Machhindra FC

Machhindra
Full nameMachhindra Football Club
NicknameThe White Lions
Short nameMFC
Founded1973; 53 years ago (1973)
GroundDasarath Rangasala Stadium
Capacity15,000
PresidentPrabhod Bir Singh Kansakar
Head coachKishor Kumar KC[1]
LeagueMartyr's Memorial A-Division League
Nepal National League (sometimes)[2]
2023Martyr's Memorial A-Division League, 2nd of 14

Machhindra Football Club (formerly known as Machhindra Bahal Club)[3] is a Nepali professional football club based in the central Kathmandu neighborhood of Keltole, playing in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League.[4][5]

History

Machhindra FC was established in 1973.[6] For sponsorship reasons, it was named Machhindra Bahal Club in 2004,[7] and Machhindra Energizer FC in 2006.[8] The club was promoted to Nepal's top football division in 2004. They appointed Swede Johan Kalin in 2013, claiming to be the highest qualified coach in Nepalese football history.[9] He led the team to a second-place finish in the league, and was praised for his tactics.[10]

The beginning of the 2020s represented the club's most successful time with two consecutive league championships. On 5 April Machhindra appeared in the 2022 AFC Cup qualifying play-off match against Blue Star of Sri Lanka,[11] at the Dasharath Rangasala Stadium but bowed out of the tournament by losing 2–1.[12]

2023 squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
5 DF  NEP Diwakar Chaudary
6 MF  NEP Utsav Rai
7 MF  NEP Dipesh Ghale
9 FW  NEP Shilen Rajiv Bhandari
10 FW  NEP Bimal Gharti Magar
11 FW  NEP Ayush Ghalan
12 MF  NEP Abhishek Gurung
13 MF  NEP Prashant Awasthi
14 DF  NEP Nisen Subba
15 MF  NEP Pujan Uperkoti
16 DF  NEP Ashish Shrestha
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 DF  NEP Saurav Limbu
19 DF  NEP Devendra Tamang
20 GK  NEP Bishal Shrestha
23 DF  NEP Ranjit Dhimal
24 DF  NEP Tshering Gurung
25 DF  NEP Sagar Thapa
26 GK  NEP Nabin Silwal
30 MF  NEP Sanjay Sindhu
31 GK  NEP Pradip Bhandari
33 FW  NEP Bijya Bhujel
88 MF  NEP Anuj Sandeep Singh

Record by season

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
Season League Position AFC Cup
2003–04[7] B-Division 3rd —
2004[13] B-Division 2nd
2005–06[8] A-Division 13th
2006–07[14] A-Division 6th
2010 A-Division 6th
2011–12 National League DNP
2012–13 A-Division 6th
2013–14 A-Division 2nd
2015 National League Banned[15]
2018–19 A-Division 13th
2019–20 A-Division 1st
2021–22[16] A-Division 1st Round 1
2023 A-Division 2nd —

Honours

National

Under-18

Performance record

Performance in ANFA Youth League
Year Tournament Final Position
2024 U-18 ANFA Youth League 5th

Under-16

Performance record

Performance in ANFA Youth League
Year Tournament Final Position
2024 U-16 ANFA Youth League Champions
2025 6th

References

  1. ^ "Machhindra, NRT finally win". The Kathmandu Post. Archived from the original on 2022-10-11. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  2. ^ Paudel, Nayak (14 January 2026). "Nepal's domestic football resurrects with National League kicking off today https://kathmandupost.com/sports/2026/01/14/nepal-s-domestic-football-resurrects-with-national-league-kicking-off-today". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 5 February 2026. {{cite news}}: External link in |title= (help)
  3. ^ "Nepal 2003". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  4. ^ Admin (18 December 2021). "Machindra selected in AFC Cup". himalsanchar.com. Himal Sanchar. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  5. ^ Kafle, Santosh (12 April 2021). "Punjab beat Machhindra, enter semis". thehimalayantimes.com. Biratnagar: The Himalayan Times. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  6. ^ "Team info: Machhindra Football Club (Nepal)". globalsportsarchive.com. Global Sports Archive. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Nepal 2003". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Nepal 2005/06". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 4 August 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Machhindra FC appoints Swedish coach Johan Kalin as head coach for initial contract of 4 months". Image Khabar. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  10. ^ "I'm here to develop standard of Nepali football: Head coach Kalin". República. 2019-02-25. Archived from the original on 2019-05-14. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  11. ^ "Machhindra Club to host Sri Lanka's Blue Star". kathmandupost.com. The Kathmandu Post. 18 January 2022. Archived from the original on 13 February 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  12. ^ "Machhindra crash out of Qualifiers". thehimalayantimes.com. The Himalayan Times. Himalayan News Service. 6 April 2022. Archived from the original on 6 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  13. ^ "Nepal 2004". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  14. ^ "Nepal 2006/07". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  15. ^ "ANFA Releases First Installment Of Rs 5 Lakhs To All Nine National League Participating Teams". GoalNepal.com. 16 January 2015. Archived from the original on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  16. ^ "Martyrs Memorial A Division League 2021/22 – 2078 Martyr's Memorial A-Division League". www.hamrokhelkud.com. Hamaro Khel Kud. 19 December 2021. Archived from the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  17. ^ "Machhindra become champion for second consecutive time after defeating Satdobato". the-anfa.com. All Nepal Football Association. 16 February 2022. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  18. ^ "A Division League Transfer: White Lions Sign Dayananda". Goal Nepal. 14 February 2023. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machhindra_F.C.