Datuk Datuk (or its variant Dato or Datu) is a Malay language, Malay honorific title commonly used in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a traditional title by Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Use of the title various between loc ...

M. Karathu (born 23 February 1943) is a Malaysian

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 ...

manager and former player.

Playing career

Karathu played for

Perak FA Perak Football Club (Perak FC) was a professional football team based in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. Founded in 1921, it was one of the oldest football clubs in the country and last competed in the Malaysia Super League. Formerly overseen by the P ...

in the 1960s to 1970s, winning two

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup (), 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 country's oldest cup tournament, i ...

. He also played for

Malaysia national football team The Malaysia national football team () represents Malaysia in international association football, football and is governed by the Football Association of Malaysia. The national team is recognised by FIFA as the successor of the defunct Malaya ...

Coaching career

Karathu started his coaching career in 1971, winning

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

Cup (the precursor to Razak Cup) with

Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...

under-20 team. He also has coached the Kinta Indian Association (KIA) team in the FAM Cup. Karathu have been at the helm of

Negeri Sembilan FA Negeri Sembilan Football Club (), commonly referred to as Negeri Sembilan or simply NSFC, is a Malaysian professional football club based in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. The club competes in the top division of Malaysian football, the Malaysia ...

in three stints, Malaysia national under-21 football team, winning 1991 TAAN Cup invitation tournament in Nepal with Malaysia B team,

Woodlands Wellington Woodlands Wellington Football Club was a professional association football, football club based in Woodlands, Singapore, Woodlands, Singapore which played in the S.League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club took part in S.League ...

in Singapore, and Sri Lanka national team. By coaching Sri Lanka, he was one of a few Malaysians to coach a foreign national team. As head coach, his success at club level includes winning the first ever

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

for Perak over the fancied

Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

team in 1990. In 2001, he coached

to the finals of the

. He also guided Kelantan to the semi-finals of Malaysia Cup in 1993. In 2011, he guided Kelantan to win the

Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Cup The Malaysian Charity Shield (English: Charity Cup), also known as Piala Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah () or Piala Sumbangsih, is a Malaysian football super cup competition. It is the curtain raiser match to the new Malaysian football season, pittin ...

title and 2011 Super League Malaysia championship. Karathu resigned as head coach of Kelantan, ending his second spell with the East Coast team in 2011, after failing to defend their 2010 Malaysia Cup title by losing to

Terengganu FA Terengganu Football Club is a professional football club based in Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia, that competes in the Malaysia Super League, the first division of Malaysian football league system. The club had won major trophies in Mal ...

in the quarter-finals of the

2011 Malaysia Cup The 2011 Malaysia Cup ( Malay: ''Piala Malaysia 2011'') was the 85th edition of the Malaysia Cup. The soccer competition began on 6 September 2011 and concluded on 29 October 2011 with the final held at Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam. A total of 16 ...

tournament. In December 2014, Karathu returned for the fourth time to coach Perak after the previous coach

Vjeran Simunic Vjeran is a masculine given name found in Croatia. Notable people with this name include: * Vjeran Simunić (born 1953), a Croatian footballer and manager * Vjeran Zuppa Vjeran Zuppa (26 January 1940 – 10 October 2023) was a Croatian intellec ...

was sacked less than 2 months after taking charge. Under his guidance Perak were briefly topping the league in the early stages, but after poor performances in the later stages of the league, Karathu was relieved of his position in early August 2015.

References

External links

* * http://theredchannel.com.my/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=18:profil-m-karathu&Itemid=80 * https://web.archive.org/web/20110816140139/http://football.thestar.com.my/story.asp?file=%2F2011%2F1%2F28%2Ffootball_latest%2F7886222&sec=football_latest {{DEFAULTSORT:Karathu, M. 1943 births Living people Malaysian football managers Perak F.C. players Singapore Premier League managers Woodlands Wellington FC managers Expatriate football managers in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka national football team managers Malaysian people of Tamil descent Malaysian sportspeople of Indian descent Perak F.C. managers Malaysian men's footballers Malaysia men's international footballers Men's association football players not categorized by position Footballers from Perak