Muktijoddha Sangsad KC

Founded in 1981, by the Muktijoddha Sangsad welfare association, in remembrance of the Freedom Fighters that died in Bangladesh during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, the club has a been prominent member of football in Bangladesh ever since its inception. From 1983 till 1985, during their time in the Dhaka Second Divison, Muktijoddha developed one of the greatest defenders in south-asian football, in Monem Munna.[2] The club first made a name for itself at the start of the 1990s, when all the top players from the country's three giants, Dhaka Abahani, Mohammedan and Brothers Union started joining Muktijoddha over the next few years, in search of higher salaries. Muktijoddha roped in national team stars Jewel Rana, Mizan, Rizvi Rumi and Rakib Hossain, who all had disputes with their respective clubs over money.[3][4] However, they failed to re-sign Monem Munna in 1994, who by then had established himself as the country's best player. They won the 1994 Federation Cup, with their star studded squad, defeating Abahani 3-2 in the final.[5] Unfortunately for the club, their heavy investment would not help them stop Abahani from winning the league title that year. Although the league failure, Muktijoddha started to build a team for the future and the following years saw the club spend a hefty sum of money on established domestic players, earning them huge success in the process. From 1994 to 1999 Muktijoddha had the service of Imtiaz Ahmed Nakib, who was seen as one of the most lethal marksman in the South Asian continent, back in the 90s. Nakib scored 57 Dhaka League goals for the club, making him their all-time top scorer, during the clubs rise to prominence at the end of the 20th century.[6]

The freedom fighters have left their mark not only in domestic competitions but also in International cup competition. Muktijoddha became the champion of the McDowell's Cup held in India in 1996 and brought the title to Bangladesh. In the same year, Muktijoddha were runners up in the Independence Day Cup in India. Earlier, Muktijoddha were also runners up in the Sikkim Gold Cup in 1992, where they were defeated by Mohun Bagan. The club also represented Bangladesh in the AFC Club Champions League, AFC Cup and Asian Winners' Cup. Muktijoddha made their debut in Asia during the 1999-2000 Asian Club Champions league first round, after winning their first Dhaka League in 1998. They were knocked out of the tournament by Mohun Bagan, with a 2-1 aggregate score.[7] The club won the league title once again in 2000 and this time managed to reach the second round of the Asian Club Champions league in 2001. In the first round they defeated New Radiant from Maldives, with a 3-1 aggregate score. However, the team was dismantled 11-1 by Korean side FC Seoul during the second-round. In 2004 Muktijoddha became the first club from Bangladesh to participate in the AFC Cup. On 20 April 2004, the clubs striker Saifur Rahman Moni became the first Bangladeshi player to score in the AFC Cup, during a 3-2 defeat against Al Sha'ab Ibb from Yemen. Muktijoddha also qualified for the 2005 AFC Cup by winning the 2003 National Championship. On 6 April 2005, the club won its first match in the AFC Cup, by defeating Turkmen club Nebitçi Balkanabat 1-0, thanks to a 93rd minute goal from Enamul Haque. During the early 2000s the club produced numerous talented domestic player with most of the players from the Bangladesh that won the 2003 SAFF Cup were playing at Muktijoddha, with the clubs players Rajani Kanta Barman and Hassan Al-Mamun both captaining Bangladesh during the competition.[8] Muktijoddha also finished third in the inaugural season of the country’s first professional football league, the Bangladesh Premier League. Under the guidance of coach Abu Yusuf, the club had 9 wins, 5 draws and 5 losses during the entirety of the season. Muktijoddha faced rivals Dhaka Abahani during the first ever premier league game, on 2 March 2007. The match, which took place at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, ended in a goalless draw.[9] On 27 March 2007, Alfaz Ahmed netted the first hat-trick in BPL history to give Muktijoddha a 4–1 win over Rahmatganj MFS.[10]

In 2008, after numerous financial difficulties the club had to let go of some of their star players, leading them to fight for survival, which was something very uncommon in the clubs esteemed history.[11] The clubs financial complications did not stop and in 2013, After not receiving payment from Muktijoddha Sangsad KC even though they were contracted to the club, 7 footballers demanded arrears of money from Muktijoddha and criticized the club officials, stating that the club's officials misappropriated their money and they should be punished. The players were Rokonuzzaman Kanchan, Firoj Mahmud Titu, Ajmal Bidyut, Faisal Mahmud, Mustafa Parevz, Pradeep Poddar and Zahirul Islam.[12][13] However, despite the off the field issues, the club managed to finish as runners-up during both 2011 and 2012. Nonetheless, trophies were hard to come by, with the team losing both the 2013 and 2015 Federation Cup finals. Ever since 2017 the team has been seen as consistent relegation contenders, managing to avoid the drop narrowly each season.[14]

After spending the previous few years struggling with paying player wages, the club's higher-ups had decided not to participate in the 2021 Bangladesh Premier League citing to a lack of finance. Club captain Yusuke Kato, sought financial help from the Japanese community and businessmen in a video that was posted on his Facebook profile. Japanese institution A-WING TAGUCHI CO. LTD. (ATC), which is located in Chattogram had come forward to help out. The company paid 10 thousand US dollars during the 2020–21 Bangladesh Federation Cup to Muktijoddha.[15] On 12 January 2021, Technology-based service provider Hishab became the title sponsor of the club for 2020–21 season.[16] The donations allowed the club to take part in the Bangladesh Premier League and they ended the season finishing in tenth place out of 13 teams which was safe from relegation.[17][18]

As of 29 April 2022

Head Coach	Nat.	From	To	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	%W
Shafiqul Islam Manik		5 October 2012	25 July 2014	63	28	14	21	98	60	044.44
Flavio Raffo[22]		28 December 2014	31 January 2015	0	0	0	0	0	0	!—
Abu Yousuf[23]		1 February 2015	17 August 2015	25	11	5	9	41	38	044.00
Abdul Qaium Sentu[24]		17 February 2016	31 December 2016	30	12	6	12	36	38	040.00
Masud Parvez Kaiser[25]		10 April 2017	20 January 2018	27	6	4	17	21	39	022.22
Abdul Qaium Sentu[26]		27 February 2018	14 November 2020	37	7	12	18	37	60	018.92
Raja Isa[27]		December 2020	Present	44	6	9	29	39	78	013.64

• National Football Championship (1):
  • 2003
• Bangladesh Federation Cup (3):
  • 1994, 2001, 2003
• Dhaka Premier League (2):
  • 1997–98, 2000[28]

• Sikkim Gold Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 1992[29][30]
• Independence Day Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 1998[31]
• McDowell Cup
  • Champions (1): 1998[32]