Sultan FC
Full name | Sultan Football Club |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Kings |
Ground |
Sultan Fadli Stadium (capacity: 25,000) |
Manager | Justin Smith |
League | Liga Mataba |
2022–23 | TBD |
The Sultan's Football Club, commonly referred to Sultan FC, SFC or Kings is a Matabese professional football club competing in the Liga Mataba. The team currently plays their games in the Sultan Fadli Stadium in the capital region. Sultan FC is also the oldest current professional club in Mataba playing in the Liga Mataba, being founded in 1607, 1 year after the founding of Mataba.
The team is one of the biggest teams in Mataba and is commonly referred to as the big 2 with Pahmer FC.
History
Early years
As Mataba's largest club, the club was founded by the 1st Sultan Tyer Jobbat who had a huge liking of football back then following the founding of the country. He would name himself the manager of the team and start his own football competition, the Jobbat Super League or JSL. Sultan FC then mostly consisted of Royal workers and sometimes had former professionals from around the region to play league games with the team. The team has nicknamed the Kings as they went invincible once in the Jobbat Super League season, beating every team on their way. Before the founding of the Matabese League, Sultan FC was league champions of every edition of the Jobbat Super League, meaning the team has 10 Jobbat Super League trophies.
Matabese League
Following the reformation of the Matabese Football System, Sultan Tyer agreed to allow Sultan FC to join the newly formed All-Matabese League, or the Matabese League in short. The team however finished 3rd in the 10-team league, disappointing the Sultan who expected his team to win the league. This led to a huge reform of the club and allowed more talented academy players to move up the ranks and break into the first-team squad. This allowed the club to produce Matabese talents such as Rajeet Surphanat, Alif Abdullah, Quentin Wang, and other big-name talents.
The club was also the first in the league to name a full under-20 squad for a league game as the team was strong enough to compete against the others.
Tyer Jobbat handed over the managerial duties to club legend Farhan Kimura as his health was declining and he had completed his goal of nurturing young talents.
Sultan FC won the Matabese League 5 times before eventually coming to a halt.
Death of the 1st Sultan
The death of Tyer Jobbat led to a civil war which saw most Sultan FC players be enlisted to the National Army to fight against Brother Jhan Tyer. The club was put to a halt along with the league as a whole. The Sultan Stadium was used for wartime support for medical camps and for war-torn families to sleep and rest in. Sultan FC never returned to the stadium since.
Takeover by Idris Engka
The club would be taken over by Idris Engka as Matabese royal customs stated that all who ascended to the throne should be named president of the club. However, as Idris wasn't as interested in football as others in the bloodline, he delegated the club to his personal advisor and cousin, Aziz Muhammad. Aziz would be named as manager following his successful application for a national A license which allowed him to coach the team.
Later years
The club would remain as a side project of the royal family and wasn't mentioned much in the royal documents as the family tried separating ties between the football club and them.
Present
The club was reinstated as a Matabese royal family property as Sultan Rahndesh Fadli took over the throne. The club is now under his leadership and is managed by Dauian-Matabese footballing legend Justin Smith.
Liga Mataba
Sultan FC rejoined the top league of Mataba after being absent for the past 30 years or so, competing in the lower divisions due to the low funding and attention given by the royal family. The club's president is currently Rahndesh Fadli and its Sporting Director is the crown prince Kinasha Rohamidi. The team was assembled in early January of 2022 with the Sultan stating that he wants to win the league again and bring glory to the club as his great-grandfather once did.
The team would sign Ivan Spagnol of Vegno for an undisclosed fee in January 2023, marking him as the first foreigner the club has ever signed. The club then announced the arrivals of Dauian defender Edu Bendini who signed for a shocking Cr 25k fee from Seragaan FC and Trịnh Nhật Hùng on loan from Bintang Lukana. Sultan Rahndesh stated that he would love for his team to win the league again and these signings would properly upgrade the team.
Sultan FC also is now partnered with the Dauian youth team Nokia Academy in hopes of bringing more high-quality youth talents to the club and allowing local talents to receive better training overseas.
Players
First team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FMF eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FMF nationality.
|
|
Coaching staff
Sultan Football Club
- As of 9 January 2023
Position | Name |
---|---|
President | Rahndesh Fadli |
Sporting director | Kinasha Rohamidi |
Technical director | |
Team manager | Iker Azman |
Manager | Justin Smith |
Assistant Managers | Kevin Rahmat |
Nelson Hansson | |
Goalkeeper coach | Wan Zulkhaimi |
Team doctor | Hwang In bong |
Physiotherapist | Farli Ramis |
Fitness coach | Isaac Abdil |
Sport psychologist | Li Wen Hwang |
Team analyst | Lasse Jensen |
Team coordinator | Midos Al-Henawi |
Media officer | Ishac Yew Ban Huat |
Kitman | James Goh |
Honours
Domestic
League
- Matabese League: 5 times champions
- Jobbat Super League; 10 times champions
- Inner Mataba Football League Champions: 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2022
Cup
- Mataba Super Cup Champions: 2022