Machhindra FC

Machhindra Football Club (formerly known as Machhindra Bahal Club)^[2] is a Nepali professional football club based in the central Kathmandu neighborhood of Keltole, playing in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League.^[3][4]

Machhindra

Full name	Machhindra Football Club
Nickname	The White Lions
Short name	MFC
Founded	1973; 52 years ago (1973)
Ground	Dasarath Rangasala Stadium
Capacity	15,000
President	Prabhod Bir Singh Kansakar
Head coach	Kishor Kumar KC[1]
League	Martyr's Memorial A-Division League
2023	Martyr's Memorial A-Division League, 2nd of 14
Home colours Away colours

History

Machhindra FC was established in 1973.^[5] For sponsorship reasons, it was named Machhindra Bahal Club in 2004,^[6] and Machhindra Energizer FC in 2006.^[7] 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.^[8] He led the team to a second-place finish in the league, and was praised for his tactics.^[9]

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,^[10] at the Dasharath Rangasala Stadium but bowed out of the tournament by losing 2–1.^[11]

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 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 17 DF  NEP Saurav Limbu

No. Pos. Nation Player 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 — FW  NEP Ayush Ghalan

Record by season

Champions

Runners-up

Third place

Promoted

Relegated

Season	League	Position	AFC Cup
2003–04[6]	B-Division	3rd	—
2004[12]	B-Division	2nd
2005–06[7]	A-Division	13th
2006–07[13]	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[14]
2018–19	A-Division	13th
2019–20	A-Division	1st
2021–22[15]	A-Division	1st	Round 1
2023	A-Division	2nd	—

Honours

National

• Martyr's Memorial A-Division League^[16]
  • Champions (2): 2019–20, 2021–22^[17]
• KP Oli Cup
  • Champions (3): 2023, 2024, 2025
• Itahari Gold Cup
  • Chamions (1): 2025
• Bagmati Gold Cup
  • Champions (1): 2024
• Birat Gold Cup
  • Champions (1): 2024
• Kapilvastu Tilaurakot Gold Cup
  • Champions (1): 2025

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