Rajasthan United FC
Indian association football club based in Jaipur From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Indian association football club based in Jaipur From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rajasthan United Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Founded in 2018 as JECRC CF, the academy team participated in inaugural edition of R-League A Division in 2019, and clinched the title. In 2020, JECRC CF was rebranded as Rajasthan United.[3] The club is currently competing in the I-League, the second tier of Indian football league system.[4]
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| Full name | Rajasthan United Football Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Desert Warriors[1] | |||
| Short name | RUFC | |||
| Founded | 2018 (as Jaipur Engineering College and Research Centre CF) | |||
| Ground | Vidhyadhar Nagar Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 3,000 | |||
| Owner | Vertak Group (Jaipur) [2] | |||
| Head coach | Walter Caprile | |||
| League | I-League | |||
| 2023–24 | I-League, 11th of 13 | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
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Rajasthan United won the 2021 I-League Qualifiers and thus became the first ever club from the state to qualify for the I-League.[5][6]
Rajasthan United FC is the premier professional football club based in Jaipur. The club was founded in 2018 by an engineering student Kamal Singh Saroha, with his colleagues and friends as JECRC CF (Jaipur Engineering College and Research Centre), and re-branded as Rajasthan United in 2020,[3][7] after the introduction of Rajat Mishra and Swapnil Dhaka as the co-founders.[8] In its first year of inception, they managed to win the R-League A Division.[9][10] In the second season, United came out as runners-up and earned a spot for the I-League qualifiers.
_of_Rajasthan_United_FC,_on_a_morning_at_the_New_Bengaluru_Football_Stadium_in_Karnataka,_during_the_qualifiers_of_I-League_(in_I-League_2nd_Division,_now_I-League_2).jpg)
In collaboration with Witty International School, they set up its residential football academy in Bhilwara.[11] In 2021, United were crowned champions of the I-League Qualifiers, thus becoming the first club from Rajasthan to qualify for the I-League.[12][13][14] In December, the club appointed Spanish manager Francesc Bonet as new head coach.[15][16]
On 26 December 2021, they made their I-League debut against RoundGlass Punjab with only nine players, in which they were defeated by 2–0. United later roped in former La Liga player Mauro dos Santos of Argentina.[17] The club reached championship stage of 2021–22 I-League and ended their campaign as sixth in league table.[18]
Rajasthan United began their 2022–23 season campaign at the 131st edition of Durand Cup[19][20] on 20 August with a magnificent 3–2 win against Indian Super League side ATK Mohun Bagan.[21] The club moved to the quarter-finals, defeating Indian Navy in the final group game, but was eliminated losing 3–1 to Hyderabad at the end.[22] In November, the club reached final of Baji Rout Cup in Odisha, in which they clinched title defeating Churchill Brothers in penalty shootout.[23][24] When the 2022–23 I-League began, the club again faced Churchill Brothers in their first match, and earned three points with 2–1 win.[25] In December, the club participated in Dausa Gold Cup in Rajasthan,[26] in which they finished as runners-up after 1–0 defeat to FC Kerala.[27]
Rajasthan United FC uses Rajasthan University Sports Complex in Jaipur as their home ground, and sometimes the Witty Sports Club ground.[28] In October 2022, the club announced that they will use Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi for matches of 2022–23 I-League, as the traditional home and away games format was reinstalled.[29] Before 2021, in few matches of the state league, they used Sawai Mansingh Stadium.[30]
In April 2023, Rajasthan United announced that the club will use Vidyadhar Nagar Stadium in Jaipur in the 2023–24 I-League season.[31]
The club's crest features historical monuments of Rajasthan, Maharana Pratap and Thar desert in background with R.U.F.C. monogram.[32] It symbolises rich and royal culture and heritage of Rajasthan.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Role | Name | Refs. | |
|---|---|---|
| Assistant coach |  Pushpender Kundu |
|
| Assistant coach | Prashant J Singh |
|
| Technical Director |  Alexander Garini |
|
| Strength and conditioning coach | Pushpendra Singh |
|
| Goalkeeping coach | Joel Prabhakar Raj |
|
| Physio | Ashwin Kumar P. |
|
| Team manager | Nikhil Shetty |
| Season | Division | Teams | Position | Avg. attendance | Super Cup | Durand Cup | AFC Champions League | AFC Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | I-League 2nd Division | 9 | 1st | 🔒 Closed Doors
▼ |
Did not participate
▼ |
Did not participate
▼ |
Did not qualify
▼ |
Did not qualify
▼ |
| 2021–22 | I-League | 13 | 6th | |||||
| 2022–23 | 12 | 9th | 1,369 | Qualifying-playoff | Quarter-finals | |||
| 2023-24 | 13 | 11th | 207 | Did not participate | Did not participate | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| ⭐ | Top scorer in division |
| 🇮🇳 | Top Indian scorer in division |
| Season | League | Finals | Super Cup | Other competitions | Top scorer(s) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Pos | Durand Cup | Player(s) | Goals | |||
| 2021 | I-League 2nd Division | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 12 | Champions | — | Did not participate
▼ |
Did not participate
▼ |
Sukhjit Singh Aman Thapa |
2 |
| 2021–22 | I-League | 18 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 16 | 16 | 22 | 6th | — |  Sardor Jakhonov Alocious Muthayyan  Pedro Manzi Pritam Singh |
3 | ||
| 2022–23 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 19 | 32 | 25 | 9th | — | Qualifying-playoff | Quarter-finals |  Aidar Mambetaliev |
4 | |
| 2023–24 | 24 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 40 | 63 | 25 | 11th | — | Qualifier | Group stage |  Richardson Denzell |
16 | |
| Name | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Win% | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vikrant Sharma | India |
2020 | 2021 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 50.00 | [38] |
| Francesc Bonet | Spain |
2021 | 2022 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 16 | 16 | 27.78 | [8] |
| Pushpender Kundu | India |
2022 | 2024 | 43 | 13 | 10 | 20 | 51 | 78 | 30.23 | [1] |
| Walter Caprile |  |
2024 | till date | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | [39] |
The players below have senior/youth international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed, represented their countries before or after playing for Rajasthan United.[40]
Komron Tursunov (2021–2022)[41][42]
Mauro dos Santos (2022)[17] Omar Ramos (2022)[43][44] Aidar Mambetaliev (2022–2023)[45]
Youssef Atriss (2022–2023)[46] Martín Cháves (2022–2023)[47]
Nuha Marong (2022–2023)[48] Atay Dzhumashev (2022–2023)[49] Richard Gadze (2023–2024)[50][51] 
Ibrahim Moro (2023–2024)[52][53]
Saido Berahino (2024–)[54]Youth football is practiced in Rajasthan United FC, and their under-17 team for the first time, took part in the 2022–23 U-17 Youth Cup in January 2023.[59][60] The club launched a residential football academy in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, in 2021, collaborating with Poornima University.[61][62] The academy of Rajasthan United gained an 'elite category' accreditation by the All India Football Federation in December 2023.[63] Clubs under-17 team took part in Administrator's Challenge Cup in Chandigarh in 2022.[64]
Honours
The following club is currently affiliated/associated with Rajasthan United FC:
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