Kelantan Football Club was founded in 1948 as
Kelantan Amateur Football Association.
KAFA won the first cup in 1953 when they won the
Malaysia FAM Cup and retained the cup for the next year. In 1963, KAFA played in the final
Malaysia FAM Cup but lost to
Singapore. The former chief minister of
Kelantan, Ahmad Rastom Ahmad Maher, was appointed as the president in 1986. 5 years later, the former Kelantan state secretary Wan Hashim Wan Daud took over the position, until 2024. By 2005, Kelantan was relegated to the third-tier
Malaysia FAM League.
2009 season 2009 was the Kelantan debut season in the
Malaysia Super League after promotion from the
Malaysia Premier League. They obtained 6th spot in the league with 44 points. During the
Malaysia FA Cup final, they have lost to
Selangor 1–4.
Malaysia Cup became their second final for the season, but they lost to
Negeri Sembilan.
2010 season The team gained second place in the
Malaysia Super League with 59 points. The top scorer was
Norshahrul Idlan with 14 goals. Kelantan's 89-year cup drought ended in the
2010 Malaysia Cup after defeating Negeri Sembilan 2–1.
B. Sathianathan refused to commit his future to the newly crowned Malaysia Cup champions. Their campaign in the
2009 Malaysia FA Cup ended when
Kedah advanced to next round based on
away goals rule.
2011 season Kelantan started their 2011 season by beating Selangor 2–0 in the
Charity Shield match held at the
Shah Alam Stadium, with the goals scored by
Norshahrul Idlan and
Badhri Radzi. In the Malaysia FA Cup campaign, Kelantan lost to
Terengganu 1–2 in the final. During the Malaysia Super League campaign, Kelantan won the title for the first time. Therefore, they qualified for the
2012 AFC Cup. Norshahrul Idlan became the top scorer for the team. Kelantan's Malaysia Cup campaign ended in the quarter-finals as they lost to Terengganu with 5–3 on aggregate.
2012 season In the 2012 season, the team clinched their second successive Malaysia Super League title after thrashing
Perak 6–0 at home. During the
2012 Malaysia Cup campaign, they won the final against
ATM. The historical win completed a
treble.
2013 season Kelantan started the season with a defeat to ATM in the Charity Shield match. They got 1 win, 3 draws, and 1 loss in the first 5 matches. In the
2013 Malaysia FA Cup, the team met
Johor Darul Ta'zim in the final, after defeating
Terengganu with 6–5 on aggregate. They defeated
Sarawak in the quarter-finals with 4–1 on aggregate. During the
final, the sole goal was scored by
Nor Farhan Muhammad 15 minutes into the game. With this victory Kelantan successfully retained their Malaysia FA Cup title for the second year.
2014 season Kelantan started the season with a win against
Sime Darby at their home ground,
Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium.
Steve Darby was replaced by
George Boateng after a big lost 0–4 to Sime Darby. Ghanaian forward
Prince Tagoe signed with Kelantan after the departure of
Mohammed Ghaddar. He only made 3 appearances before being released due to poor performance.
2015 season Kelantan began the 2015 season with a 2–0 win over ATM at
Majlis Perbandaran Selayang Stadium. Their
2015 Malaysia Super League ended at 9th place with 8 wins, 4 draws and 10 losses. They became the
2015 Malaysia FA Cup runners-up after losing 1–3 to
LionsXII. Their
2015 Malaysia Cup ended in 3rd place in group C.
George Boateng was replaced by
Azraai Khor on 24 March. On 4 July, Azraai Khor resigned and was replaced by
Zahasmi Ismail.
Wan Zaharulnizam became the first player to win
PFAM Player of the Month. Brazilian
Gilmar became their top scorer with 11 goals.
2016 season The team started the season with a 0–0 draw against
Perak. Their
2016 Malaysia Super League campaign ended at 4th place, with 7 wins, 8 draws and 7 losses, 29 points collected. Their
2016 Malaysia FA Cup journey ended at the round of 16 after losing to Kedah. The
Malaysia Cup campaign ended with elimination in the quarter-finals.
Head coach K. Devan resigned on 12 May, being replaced by
Velizar Popov.
Baze Ilijoski became top scorer of the team with 16 goals. This season also saw a change in the club presidency after
Tan Sri Annuar Musa decided to quit, with the position temporarily held by the vice-president Afandi Hamzah.
2017 season On 30 November 2016,
Zahasmi Ismail was appointed the new head coach. Kelantan almost got relegated, but came strong during last match with a 1–3 win over
Melaka United, and finished at the 10th position.
2020 season On 6 September 2020, the club was purchased by businessman Norizam Tukiman for RM 6.8 million.
2021 season For 2021, as part of the effort to revamp the club, they appointed all new coaching staff. Norizam Tukiman expanded his empire by purchasing an
Indonesian club,
PSPS Riau. The acquisition opened up opportunities for both clubs to establish a long-term cooperation.
2022 season During
2022 Malaysia Premier League, Kelantan finished second and got promoted after 5 years.
2023 season For the
2023 season, Kelantan appointed
Choi Moon-Sik as new head coach. They also participated in the 2023 ASEAN Charity Shield against
Buriram United. They conceded the most goals in the history of the
Malaysian League (121), thus occupying the lowest position in the league. ==Sponsorship==