Kerala United Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in

Malappuram Malappuram (also Malapuram) () is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of including the surrounding suburban areas. The first municipality in the district formed in 1970, Malappuram serves as the administrative headquarter ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...

. Founded in 1976 as ''Calicut Quartz FC'', the club was an amateur and academy side during its early years. In December 2011, they announced intention to turn professional and participated in the

I-League 2nd Division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind India ...

, currently the third tier of Indian club football. In 2020, "United World Group" (owners of

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games a ...

) took over the club and rebranded it as Kerala United. The club spent a season

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

in the second division and later played in the

Kerala Premier League Kerala Premier League is a state-level top football league organized by the Kerala Football Association and played in the state of Kerala, India. For sponsorship reasons it is officially known as the Scoreline Kerala Premier League. Structu ...

. In

2017–18 Kerala Premier League The 2017–18 Kerala Premier League Season was the fifth season of the Kerala Premier League. The season featured 10 teams which was divided into 2 groups with each having 5 and is played on a home-and-away format. The season kicked off on 7 Apr ...

season, they finished as runners-up. After the takeover of Quartz FC in 2020 by United World Group, the club was rebranded as Kerala United FC. The club initially began their training at Seethi Haji Stadium at

Edavanna Edavanna (എടവണ്ണ ) is a town situated in Kerala, near Manjeri Town South India. The town is situated on Calicut–Nilambur– Gudalur state highway and near the banks of the Chaliyar River. The Koyilandy A Survey of Kerala Histo ...

. Later moved to Malappuram District Sports Complex, which is widely known as Payyanad Stadium.

History

Quartz Football Club was founded in 1976 in

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second l ...

and since has been growing up step by step from district to state to national level. The Quartz Academy started in 2009 and has shown good promise. In December 2011, they were officially certified by the

All India Football Federation The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to Asian Football Confederation. It is affiliated to Ministry ...

to participate in the I-League 2nd Division. For the first time in

2012 I-League 2nd Division The 2012 I-League 2nd Division was the fifth season of the league. The league serves as the second top tier of Indian Football, using promotion and relegation with the I-League, which is top tier league of India. Stadiums The 2012 I-League ...

quartz fc participated but failed to make an impression. They only got one point in the group stage thereby failing to get promotion. In 2012–13 season, Quartz FC signed

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the win ...

players like

Rino Anto Rino Anto (born 3 January 1988) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a right back for RoundGlass Punjab FC in the I-League. Club career Early career Born in Thrissur, Kerala, Anto is a product of the Tata Football Academy in Jam ...

, Sabas Saleel, K. Noushad, Manoj Manoharan, Sherin Sam, Kamardeep Singh, Suji Kumar, J. Prasad, P.M. Britto, Salil Usman and Ajmaluddin. Club also signed the top-scorer and player of the tournament at the

2012 Santosh Trophy 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

V.V. Farhad. They appointed Assistant coach

Bino George Bino George Chiramal Padinjarathala (born 22 November 1976) is an Indian professional manager (coach) and former footballer. He was the East Bengal assistant coach to Stephen Constantine for the Indian Super League. He is currently coaching the ...

Chirag United Club Kerala Viva Kerala Football Club (also known as Chirag United Club Kerala) was an Indian professional association football club based in the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. The club was originally formed in 2004, as ''Viva Kerala''. They participated ...

. Later withdrew from the

2013 I-League 2nd Division The 2013 I-League 2nd Division is the sixth season of the league under its current title. The season will begin on 9 March 2013. The original 21 clubs who would participate in the 2nd Division were officially announced on 25 January 2013, howev ...

due to financial instability. Club managed to win Kozhikode District league back to back in 2011 and 2012. Later in 2013–14, Quartz SC played with their academy side in the very first edition of

. Later in

, they became runner-up after losing to

Gokulam Kerala FC Gokulam Kerala Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Calicut, Kerala. Founded in 2017, the club competes in the I-League, the second tier of Indian football league system. They won the 2020–21 I-League to become th ...

in the finals. They had withdrawn from two editions of

( 2016–17, 2018–19) due to financial issues. In November 2020,

English Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

Club

have taken over Calicut Quartz and rebranded it as Kerala United FC. United World Group, the umbrella firm holding Sheffield, said in a statement that it envisages to make Kerala United a competitive, community-focused football club playing at the highest level possible in Indian football. P. Haridas, who owned Calicut Quartz FC, is also the president of the Kozhikode District Football Association (KDFA), said a Premier League club coming to the state will bring major changes to Kerala football. Company director Akshay Das said: “We're looking for an overall development in the state, especially in Malabar.” As Kerala United, they participated in the

2020–21 Kerala Premier League The 2020–21 Kerala Premier League season was the eighth season of the Kerala Premier League. The season featured 12 teams which was divided into 2 groups and were played on a home-and-away format. The season was originally scheduled to start ...

and qualified for the knockout stages after finishing second in the Group-B with 12 points. In the semi finals, regular time couldn't separate

and Kerala United FC, match ending goalless. They lost 4–2 on penalties at the

Thrissur Municipal Corporation Stadium Thrissur Corporation Stadium is a football stadium owned by Thrissur Municipal Corporation. Situated in Thrissur city, it is also known as Palace Stadium. It is one of the oldest stadiums in Kerala, India and has capacity to hold 15,000 people. ...

. In that season, they participated in

Independence Day Cup The Independence Day Cup is an Indian football tournament held in Nagaon, Assam, organised by Nowgong Sports Association annually. It is the oldest and one of the most reputed football tournaments in Assam first started in 1947, days after the ...

in Assam and finished as runners-up, losing to Assam State Electricity Board SC by 4–3 in penalties.

Crest, colours & kits

The United World Group had unveiled the crest after rebranding the club which features the

Great Hornbill The great hornbill (''Buceros bicornis''), also known as the concave-casqued hornbill, great Indian hornbill or great pied hornbill, is one of the larger members of the hornbill family. It occurs in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It ...

, the official state bird of

. The club is also nicknamed after the bird as "The Hornbills". The primary colour of team is

purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, ...

which dominates their home kit, with the hornbill crest in the right side, white shorts and white socks.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Kit evolution

Stadium

Former venues

Since 1977, Kerala United FC played its home matches at the

EMS Stadium The EMS Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Kozhikode, Kerala, India. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium is currently home of I-League side Gokulam Kerala FC, together with Indian Women's League side Gokulam K ...

. In 2021, Kerala United FC shifted their base from

district Seethi Haji Stadium, located in

, as their training ground.

Current venue

Malappuram District Sports Complex Stadium

The club plays its home games at the Payyanad Stadium in nearby town called

Manjeri Manjeri () is a major town and municipality in Malappuram district, Kerala, India. It is the fourth-most populous municipality in state. It is situated southeast to Karipur International Airport and northeast to Malappuram, the district he ...

Support and rivalry

Supporters

During its time as Calicut Quartz FC, a club recognised

fan club named ''Rose Brigade'' became the supporters. They are supporting since 2017. The

had seen an average attendance of 45,000. The players and the coach had often acknowledged the fans' support in the success and called them "The 12th Man". Since the rebranding into Kerala United FC and the move into neighbouring

the club is building a great fan following in the locality.

Rivalries

During their time at

as Calicut Quartz FC, they had a rivalry with former National Football League side

FC Kochin Football Club Kochin was an Indian association football club based in Kochi, Kerala. In the 1990s, it was the only football club from Kerala to play in the National Football League, then top tier of Indian football league system. FC Kochin play ...

. They also enjoyed an on field rivalry with another Kozhikode based side

. The first Kozhikode Derby match between the two teams took place in the final of

, where Calicut Quartz FC beat

beat 3–2. Upon change of ownership, team shifted its base from

Malappuram District Malappuram (), is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, with a coastline of . It is the most populous district of Kerala, which is home to around 13% of the total population of the state. The district was formed on 16 June 196 ...

which introduced a new Malabar Derby in

. First match after acquisition was in

semifinals, where two teams locked horns. The match ended as a goalless draw even after full time. Gokulam won 4–2 on penalties.

Statistics

Results

Honours

Players

First-team squad

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries whilst playing for Kerala United FC: India *

(2012) Bhutan *

Biren Basnet Biran Basnet (born 20 October 1994) is a Bhutanese professional footballer, currently playing as a midfielder for Thimphu City in the Bhutan Super League and Bhutan national team. Club career Basnet began his career at Druk Star, though given ...

(2018)

Personnel

Current staff

Youth academy

Head coaching record

Corporate hierarchy

Statistics and records

Affiliated clubs

The following clubs are currently affiliated with KUFC: *

(2020–present) * Al-Hilal United (2020–present) *

K Beerschot VA Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen, or simply Beerschot, is a Belgian professional football club located in Antwerp, that competes in the second-tier First Division B after relegating from the top tier in the 2021–22 season. In 2 ...

(2020–present) *

LB Châteauroux La Berrichonne de Châteauroux (), commonly referred to as La Berrichonne or simply Châteauroux, is a French association football club based in Châteauroux. The football team is a part of a sports club that consists of several other sports an ...

(2021–present)

Honours

Domestic tournaments

League

**Runners-up (1): 2017–18 **Semi-finals (1):

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

*Kozhikode District League **Champions (2): 2011, 2012 **Runners-up (1): 2017, 2018

Cup

**Runners-up (1): 2021 *

Bodousa Cup The Bodousa Cup is an invitational football tournament in India, held across multiple venues of Assam and organised by Bodousa Sports Club annually under the supervision of Assam Football Association. The tournament was incorporated in 2009 and ...

**Runners-up (1): 2021

References

External links

* *
Kerala United FC
at GSA
Kerala United FC
at Soccerway
Kerala United FC
at the-aiff.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerala United Football Club Kerala United FC Association football clubs established in 1976 1976 establishments in Kerala Football clubs in Kerala I-League 2nd Division clubs

History

Crest, colours & kits

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Kit evolution

Stadium

Former venues

Current venue

Support and rivalry

Supporters

Rivalries

Statistics

Results

Honours

Players

First-team squad

Notable players

Personnel

Current staff

Youth academy

Head coaching record

Corporate hierarchy

Statistics and records

Affiliated clubs

Honours

Domestic tournaments

League

Cup

See also

References

External links