Phnom Penh Crown Football Club (), commonly referred to as Crown or PPC, is a Cambodian professional football club based in Sangkat Toul Sangke II, Khan Russey Keo, Phnom Penh. The club competes in the Cambodian Premier League, the top flight of Cambodian football.
Nicknamed the "Red Singha", the club was first formed as Smart United Football Club in 2001. Phnom Penh Crown is one of the most successful and prominent teams in Cambodia, having won a recorded eight league titles, the most of any team in Cambodian football. Alongside league success, Phnom Penh Crown also continued to win domestic cups, winning the Hun Sen Cup, Cambodian League Cup and the Cambodian Super Cup each twice. Phnom Penh Crown is also the only Cambodian club to reach the group stage and semi-finals of the AFC Cup.Data Sports Group (2014) Team Info Phnom Penh Crown FC, Website: globalsportsarchive.com, Copyright © Data Sports Group. All rights reserved.
Its women's section plays in the Cambodian Women's League and took part in the AFC Women's Champions League.
History
Phnom Penh Crown was first established in 2001 as Smart United with the support of Smart Mobile Cambodia, they joined the Cambodian League, which at the time was a semi-professional league. Smart United made their mark in their second season, winning the Cambodian League title in 2002, and their subsequent participation was not successful until 2005 when they switched sponsors.
In collaboration with Hello Mobitel, the new club was renamed Hello United. However, the change of name and identity did not bring much success on the field, with their team finishing runners-up in the Cambodian League. Khemara Keila. At the same time, the club's top scorer award went to Hok Sochivorn with 22 goals.
In 2006, Hello Mobitel sold the club to another businessman, Rithy Samnang, who changed the club name to Phnom Penh United. The president of this club aims to represent Phnom Penh and to prepare for the league title. At the beginning of the 2006 season, the club participated in the AFC President's Cup for the first time but did not qualify for the regional qualifiers. One year after the change of membership and the addition of new members, the merger of Phnom Penh United Football Club and Empire to prepare for the new competition, the addition of the Hun Sen Cup, a merger of two clubs, Phnom Penh United changed its name to Phnom Penh Empire in 2007. The club's full-year development period, in the 2008 season, proved to be the most successful club ever, winning two trophies: the Metfone Cambodian League (MCL) and the Hun Sen Cup, the first trophy in the club's history.
Club new brand name update In 2009, Phnom Penh Empire has modernized its club name to Phnom Penh Crown after they acquired a new sponsor, Crown Casino, the name change also focused on attracting young people. King of the Phnom Penh Regional Club as well. In 2009, Phnom Penh Crown finished 4th in the MCL, but they were still able to win the Hun Sen Cup with a goal scored by Keo Sok Ngor. On the team on Naga Corp in the final result 1–0 as well. After the domestic meeting, Phnom Penh Crown had two major matches: the AFC President's Cup and the Singapore Cup. Two defeats and a win over Bhutan's Yeedzin were not enough to advance to the second round of the AFC Championship President's Cup. A 2–0 win over the Young Lions in the Singapore Cup saw them reach the quarter-finals before Thailand's Bangkok Glass defeated the club in the second leg. In 2010, Phnom Penh Crown won the MCL title for the third time, beating PKR 4–3 in the play-off finals, despite finishing fourth in the domestic campaign. They also lost to the Ministry of National Defense 3–2 in the final of the Hun Sen Cup.Les Tan/Red Sports (2009) Young Lions crash out of Singapore Cup against Phnom Penh Crown FC , Website: redsports.sg, Publication: May 04, 2009
2013–14 season Phnom Penh Crown finished third after losing on penalties to the Ministry of National Defense in the semi-finals of the Hun Sen Cup and in the league of Metfone Cambodian League. They finished the regular season in third place, losing to Svay Rieng in the semi-finals, losing 4–3 to the final champions. The 2014 season began with Phnom Penh Crown knocked out of the Hun Sen Cup semi-finals under Build Bright United. However, Phnom Penh Crown won the MCL for the first time. 5 With a 1–0 win over Naga Corp, goalkeeper Suyati was awarded the Golden Glove, the league's best goalkeeper award.HS Manjunath (2014) Crown stay at the top, Website: phnompenhpost.com, Publication: June 23, 2014
Stadium
Phnom Penh Crown has rebuilt its stadium to accommodate 5,000 spectators during the club's reception of their returning sponsor, Smart Axiata. The new stadium was named "Smart RSN", originally named after the sponsor, and the latter name RSN means (Rithy Sam Nang), the name of the club president, Rithy Samnang, now deceased. After Phnom Penh Crown has its own stadium, the club has evolved into one of Cambodia's standard professional league clubs. In 2015, Phnom Penh Crown won the Metfone Cambodian League (MCL) for the sixth time, defeating Nagaworld on penalties.The Phnom Penh Post (2015) Phnom Penh Crown celebrate 5000-seat stadium, Website: www.phnompenhpost.com, Publication: 03 June, 2015Smart (2015) Smart And Phnom Penh Crown FC Announce Official Partnership to Promote Football As National Sport , Website: www.smart.com.kh
Kit sponsors
PeriodKit manufacturerShirt sponsor (chest)2001–2004 Kappa Smart Mobile2005 Hello Mobitel2006–2010 855Crown.com2011–2012 Crown Hotel & Resort2013 Crown Casino 855Play2014 FBT 855Crown Hotel & Resort2015–2018 Smart2019 Smart Xihu Resort Hotel2020–2022 Smart Axiata2023–2025 Warrix2025–Present Fan Sport
Players Current squad
Out on loan
Club staff
PositionStaffTeam manager Keo SokngonGeneral Manager Ly HeangHead coach Oleg StarynskyiAssistant coach Leonardo Capristo Anatoliy BondarenkoGoalkeeper coach Ahmed Elnady Kheng ReaksmeyPhysiotherapist Pedro Cuadrado Pei PhallyConditioning coach Arthur FranckVideo analyst Kim Leab fong Rim Leap Phea
Head coaches Coaches by years
NameNationalityPeriodTournament Apisit Im-amphai 2008–2010 2010 Cambodian League winner Bojan Hodak 2011 Dave Booth 2011–2012 2011 AFC President's Cup runner-up, 2011 Cambodian League winner, 2012 AFC President's Cup final round Sam Schweingruber 2012–2016 2014 Cambodian League winner, 2015 Cambodian League winner Oriol Mohedano 2016 Sam Schweingruber (Interim) 2016 2016 Hun Sen Cup 3rd place Oleh Starynskyi 2016–2017 2017 AFC Cup play-off round Sean Sainsbury 2017–2018 Leonardo Vitorino 2018–2019 Sum Vanna 2019–2020 2019 Hun Sen Cup 3rd place, 2020 C-League 3rd place Oleh Starynskyi 2020– 2021 C-League winner, 2022 Cambodian Super Cup winner, 2022 Cambodian League Cup winner, 2022 Cambodian Premier League winner, 2024–25 Hun Sen Cup winner
Captains Captain by years Year Captain Nationality Vice-Captain Nationality 2011 Thul Sothearith Cambodia Kouch Sokumpheak Cambodia 2012 Kouch Sokumpheak Cambodia Khim Borey Cambodia 2013 Kouch Sokumpheak Cambodia Khim Borey Cambodia 2014 Kouch Sokumpheak Cambodia Khim Borey Cambodia 2015 Boris Kok Cambodia Odion Obadin Nigeria 2016 Boris Kok Cambodia Keo Sokngon Cambodia 2017 Shane Booysen South Africa Boris Kok Cambodia 2018 Ouk Sothy Cambodia Orn Chanpolin Cambodia 2019 Ouk Sothy Cambodia Orn Chanpolin Cambodia 2020 Orn Chanpolin Cambodia Boris Kok Cambodia 2021 Orn Chanpolin Cambodia Boris Kok Cambodia 2022 Orn Chanpolin Cambodia Choun Chanchav Cambodia 2023 Orn Chanpolin Cambodia Choun Chanchav Cambodia 2024 Orn Chanpolin Cambodia Choun Chanchav Cambodia
Records Continental Season Tournament Round Club Home Away Aggregate2014Mekong Club ChampionshipSemi-finals2–5 Hoang Anh Attapeu2–02017AFC CupPlay-off round Home United3–40–33–72022AFC CupGroup I Hougang United3–43rd Viettel0–1 Young Elephants4–2AFC CupPreliminary round 2 Young Elephants3–0Play-off round Tampines Rovers3–2Group F Dynamic Herb Cebu4–03–02nd Shan United4–01–2 Macarthur3–00–5ASEAN Zonal semi-finals Central Coast Mariners0–42025–26AFC Challenge LeaguePreliminary stage Kasuka0–6Group E Dewa United1–12nd Shan United3–1 Tainan City3–2Quarter-finals PKR Svay Rieng1–41–22–6
Honours Cambodian Premier League Winner: 2002 (as "Samart United"), 2008 (as "Phnom Penh Empire"), 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022 Runners-up: 2005 Hun Sen Cup Winner: 2008 (as "Phnom Penh Empire"), 2009, 2025 Cambodian Super Cup Winner: 2022, 2023 Cambodian League Cup Winner: 2022, 2023
References