Kelantan City FC Appoints Wanderley Machado As Head Coach For A1 Semi-Pro League
KOTA BHARU, June 19 (Bernama) -- Kelantan City FC today announced the appointment of experienced Brazilian coach Wanderley Machado Da Silva Junior as its new head coach for the 2026-2027 A1 Semi-Pro League season.
Club co-owner Tan Sri Annuar Musa said Wanderley, 61, possesses extensive experience in Asian football and has previously coached several clubs in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
He said one of the coach's notable achievements was guiding Lamphun Warrior to the Thai League 2 title and securing promotion to Thai League 1 in the 2021-2022 season.
“Previously, Wanderley had also served with Kuala Lumpur FA, in addition to several renowned clubs in the Asian region,” he told a press conference held to introduce Kelantan City FC's new logo and coaching line-up here today.
On the rebranding of Kelantan Wan Tendong Stable (WTS) FC to Kelantan City FC, he said the club's new slogan, “New Identity, Same Spirit”, reflects the management's commitment to preserving the fighting spirit and identity of Kelantan football despite adopting a new image and approach.
Annuar said the rebranding followed a restructuring of the club's ownership, which saw 80 per cent of the shareholding acquired by former players from Kelantan's Treble-winning era, while the remaining 20 per cent remains with the original owners of Kelantan WTS FC.
According to him, Wan Muhd Ridhuan Abdullah will continue to play an important role in the club's management after being appointed Kelantan City FC team manager.
He said several former players from Kelantan's Treble-winning era have also been assigned roles to strengthen the club's organisational structure and ensure the management and team development aspects are implemented professionally.
“Zairul Fitree Ishak has been appointed assistant head coach, Farisham Ismail assistant coach and Mohd Shahrizan Ismail goalkeeping coach.
“In addition, Daudsu Jamaluddin and Nor Mazri Mamat have been appointed fitness coaches, while Nor Farhan Muhamad and Badhri Radzi, or Piya, will serve as team officials,” he added.
-- BERNAMA
