History Of Phnom Penh Crown FC

 History Of Phnom Penh Crown FC

Phnom Penh Crown Football Club (Khmer: ក្លឹបបាល់ទាត់ភ្នំពេញក្រោន) is a football club from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Formerly the team were called Samart United, Hello United, Phnom Penh United and Phnom Penh Empire before establishing their current name, Phnom Penh Crown FC in 2009. The club has won 6 Cambodian League titles and 2 Hun Sen cups.

Samart United was founded in 2001, sponsored by Samart. Just one year later, the club won their first Cambodian League title. A change in sponsor, in 2005, led to a change of name to Hello United and then, in 2006, to Phnom Penh United. In 2007 Phnom Penh United merged with Khmer Empire to become Phnom Penh Empire. The new club became the first Cambodian team to complete the domestic double, winning the league and Hun Sen Cup in 2008.

The following year a final name change to Phnom Penh Crown occurred, with sponsorship from Crown Casino. On the field, the team retained the Hun Sen Cup in 2009. The club dominated the Cambodian league in the subsequent seasons, winning the title in 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2015.^[1]

Their most recent league title was in 2015, defeating Nagaworld in the final on penalties, to win back to back titles for the second time.^[2]

Nagaworld FC was one of the original rival, previously known as NagaCorp FC. The club and Phnom Penh Crown competed in both domestic football trophy since 2009. Until the promotion of Boeung Ket FC from the bottom league in 2012. Namely "The Cambodia Classic Match" is largely acknowledge by many of the football fans as one of the most exciting football match to watch in the kingdom.

In 2018, another newly promoted club Visakha FC settle their home ground in just 10km travel distance from Smart RSN Stadium, also with the quality of the players and standard, making the match between these two club become one of the exciting "Phnom Penh Derby".

Phnom Penh Crown's primary colors are red and white. The home strip is a red top with white sleeves, white shorts, and red socks. The current away strip is a light green top with dark green horizontal stripes, white shorts and dark green socks. The main shirt sponsor is Smart Axiata and the official kit manufacturer is FBT.

The club badge features a red lion on a white background, with the club name in Khmer and English on the left and right respectively. The club states the lion represents pride and unity, and the strength of a unified team.

Stadium[edit]

Smart RSN Stadium in 2015

The Phnom Penh Crown home ground is the Smart RSN Stadium, which has a capacity of 5,000.^[4] It features a natural grass pitch and seated stands on all sides, with an air conditioned executive box.