Kerala United Football Club (formerly Quartz Football Club) is an Indian professional

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

Malappuram Malappuram (also Malapuram) () is a municipality and town in Kerala and the headquarters of the Malappuram district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Kerala, 4th largest urban agglomeration in Kerala and ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

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

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

I-League 2nd Division The I-League 2 is an Indian men's professional association football, football league. It is the 3rd tier of the Indian football league system, behind the Indian Super League and the I-League. It operates as a system of promotion and relegation ...

, which was then the second tier of Indian club football. The club spent a season in the second division during 2011–12 and later played in the

Kerala Premier League The Kerala Premier League is the highest state football leagues in India, state-level association football, football league organized by the Kerala Football Association and played in the state of Kerala, India. It is the overall fifth tier of ...

. 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. They have also competed in the

I-League 3 The I-League 3 is an Indian men's professional football league. It forms the fourth tier of the Indian football league system, below the I-League 2 and above the State leagues. History For the first time, the AIFF introduced qualifiers for ...

. In 2020, the club underwent a substantial change in ownership as the "United World Group" assumed control. This marked the beginning of a new chapter, accompanied by rebranding of the club as Kerala United FC. The club initially began their training at Seethi Haji Stadium at

Edavanna Edavanna is a town in the Eranad Taluk of Malappuram District, Kerala, South India. The town is situated on the Kozhikode-Nilambur- Gudalur state highway and near the banks of the Chaliyar River. The Koyilandy Koyilandy (;A Survey of Kera ...

, later moving to Payyanad Stadium.

History

Founded in 1976 as Quartz Football Club in

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

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

All India Football Federation All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the governing body of football, futsal and beach soccer in India. It is a member of FIFA, and is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation and South Asian Football Federation. It is affiliated wit ...

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 then second tier of Football in India, using promotion and relegation with the I-League. Stadiums The 2012 I-League 2nd Division was played in 4 stadiums. Three of the stadiums were us ...

, 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 is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

players like Rino Anto,

Sabas Saleel Shahabaz Saleel (born 31 May 1990) is an Indian footballer who plays for All India Sevens side Fifa Manjeri. Prior to now he played for Indian Football clubs Viva Kerala FC a first time and ONGC. He is known for his crossing ability, and his ...

, 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, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

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, football club based in the city of Kochi, Kerala. 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 was the sixth season of the league under its current title. The season began on 9 March 2013. The original 21 clubs who would participate in the 2nd Division were officially announced on 25 January 2013, however s ...

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

. After making a late entry in

season, the club finished as runners-up after losing to

Gokulam Kerala Gokulam Kerala Football Club is an Indian professional association football, football club based in Kozhikode, Kerala. Founded in 2017, the club competes in the I-League, the second tier of the Indian football league system. They won the 2020� ...

in final. They had withdrawn from two editions of

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

English Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

Club

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

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, match ending goalless. They lost 4–2 on penalties at the

Thrissur Municipal Corporation Stadium Thrissur Corporation Stadium is a association football, 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 ...

. In that season, they participated in Independence Day Cup in Assam and finished as runners-up, losing to Assam State Electricity Board SC by 4–3 in penalties. In October 2022, Nigerian-born naturalized Indian manager Saheed Ramon was appointed head coach. In 2023, they participated in

Stafford Challenge Cup The Stafford Challenge Cup is an Indian football tournament held in Karnataka, organized by the Karnataka State Football Association (KSFA). Instituted in 1938, it is the oldest football tournament in South India. The tournament was abolished i ...

in Bangalore. Kerala United won their first ever

title in

2022–23 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 ...

, defeating Gokulam Kerala B in final. In August 2023, Kerala United gained

spot, ahead of the beginning of its inaugural season. In that tournament, the club finished in fourth place in final round play-off, missed the opportunity of qualifying to

I-League 2 The I-League 2 is an Indian men's professional association football, football league. It is the 3rd tier of the Indian football league system, behind the Indian Super League and the I-League. It operates as a system of promotion and relegation ...

. They were reinstated to the

2024–25 I-League 3 The 2024–25 I-League 3 was the 2nd season of the I-League 3 since its establishment in 2023, as the fourth tier of the Indian football league system. The top four clubs secured spot in the 2024–25 I-League 2. The winner of the tournament was ...

Club crest and 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. I ...

, 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 a color similar in appearance to violet light. In the RYB color model historically used in the arts, purple is a secondary color created by combining red and blue pigments. In the CMYK color model used in modern printing, purple is ...

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, located in Kozhikode district, Kozhikode, Kerala, India, is a multi-purpose stadium primarily used for association football, football matches. The stadium is home to the I-League club Gokulam Kerala FC. With a capacity of 50,00 ...

. 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 List of cities and towns in Kerala, municipality in the state. It is situated southeast of Calicut International Airport, Karipur ...

Rivalry

During their time at

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

FC Kochin FC Kochin (often spelt FC Cochin) was an Indian professional association football, football club based in Kochi (India), Kochi, Kerala. In the late 1990s, it was the only football club from Kerala to participate in National Football League (Ind ...

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

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

. 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 List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala, with a coastline of . The most populous district of Kerala, Malappuram is home to around 13% of the tot ...

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.

Players

First-team squad

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries whilst playing for Kerala United FC: India * Rino Anto (2012) Bhutan *

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

(2018) * Lungtok Dawa (2018–2019)

Personnel

Youth academy

Corporate hierarchy

Statistics and records

Season statistics

Head coaching record

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 Association football, football club located in Antwerp, that competes in the top tier Belgian Pro League, Pro League after promotion from second tie ...

(2020–present) *

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

(2021–present)

Other department

Kerala United Women's

The women's football section of Kerala United is currently competing in Kerala Women's League. They also took part in preliminary round of the Indian Women's League in 2016.

Honours

League

** Champions (2):

, 2023–24 ** Runners-up (1): 2017–18 (as Quartz) * Kozhikode District League (as Quartz) ** Champions (2): 2011, 2012 ** Runners-up (1): 2017, 2018

Cup

All India Independence Day Cup The All India Independence Day Cup, commonly known as the Independence Day Cup, is an Indian association football, football tournament held in Nagaon, Assam and organised by Nowgong Sports Association. Teams from across the country compete in t ...

** Runners-up (1): 2021 * Bodousa Cup ** Runners-up (1): 2021

References

Cited sources Bibliography * * Further reading * * * * * *

External links

Kerala United FC
at the-aiff.com
Kerala United FC
at GSA
Kerala United FC
at Soccerway {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerala United Football Club Kerala United FC Association football clubs established in 1976 1976 establishments in Kerala Football clubs in Kerala I-League 2 clubs I-League 3 clubs