Liga Super Malaysia side Kelantan United have announced a rebrand to Kelantan Darul Naim for the upcoming 2024/25 season.
With financially-stricken Kelantan FC being expelled from the Malaysian top-flight at the end of the 2023 season, Kelantan United assumed the role of the state's premier football team by default and with that in mind, a fresh change was needed in order to unite the state's football fans underneath one banner.
Adopting the "Darul Naim" identity - meaning "Blissful Abode" in Jawi language - in a similar manner in how Johor Darul Ta'zim and Kedah Darul Aman adopted their own identities, it is hoped that the newly-christened Kelantan Darul Naim will become more competitive and would go toe-to-toe with the more established sides in Malaysian football, all without dethroning the legacy of Kelantan FC, a historic club that had won a domestic Treble in 2012.
"It is our great hope that with the use of this new name and logo will see all parties in Kelantan unite for the development of state's football to be more competitive and challenge other clubs," said Kelantan Darul Naim president Rozi Muhammad, as quoted from the New Strait Times, ""We are also grateful to all Kelantan football fans and supporters for the outpouring of ideas and opinions regarding the rebranding of KUFC to KDNFC."
And with the rebrand came a further swathe of changes. Kelantan-based sporting apparel company PUC Sport has been appointed as Kelantan Darul Naim's new supplier, replacing Thai brand IAM. PUC Sport has previously provided equipment for Kelantan FC in the 2019 and 2020 campaigns.
Kelantan Darul Naim also brought in several former Kelantan FC players into their fold, among them Jasmin Mehat, Syed Sobri, Arip Amiruddin, Ghaffar Rahman, and Afzal Akbar.
