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Khan Research Laboratories FC

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Khan Research Laboratories Football Club, sometimes abbreviated to KRL F.C. or KRL, serves as the football section of Khan Research Laboratories. Based in Rawalpindi, the club plays their home games at KRL Stadium. The club used to compete in the National Football Championship and Pakistan Premier League. The club regularly participates in the PFF National Challenge Cup.

Khan Research Laboratories
Full nameKhan Research Laboratories Football Club
Nickname(s)Khans
Short nameKRL
Founded1995; 29 years ago (1995)
GroundKhan Research Laboratories Ground
Capacity8,000
OwnerKhan Research Laboratories
ChairmanTahir Ikram
Head CoachMuhammad Essa

The club has won five Pakistan Premier League titles and six National Football Challenge Cups. With these eleven trophies, they are the most successful club in the country. They are the only Pakistani club to have reached a continental club final, the 2013 AFC President's Cup, where they lost 1–0 to Balkan FK.[1]

History

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Early years

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The football team was established in 1995.[2] Khan Research Laboratories entered the National Football Championship in the 1998 season, where they lost 2–0 to Allied Bank in the quarter-finals.[3] The next year they reached the semi-finals of the National Championship, after finishing top of their group and winning both their group matches 4–1 and 6–3 against Pakistan Railways and Balochistan Red, respectively. They defeated Karachi Metropolitan 4–0 and Pakistan Railways 3–2 on penalties after drawing the game 2–2 in regulation time. They lost 1–0 to Pakistan Navy in the semi-finals.[4] In the 2000 season, Khan Research Laboratories reached the Round of 16, when they topped the group again after defeating Punjab Greens and WAPDA 8–1 and 3–0, respectively. In the Round of 16 they lost 1–0 to that season's runners-up Karachi Port Trust.[5] The next season, they topped the group yet again when they defeated Pakistan Police and Sindh Greens 1–0 and 5–1, respectively. Sajjad of Khan Research Laboratories scored a hat-trick in the latter match. In the round of 16, they thrashed University Grants Commission 6–0, with Allah Nawaz scoring four goals. In the quarter-finals they defeated Allied Bank 3–2 and defeated their group team Pakistan Police 2–1 in the semi-finals. Khan Research Laboratories drew 1–1 to WAPDA in the finals, only to lose 4–3 on penalties.[6] In the 2002 season, Khan Research Laboratories, top of the group for the fourth consecutive season, defeated University Grants Commission 5–1 and drew 1–1 with Sindh Red. In the Round of 16, they defeated Balochistan Green 1–0. Khan Research Laboratories defeated Federally Administered Tribal Areas 2–1 in the quarter-finals and lost to Pakistan Army 1–0 in the semi-finals.[7]

Premier League era: 2004–2019

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Khan Research Laboratories became a dominant side since the inception of the re-branded Pakistan Premier League, finishing third in the 2004–05 season, scoring 98 goals in 30 matches (a goal ratio of 3.26 goals per match!), winning 23 and drawing and losing four and three matches respectively.[8] They finished third in four further seasons, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, and 2008–09 seasons,[9][10][11][12] before winning their first-ever league and national title in the 2009–10 season, when they won the league on goal difference after being tied on 60 points. Khan Research Laboratories had a goal difference 32 against 22 of Pakistan Army.[13] Khan Research Laboratories completed the double, when they won the 2009 National Football Challenge Cup defeating Pakistan Airlines 1–0 in the finals. In the 2010–11 season, they finished second to league winners WAPDA. However, they successfully defended the National Football Challenge Cup, defeating Pakistan Navy 4–0 in the finals. Khan Research Laboratories won three league titles consecutively, winning in 2011–12, 2012–13 and 2013–14. In the 2011–12 and 2012–13 season, Khan Research Laboratories completed a consecutive double when they won the League and Challenge Cup. In latter seasons, they won the league after their star forward Kaleemullah Khan scored 35 goals including 7 hat-tricks. In the 2014–15 season, they finished sixth after losing their star players, Kaleemullah Khan and Muhammad Adil to Kyrgyz club FC Dordoi Bishkek. They won a further two Challenge Cups in 2015 and 2016, becoming the most successful club in the National Football Challenge Cup, winning the tournament six times in total. Khan Research Laboratories won their fifth 2018–19 Premier League title after defeating Sui Southern Gas 4–0 on the final match day, making them the most successful club since the inception of the Pakistan Premier League.

Asian competitions

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Khan Research Laboratories' first appearance in the Asian competition came in the 2010 AFC President's Cup, when they finished second to Vakhsh Qurghonteppa in the group stage. In the 2012 AFC President's Cup, they finished second in the group stage after drawing both their games 0–0 against Erchim and Taiwan Power Company, thus qualifying for the final stage where they finished bottom of the group. Their win in the 2012 season qualified them for a spot in the 2013 AFC President's Cup. In the group stage, held in May 2013, they were drawn against Kyrgyzstan-based Dordoi Bishkek, Philippines-based Global and Bhutan-based Yeedzin. KRL drew 1–1 with Dordoi, beat Global 2–0 and also went past Yeedzin 8–0. They finished second in the group behind Dordoi based on goal difference as both clubs had 7 points from their 3 encounters. Through this result, the club qualified for the final group stage, which was played in September 2013.[14] In the final group stage, they were drawn against the Palestinian side Hilal Al-Quds and their rivals from the first group stage, Dordoi Bishkek. They won both of their games and progressed to the final, where they lost 1–0 to Turkmen side Balkan.[15] In the 2014 AFC President's Cup they finished bottom of the group in the first stage.

2023–present

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Following the domestic football revamp in the country in 2023, departmental clubs including Khan Research Laboratories remained competing in the PFF National Challenge Cup.[16][17]

Competitive record

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Overall

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The club's competitive record since the 2004–05 season are listed below.

Season Div Tms Pos National Challenge Cup AFC President's Cup AFC Cup
2004–05 Pakistan Premier League 16 3 – DNP DNP
2005–06 Pakistan Premier League 12 3 Semi-finals DNP DNP
2006–07 Pakistan Premier League 12 3 – DNP DNP
2007–08 Pakistan Premier League 14 3 Runners-up DNP DNP
2008–09 Pakistan Premier League 14 3 Winners DNP DNP
2009–10 Pakistan Premier League 14 Winners Winners Group stage DNP
2010–11 Pakistan Premier League 16 2 Winners DNP DNP
2011–12 Pakistan Premier League 16 Winners Winners Final Group stage DNP
2012–13 Pakistan Premier League 16 Winners Quarter-finals Runners-up DNP
2013–14 Pakistan Premier League 16 Winners Quarter-finals Group stage DNP
2014–15 Pakistan Premier League 12 6 Winners DNP DNP
2016–17 Pakistan Premier League – No League Held Winners DNP DNP
2018–19 Pakistan Premier League 16 Winners Group stage DNP DNP

Honours

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Domestic

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Continental

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Performance in AFC competitions

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Further information: Pakistani football clubs in Asian competitions
2000/01: First Round
2010: 2° in Group Stage
2012: 3° in Final Group Stage
2013: 3° in Runners Up
2014: 4° in Group Stage

Notable players

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See also: Category:Khan Research Laboratories FC players

References

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  1. ^ "AFC PRESIDENT'S CUP 2013". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  2. ^ "Pakistan - Foundation Dates of Clubs". www.rsssf.org. Archived from the original on 2024-02-19. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  3. ^ "1998 National Football League Archived 2022-08-09 at the Wayback Machine" rsssf.com. Retrieved December 25th 2018.
  4. ^ "1999 National Football League Archived 2022-08-09 at the Wayback Machine" rsssf.com. Retrieved December 25th 2018.
  5. ^ "2000 National Football League Archived 2022-08-09 at the Wayback Machine" rsssf.com. Retrieved December 25th 2018.
  6. ^ "2001 National Football League Archived 2022-08-09 at the Wayback Machine" rsssf.com. Retrieved December 25th 2018.
  7. ^ "2002 National Football League Archived 2022-07-24 at the Wayback Machine" rsssf.com. Retrieved December 25th 2018.
  8. ^ "2004 Pakistan Premier League Archived 2022-12-03 at the Wayback Machine" rsssf.com. Retrieved December 25th 2018.
  9. ^ "2005–06 Pakistan Premier League Archived 2023-05-29 at the Wayback Machine" rsssf.com. Retrieved December 25th 2018.
  10. ^ "2006–07 Pakistan Premier League Archived 2023-02-18 at the Wayback Machine" rsssf.com. Retrieved December 25th 2018.
  11. ^ "2007–08 Pakistan Premier League Archived 2023-06-04 at the Wayback Machine" rsssf.com. Retrieved December 25th 2018.
  12. ^ "2008–09 Pakistan Premier League Archived 2023-06-02 at the Wayback Machine" rsssf.com. Retrieved December 25th 2018.
  13. ^ "2009–10 Pakistan Premier League Archived 2023-06-02 at the Wayback Machine" rsssf.com. Retrieved December 25th 2018.
  14. ^ "Schedule and Results, 2013 AFC President's Cup Archived 2013-10-03 at the Wayback Machine" The-AFC.com. Retrieved July 12th 2013.
  15. ^ "Match summary. Archived 2013-12-19 at the Wayback Machine" The-AFC.com.
  16. ^ Wasim, Umaid (2023-01-25). "Domestic football returns as Challenge Cup kicks off". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  17. ^ "PFF National Challenge Cup kicks off today". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
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  • KRL FC at Global Sports Archive
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