Druk United Football Club was a Bhutanese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Thimphu Thimphu (; ) is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's '' dzongkhags'', the Thimphu District. The ancient capital city of Punakha was replac ...

that competed in the

Bhutan Premier League The Bhutan Premier League, currently known as the Bank of Bhutan Premier League due to sponsorship reasons, is the men's highest division of professional football in Bhutan. It also provides Bhutan's entrant for continental competition, the AFC ...

, the top division of Bhutanese football. They played their home games at the

Changlimithang Stadium Changlimithang Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan, which serves as the national stadium of Bhutan. It is predominantly used for association football, football matches and is the home of the Bhutan national football team, other ...

History

2002 to 2012

Druk United's first recorded instance of participating in football in the Bhutanese pyramid, was during the 2002 season, when they competed in the B-Division. With four wins and one loss from their five games in the group stage, they topped the group, finishing two points ahead of second place team, Sharks FC. The lost 1–0 to eventual runners-up Yeedzin, but won the third place playoff to finish third overall. This third-place position was evidently enough to secure promotion to the top division of football in Bhutan for the first time. However, they finished ninth and last in the

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

season, with only a single point. They lost 6–0 to Transport United, 6–1 to Ranjung United, 5–2 to Dzongric, 7–3 to Rigzung and 2–1 to

Druk Star Druk Stars Football Club, sometimes referred to as Druk Star, was a Bhutanese association football, football club from Thimphu. The team have won the national championship twice and competed in the Thimphu League, A-Division from 2002, when they ...

. Additionally they lost to

Royal Bhutan Army The Royal Bhutan Army (RBA; ) is a branch of the armed forces of the Kingdom of Bhutan responsible for maintaining the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty against security threats. The King of Bhutan is the Supreme Commander in Chie ...

and gained their only point either against Yeedzin or eventual winners Drukpol. They were relegated at the end of the season. It is not known whether they competed again between 2004 and 2012, and there is no record of them competing in any future season of the A-Division for which records exist.

2012 to present day

In 2012, they were the runners-up in the B-Division Championship, losing to

5–1 in the final at Changjiji Football Field. However, together with Druk Star, they were promoted to the 2013 A-Division, where they finished fifth out of six, with two wins and six losses from their eight games, including a 10–2 defeat to Yeedzin. Their only victories coming from a 3–1 win over Dzongric and a 2–0 defeat of Druk Star. Together with Druk Star they competed in the relegation play-offs together with the top two teams from the B-Division for that season, Motithang and BMW. Full results for the playoffs are not known, but it is known that Druk United won the first of their matches, defeating Druk Star 4–3. The 2014 season has been Druk United's most successful to date. Upon returning to the top flight of Bhutanese football, they won the A-Division, winning by two points from Thimphu City with nine wins and a draw from their twelve games, having come from third place at the halfway stage and made up a six-point deficit in the second half of the season. Their victory in the A-Division assured them of qualification for the National League for the first time. Their first time competing in the National League was equally successful. They finished in first place on goal difference ahead of Ugyen Academy, dropping points only in a 2–2 draw against Ugyen Academy and in losses to Drukpol, 2–1, and Thimphu City 3–0. They won all of their remaining games, including a 4–0 victory over Bhutan Clearing, despite having both Ugyen Tsheten and Nawang Dhendup sent off. By winning the league, and with the abolition of the

AFC President's Cup The AFC Challenge League (previously known as the AFC President's Cup, abbreviated as ACGL) is an annual third-tier continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. The competition is played among clubs from n ...

, they became the first team from Bhutan to qualify for the

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

Achievements

Bhutan National League The Bhutan Premier League, currently known as the Bank of Bhutan Premier League due to sponsorship reasons, is the men's highest division of professional football in Bhutan. It also provides Bhutan's entrant for continental competition, the AFC ...

::Champions:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

* A-Division ::Champions:

Continental record

All results (home and away) list Druk United's goal tally first.

References

{{Thimphu League Football clubs in Bhutan Sport in Thimphu 2009 establishments in Bhutan Association football clubs established in 2009