Kuala Lumpur City Football Club, known simply as KL City FC, is a Malaysian professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
club based in
Kuala Lumpur
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, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
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, sub ...
. The club competes in the
Malaysia Super League
The Malaysia Super League ( ms, Liga Super Malaysia) is the men's top professional football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP), now known as the Malays ...
, the top level of
Malaysian football, and was founded in 1974 as Federal Territory by the
Kuala Lumpur Football Association (KLFA). It was later renamed Kuala Lumpur FA and Kuala Lumpur United, before renaming to its current name in 2021.
Kuala Lumpur City won two Malaysian league titles, four
Malaysian Cups, three
Malaysian FA Cup
The Malaysia FA Cup ( ms, Piala FA) is an annual national knock-out football tournament in Malaysia. The cup was first held in 1990. The competition was previously managed by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), before being transferred to Fo ...
s, and three
Malaysian Charity Shields. It also played in the group stages of the
Asian Club Championship
The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competitio ...
on two occasions.
Following its founding, a fierce rivalry developed between Kuala Lumpur and
Selangor
Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sem ...
mainly due to their geographical location. The battle between these two teams is often referred to as the
Klang Valley Derby
Klang Valley Derby is the name given to football matches that involves Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. Both of them were located in the Klang Valley, Malaysia.
History
The rivalry can be seen as a result of the teams' geographical locations – t ...
, which was renewed in the 2010 season after Kuala Lumpur ended a seven-year spell in the second-tier with promotion to the Malaysia Super League. Kuala Lumpur were relegated to the second-tier
Malaysia Premier League
The Malaysia Premier League ( ms, Liga Premier) was the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia. The league replaced the former second-tier league, Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system.
The Malaysia Premier Leag ...
in 2012 and the following year, in 2013, Kuala Lumpur were relegated to the third-tier
Malaysia FAM League
The FAM Cup (Malay: Piala FAM) was a knock-out tournament for teams in both the Malaysia M3 League and the Malaysia M4 League in Malaysia. The tournament was a cup format, but from 2008 to 2018 was held as a third-tier league tournament and used ...
for the first time in its history.
History
Kuala Lumpur had its most successful period in the late 1980s when they won the national league twice, in 1986 and 1988. They also won the
Malaysia Cup
The Malaysia Cup ( ms, Piala Malaysia), formerly known as ''Malaya Cup'', is an annual football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popularity as the nation's o ...
for three consecutive years (1987, 1988 and 1989).
The team enjoyed considerable success in cup competitions in the 1990s, winning the
Malaysian FA Cup
The Malaysia FA Cup ( ms, Piala FA) is an annual national knock-out football tournament in Malaysia. The cup was first held in 1990. The competition was previously managed by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), before being transferred to Fo ...
in 1993, 1994 and 1999.
Kuala Lumpur won the
Malaysian Charity Shield
Piala Sumbangsih (English: Malaysia Charity Cup), also known as Piala Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah ( en, Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Cup), is the Malaysian super cup competition. It is the curtain raiser match to the new Malaysian football season, pitting ...
on three occasions, in 1988, 1995 and 2000.
In September 2020, the club was privatized in accordance to the privatization process by the
Football Association of Malaysia
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM, ms, Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaysia) is the national governing body of football in Malaysia responsible for organising the Malaysia national football team within the country. The Football Association o ...
and was renamed as Kuala Lumpur United. In December 2020,
Stanley Bernard was named the new CEO of the club.
In March 2021, prior to the
2021 Malaysia Super League
The 2021 Malaysia Super League ( ms, Liga Super Malaysia 2021), was the 18th season of the Malaysia Super League, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia.
The defending champions from the 2020 Malaysia Super League season, Johor D ...
season, the team changed its name to Kuala Lumpur City. During the same season, Kuala Lumpur City defeated
Johor Darul Ta'zim 2–0 in the final of the
2021 Malaysia Cup
The 2021 Malaysia Cup ( Malay: ''Piala Malaysia 2021'') was the 95th edition of Malaysia Cup tournament organised by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the Malaysian Football League (MFL).
The defending champions were Johor Darul Ta ...
, winning the cup for the first time in 32 years.
Players
Current squad
Management and coaching staff
List of head coaches
Honours
Domestic
;League
*
Malaysian First Division
** Winners (2): 1986, 1988
**Runners-up (3): 1982, 1987, 1989
*
Malaysian Second Division
** Winners (1):
2017
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*
Malaysian Third Division
**Runners-up (1):
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...
;Cup
*
Malaysia Cup
The Malaysia Cup ( ms, Piala Malaysia), formerly known as ''Malaya Cup'', is an annual football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popularity as the nation's o ...
** Winners (4): 1987, 1988, 1989,
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
**Runners-up (1): 1985
*
Malaysia FA Cup
The Malaysia FA Cup ( ms, Piala FA) is an annual national knock-out football tournament in Malaysia. The cup was first held in 1990. The competition was previously managed by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), before being transferred to F ...
** Winners (3): 1993, 1994, 1999
**Runners-up (1): 1992
*
Malaysia Charity Shield
Piala Sumbangsih (English: Malaysia Charity Cup), also known as Piala Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah ( en, Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Cup), is the Malaysian super cup competition. It is the curtain raiser match to the new Malaysian football season, pitting ...
** Winners (3): 1988, 1995, 2000
**Runners-up (5): 1987, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2022
* Federal Territory Minister Cup
** Winners (1): 2021
**Runners-up (1): 2022
Continental
*
Asian Club Championship
The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competitio ...
::
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
: Group stage (2nd in Group B)
::
1989–90: Group stage (2nd in Group A)
*
Asian Cup Winners' Cup
The Asian Cup Winners' Cup was an association football competition run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The competition was started in 1991 as a tournament for all the domestic cup winners from countries affiliated to the AFC. The winne ...
::
1994–95: Quarter-finals
*
AFC Cup
The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying s ...
**Runners-up (1):
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
* ASEAN Champions' Cup
** Winners (2): 1987, 1989
U21 team
*
Malaysian President's Cup
** Winners (3): 1989, 1992, 1998
**Runners-up (2): 1995, 2010
Seasons
:''Note: A single round-robin league system was instituted in 1979 following the entry of
Brunei FA, Kuala Lumpur FA,
Sabah FA
Sabah Football Club ( ms, Kelab Bolasepak Sabah) is a football club with ownership by Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd. The football club competes in Malaysia's football league representing the state of Sabah in Borneo. They currently compete in M ...
and
Sarawak FA
Sarawak FA State Football Team ( ms, Pasukan Bola Sepak Negeri Sarawak) was a defunct football team which represented the Malaysian region (formerly state) of Sarawak from 1974 to 2020 in the Malaysian football league. It was one of the 14 Mal ...
into mainstream Malaysian football. For three years until 1981, the league remained no more than a preliminary round for the knock-out stages of the
Malaysia Cup
The Malaysia Cup ( ms, Piala Malaysia), formerly known as ''Malaya Cup'', is an annual football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popularity as the nation's o ...
. In 1982, a League Cup was introduced to differentiate the league winners from the Malaysia Cup champions.''
Continental record
All results list Kuala Lumpur's goal tally first.
References
External links
*
{{Malaysia football champions
1974 establishments in Malaysia
Malaysia Cup winners
Malaysia Premier League clubs
Malaysia Super League clubs
Malaysia FAM League clubs
Association football clubs established in 1974