New Radiant S.C.
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| Full name | New Radiant Sports Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Blues | ||
| Short name | NRSC | ||
| Founded | 1979 | ||
| Ground | National Stadium Malé | ||
| Capacity | 11,850 | ||
| Chairman | Ahmed Mubeen | ||
| Head coach | Francisco Caínzos | ||
| League | Dhivehi Premier League | ||
| 2025–26 | DPL, 3rd of 10 | ||
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New Radiant Sports Club is a Maldivian professional football club based in Henveiru, Malé. The club was founded on 19 August 1979[1] by Ahmed Waheed. New Radiant is the most successful in the Maldives in terms of trophies won and in the international arena. They were semi-finalists of the AFC Cup in 2005, and the only Maldivian club to have progressed beyond the group stage.
New Radiant has won the Dhivehi Premier League six times, FA cup 12 times and the Maldives Cup Winners' Cup four times. They won President's Cup 12 times and POMIS Cup 3 times. In 2019, the Football Association of Maldives suspended New Radiant from all football related activities due to unpaid wages and fines.
History
[edit]1994–99
[edit]In the 1994 season, New Radiant won POMIS Cup and the FA cup. In the 1995 Season, the blues won POMIS Cup and National Championship / President's Cup. New Radiant won all the competitions that were held in 1997. In the 1998 season, the blues won FA Cup three times in a row and became first team to do so in Maldivian footballing history. In 1999, New Radiant won only Maldives Cup Winners' Cup. The club took part in the Asian Club Championship consecutively in the 1990s.[2]
2000–08
[edit]In the year 2000, New Radiant won only Maldives Cup Winners' Cup. In the 2004 season, New Radiant claimed the FA Cup. In the 2005 season, the Blues reached the semi-finals of the AFC Cup and were beaten by the later champions Al Faisaly. In 2006 they won the FA Cup and the Dhivehi League. In the 2007 Season, the Blues were able to clinch 2 titles, the FA Cup and the President's Cup. In 2008, the Cup Winners Cup was won by New Radiant. They lost the FA Cup final.
2012–15
[edit]They won the 2012 Dhivehi League without losing a single match and also won the President's Cup by beating Victory Sports Club in the final. In 2013, the Blues won the first Charity Shield match and the league shield, becoming the first team to finish the league with a 100 percent record. In the same year, they won the FA Cup and finished the season by winning the President's Cup. In the 2014 season, the Blues won the Maldives FA Charity Shield by beating Maziya. The club won the 2014 Dhivehi League, third league title in a row. On November 30, New Radiant won 2014 President's Cup, also third time in a row. In 2015, the Blues reached the President's Cup final. The club won the 2015 Dhivehi Premier League.
2016
[edit]In 2016, New Radiant finished fifth in the league and in the group stage of the 2016 AFC Cup. After 2011, this was the year club did not win any of the tournaments.
2017–18
[edit]The Blues finished 3rd in the Male' League and got promoted to the 2017 Dhivehi Premier League. New Radiant won the Dhivehi Premier League and qualified for the 2018 AFC Cup group stage. They also won the 2017 Maldives FA Cup and the President's Cup. Next year, New Radiant finished second in the 2018 AFC Cup group F, and won the Male' League.
2019–22
[edit]In January 2019, the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) suspended New Radiant due to the club's failure to pay approximately MVR 3.8 million in wages to both local and foreign players.[3] The club's leadership characterized the suspension as "politically motivated", retaliatory move by then-FAM president Bassam Adeel Jaleel against his critics.[4] The suspension lasted over three years, until it was officially lifted in July 2022.[5] This followed a government-backed initiative to settle the club’s outstanding debts.[6] In their return to competitive football during the 2022 FAM Second Division, New Radiant delivered a strong performance but ultimately fell short to eventual champions Buru Sports Club.[7]
2023–24
[edit]For the 2023–24 FAM Second Division, New Radiant were placed in a group with B.G. Sports Club, Tent Sports Club, Da Grande Sports Club, and Club Teenage. New Radiant again dominated the group stage, notably defeating Tent Sports Club by 3–1 and Club PK by 8–0, but fell short in the playoff semi-final.[8][9]
2025–26
[edit]After a five-year absence from top-flight football, New Radiant officially returned to the Dhivehi Premier League for the 2025–26 season.[10] The club's return was marked by administrative controversy. Despite a storied history, New Radiant failed to secure automatic promotion, having been eliminated in the semi-final of the 2024–25 FAM Second Division by rivals Victory SC. However, in August 2025, Super United Sports withdrew from the Premier League citing financial insolvency.[11] On August 28, the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) Executive Committee voted to award the vacant 10th spot to New Radiant. The decision was justified on the grounds that New Radiant was the highest-ranked semi-finalist from the previous Second Division campaign[12] The "backdoor" promotion drew sharp criticism from other Second Division clubs and football pundits. Opponents argued that the spot should have remained vacant or contested via a playoff. Allegations of favoritism surfaced in local media, pointing to the fact that several members of the FAM held past or present ties to the New Radiant board. Despite these challenges, the Maldives Sports Council upheld the decision, allowing the "Blues" to compete.
New Radiant appointed Ali Suzain as head coach, along with major signings like Ali Ashfaq and Ali Fasir, both returning for a fourth stint at the club.[13] [14] New Radiant began the campaign with a 6–0 victory over TC Sports Club and remained unbeaten for their first three matches.</ref> [15][16] They ultimately finished the season in 3rd place with 37 points, trailing champions Maziya S&RC and runners-up Odi SC. In cup competition, the "Blues" reached the semi-final of the 2026 President's Cup (Maldives),[17] falling to Maziya in the semi-final.[18]
Honours
[edit]Domestic
[edit]- Maldives Cup Winners' Cup
- Winners: 1999, 2000, 2003, 2008
- Male' League
- Winners: 2004, 2018
Other
[edit]- Veterans Cup
- Winners: 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017
- FAM Women's Football Championship
- Winners: 2014, 2015
Season by season records (1979–1999)
[edit]Updated on 30 November 2015
| Season | National | FA Cup | POMIS Cup | Cup Winners' | Season Top scorers | |
| Name | Goal | |||||
| 1979 | – | – | – | |||
| 1980 | – | – | – | |||
| 1981 | – | – | – | |||
| 1982 | Champion | – | – | – | ||
| 1983 | – | – | – | |||
| 1984 | Runners-up | – | – | – | ||
| 1985 | Runners-up | – | – | – | ||
| 1986 | Runners-up | – | – | |||
| 1987 | Champion | – | Group stage | – | ||
| 1988 | Runners-up | Runners-up | – | |||
| 1989 | Champion | – | ||||
| 1990 | Champion | Runners-up | – | |||
| 1991 | Champion | Champion | – | |||
| 1992 | Runners-up | – | ||||
| 1993 | Runners-up | – | ||||
| 1994 | Runners-up | Champion | Champion | – | ||
| 1995 | Champion | Runners-up | Champion | |||
| 1996 | Champion | |||||
| 1997 | Champion | Champion | Champion | – | ||
| 1998 | Champion | Runners-up | Runners-up | |||
| 1999 | Runners-up | Champion | ||||
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Undefined | Not qualified |
|
2000–present
[edit]Updated on 04 April 2026
| Season | Dhivehi League / Dhivehi Premier League | Male' League | Charity | President's | FA Cup | POMIS Cup | CW Cup | Season Top scorers | |||||||||
| Division | Pld | GW | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Pos | Name | Goal | |||||||
| 2000 | DL | – | – | Third place | 4th | Champion | |||||||||||
| 2001 | DL | 5th | – | NQ | Champion | NQ | Third place |  Shah Ismail |
17 | ||||||||
| 2002 | DL | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 8 | 10 | 4th | 4th | – | 4th | Runners-up | – | Third place | Mausoom |
|
| 2003 | DL | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 24 | 18 | 22 | 4th | 5th | – | Third place | 4th | GS | Champion | Ali Shiham |
|
| 2004 | DL | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 40 | 13 | 22 | Runners-up | Champion | – | Champion | 4th | – | Third place | Ibrahim Fazeel |
|
| 2005 | DL | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 10 | 24 | Runners-up | Third place | – | Runners-up | Champion | – | Third place | Ibrahim Fazeel |
|
| 2006 | DL | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 29 | 16 | 28 | Champion | 4th | – | Third place | Champion | – | Runners-up | Ali Umar |
|
| 2007 | DL | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 25 | 9 | 22 | Runners-up | – | – | Champion | Champion | – | Runners-up | Ali Ashfaq |
|
| 2008 | DL | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 28 | 19 | 20 | 4th | – | – | 4th | Runners-up | – | Champion | Ahmed Thariq |
|
| 2009 | DL | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 31 | 33 | 23 | 4th | – | NQ | 4th | 4th | – | – | Shamveel Qasim |
|
| 2010 | DL | 21 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 44 | 31 | 36 | 4th | – | NQ | Third place | Runners-up | – | – | ||
| 2011 | DL | 19 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 41 | 24 | 31 | 4th | – | NQ | Runners-up | 4th | – | – | Ali Fasir |
18 |
| 2012 | DL | 19 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 48 | 9 | 49 | Champion | – | NQ | Champion | QF | – | – | Ali Ashfaq |
22 |
| 2013 | DL | 19 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 5 | 57 | Champion | – | Champion | Champion | Champion | – | – | Ali Ashfaq |
44 |
| 2014 | DL | 19 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 57 | 8 | 52 | Champion | – | Champion | Champion | Runners-up | – | – | Ali Fasir |
23 |
| 2015 | DPL | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 27 | 13 | 33 | Champion | – | Runners-up | Runners-up | – | GS | – | Ashad Ali |
7 |
| 2016 | DPL | 21 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 17 | 25 | 23 | 5th | – | NQ | GS | 3rd | – | – | Izzath Abdul Baaree
|
4 |
| 2017 | DPL | 14 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 44 | 9 | 39 | Champion | 3rd | NQ | Champion | Champion | – | – | Ali Fasir |
21 |
| 2018 | DPL | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 44 | 22 | 28 | 4th | Champion | CANCELLED | – | – | – | – | Ali Fasir |
27 |
| 2025-26 | DPL | 18 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 42 | 16 | 37 | 3rd | – | NQ | Third place | – | – | – | Ali Fasir |
15 |
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Relegated | In progress | Undefined | Not qualified |
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Continental record
[edit]
1 New Radiant apparently qualified for quarter-final; reason unknown
2 New Radiant withdrew
3 Ratnam withdrew after 1st leg
4 The 2nd leg was cancelled due to political violence in Sri Lanka.
External links
[edit]- New Radiant on maldivesoccer.com (archived 10 March 2007)
- New Radiant on the-AFC.com
Footnotes
[edit]- ↑ ::maldivesoccer.com: club profile :: Archived 2008-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Mukherjee, Soham; Easwar, Nisanth V (1 April 2020). "How have Indian clubs fared in AFC Champions League and AFC Cup?". goal.com. Goal. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
- ↑ Waheed, Moosa (26 January 2019). "FAM suspends New Radiant Sports Club".
- ↑ "New Radiant: Suspension was a personal decision". 27 January 2019.
- ↑ "New Radiant settle payment to all foreign players and reach agreement with local players". 25 June 2022.
- ↑ "FAM lifts Victory's suspension, offers New Radiant comeback chance". 7 June 2022.
- ↑ "Buru to the final after defeating New Radiant on penalties in the semis". 14 August 2022.
- ↑ "'Ras Vaadha' to decide which team gets promoted to the Premier League". 12 February 2024.
- ↑ "Victory SC defeats New Radiant to return to the Dhivehi Premier League". 12 February 2024.
- ↑ "New Radiant set for first division comeback". 21 August 2025.
- ↑ "Super United Sports withdraws from top Division". 26 August 2025.
- ↑ "SUS fined MVR 200,000; First Division slot awarded to New Radiant". 31 August 2025.
- ↑ "Ali Suzain appointed as New Radiant head coach". 23 August 2025.
- ↑ "Ali Ashfaq, Raif, and Irufaan also to New". 26 August 2025.
- ↑ "After a 6 year, New Radiant returns to the top flight with a convincing win". 19 September 2025.
- ↑ "New radiant continue their winning run after beating United Victory". 19 September 2025.
- ↑ "New Radiant to the Semis after defeating Eagles". 13 February 2026.
- ↑ "Maziya won against New after a great match". 21 February 2026.
- ↑ Hoodh Ali; Mikael Jönsson; Hans Schöggl (1997). "Maldives – List of Cup Winners: POMIS Cup (President of Maldives Invitational Soccer Cup)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
