to revive interest at district level. SPORTS247.MY – The Ultimate Malaysian Sports Channel. 13 June 2015 .
  4. http://www.fourthofficial.com/2015/20837/liga-bolasepak-rakyat-will-unearth-more-talent-najib-razak/ Liga Bolasepak Rakyat will unearth more talent – Najib Razak
  5. Web site: Kuching FA Juara Sulung Liga Bolasepak Rakyat. SarawakCrocs.com – Sarawak's No.1 Football Site. 28 May 2016 .
  6. Web site: Liga Premier: Kuching FA masih tunggu lampu hijau daripada FAM . 30 November 2018 .
  7. Web site: Kuching City Under-23 team squad for 2024/2025 season announced. Facebook Kuching City FC. 6 April 2024. 6 April 2024.
  8. Web site: Kuching City FC Team Staff for 2024/2025 Season. Facebook Kuching City FC. 3 April 2024. 3 April 2024.
  9. Web site: Former Sarawak footballer to be appointed as team manager. Facebook Kuching City FC. 1 March 2024. 3 April 2024.
  10. Web site: Kuching City FC melantik Aidil Shahrin menggantikan Irfan Bakti. Facebook HarimauMalaya. 2 August 2023. 3 April 2024.
  11. Web site: Former Malaysian legendary appointed as goalkeeping coach. Facebook Kuching City FC. 28 February 2024. 3 March 2024.