Khan Research Laboratories Football Club, abbreviated as KRL, serves as the football section of Khan Research Laboratories. Based in Rawalpindi, the club plays their home games at KRL Stadium. The club used to compete in the National Football Championship and Pakistan Premier League. The club regularly participates in the National Football Challenge Cup.
The club has won five Pakistan Premier League titles and six National Football Challenge Cups. With these eleven trophies, they are the most successful club in the country. They are the only Pakistani club to have reached a continental club final, the 2013 AFC President's Cup, where they lost 1âÂÂ0 to Balkan FK.
The football team of the company Khan Research Laboratories was established in 1995, on the request of scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, and with the help and partnership of former international defender Ayaz Butt.
The following year, they entered the departmental tournament of Pakistan 1996 President PFF Cup, failing to advance to the next stage. In its early years, the team also acquired service of Pakistan international players such as Sarfraz Rasool, Sajjad Hussain and Amir Ali Qureshi.
In 1998, the team entered the National Football Championship, the premier football competition of Pakistan, in the 1998 season, where they lost 2âÂÂ0 to Allied Bank in the quarter-finals. In the 1998 President PFF Cup, they also lost in quarter-finals to Pakistan Police.
In 1999, they reached the semi-finals of the National Football Championship, after finishing top of their group and winning both their group matches 4âÂÂ1 and 6âÂÂ3 against Pakistan Railways and Balochistan Red, respectively. They defeated Karachi Metropolitan 4âÂÂ0 and Pakistan Railways 3âÂÂ2 on penalties after drawing the game 2âÂÂ2 in regulation time. They lost 1âÂÂ0 to Pakistan Navy in the semi-finals. In the 1999 President PFF Cup, the team finished as runner-up after losing to Allied Bank by penalties after a 1âÂÂ1 draw. The team however took place of Allied Bank in the Asian Cup Winners' Cup for the 2000âÂÂ01 edition, where they drew 1âÂÂ1, and lost 0âÂÂ6 in the other leg of the qualifying first round against Thai club BEC Tero Sasana.
In the 2000 season of the National Championship, Khan Research Laboratories reached the Round of 16, when they topped the group again after defeating Punjab Greens and WAPDA 8âÂÂ1 and 3âÂÂ0, respectively. In the Round of 16 they lost 1âÂÂ0 to that season's runners-up Karachi Port Trust.
The next season, they topped the group yet again when they defeated Pakistan Police and Sindh Greens 1âÂÂ0 and 5âÂÂ1, respectively. Sajjad of Khan Research Laboratories scored a hat-trick in the latter match. In the round of 16, they thrashed University Grants Commission 6âÂÂ0, with Allah Nawaz scoring four goals. In the quarter-finals they defeated Allied Bank 3âÂÂ2 and defeated their group team Pakistan Police 2âÂÂ1 in the semi-finals. Khan Research Laboratories drew 1âÂÂ1 to WAPDA in the finals, only to lose 4âÂÂ3 on penalties.
In the 2002 season, Khan Research Laboratories, top of the group for the fourth consecutive season, defeated University Grants Commission 5âÂÂ1 and drew 1âÂÂ1 with Sindh Red. In the Round of 16, they defeated Balochistan Green 1âÂÂ0. Khan Research Laboratories defeated Federally Administered Tribal Areas 2âÂÂ1 in the quarter-finals and lost to Pakistan Army 1âÂÂ0 in the semi-finals.
Khan Research Laboratories became a dominant side since the inception of the re-branded Pakistan Premier League, finishing third in the 2004âÂÂ05 season, scoring 98 goals in 30 matches (a goal ratio of 3.26 goals per match), winning 23 and drawing and losing four and three matches respectively.
They finished third in four further seasons, 2005âÂÂ06, 2006âÂÂ07, 2007âÂÂ08, and 2008âÂÂ09 seasons, before winning their first-ever league and national title in the 2009âÂÂ10 season, when they won the league on goal difference after being tied on 60 points. Khan Research Laboratories had a goal difference +32 against +22 of Pakistan Army.
Khan Research Laboratories completed the double, when they won the 2009 National Football Challenge Cup defeating Pakistan Airlines 1âÂÂ0 in the finals. Khan Research Laboratories' first appearance in the Asian competition came in the 2010 AFC President's Cup, when they finished second to Vakhsh Qurghonteppa in the group stage.
In the 2010âÂÂ11 season, they finished second to league winners WAPDA. However, they successfully defended the National Football Challenge Cup, defeating Pakistan Navy 4âÂÂ0 in the finals.
In April 2011, the club appointed veteran Tariq Lutfi as head coach of the team, replacing KRL long term head coach Sajjad Mehmood. Khan Research Laboratories subsequently won three league titles consecutively, winning in 2011âÂÂ12, 2012âÂÂ13 and 2013âÂÂ14. In the 2011âÂÂ12 and 2012âÂÂ13 season, Khan Research Laboratories completed a consecutive double when they won the League and Challenge Cup. In latter seasons, they won the league after their star forward Kaleemullah Khan scored 35 goals including 7 hat-tricks.
In the 2012 AFC President's Cup, they finished second in the group stage after drawing both their games 0âÂÂ0 against Erchim and Taiwan Power Company, thus qualifying for the final stage where they finished bottom of the group. Their win in the 2012 season qualified them for a spot in the 2013 AFC President's Cup. In the group stage, held in May 2013, they were drawn against Kyrgyzstan-based Dordoi Bishkek, Philippines-based Global and Bhutan-based Yeedzin. KRL drew 1âÂÂ1 with Dordoi, beat Global 2âÂÂ0 and also went past Yeedzin 8âÂÂ0. They finished second in the group behind Dordoi based on goal difference as both clubs had 7 points from their 3 encounters. Through this result, the club qualified for the final group stage, which was played in September 2013. In the final group stage, they were drawn against the Palestinian side Hilal Al-Quds and their rivals from the first group stage, Dordoi Bishkek. They won both of their games and progressed to the final, becoming the first ever Pakistani club to feature in a continental final, where they lost 1âÂÂ0 to Turkmen side Balkan.
In the 2014 AFC President's Cup they finished bottom of the group in the first stage.
In the 2014âÂÂ15 season, they finished sixth after losing their star players, Kaleemullah Khan and Muhammad Adil to Kyrgyz club FC Dordoi Bishkek. Head coach Tariq Lutfi left the team in March 2015, and Sajjad Mehmood took over again as head coach of the team. They won a further two Challenge Cups in 2015 and 2016, becoming the most successful club in the National Football Challenge Cup, winning the tournament six times in total.
In 2017, with the Pakistan Football Federation still paralysed by internal disputes and official competitions suspended, National Bank of Pakistan organised a separate 2017 NBP President's Cup, which KRL won after defeating WAPDA 1âÂÂ0 in the final.
The team returned for the 2018âÂÂ19 Pakistan Premier League season after years of federation turmoil and football inactivity, winning their fifth Premier League title after defeating Sui Southern Gas 4âÂÂ0 on the final match day, making them the most successful club since the inception of the Pakistan Premier League.
Following the domestic football revamp in the country in 2023, departmental clubs including Khan Research Laboratories remained competing in the National Football Challenge Cup.
The KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi, owned by the parent company Khan Research Laboratories serve as the team own ground. It has regularly hosted several Pakistan Premier League and National Challenge Cup fixtures.
In the early 2010s, the club developed a notable rivalry with Karachi-based K-Electric. The rivalry started when K-Electric and Khan Research Laboratories faced off in two back-to-back Pakistan National Challenge Cup finals, in 2011 and 2012, with Khan Research Laboratories winning both the finals 1âÂÂ0 and 3âÂÂ1 on penalties with game drawn 0âÂÂ0 after extra time respectively. K-Electric won the league in the 2014-15 season, ending the reign of Khan Research Laboratories as domestic champions.
The club's competitive record since the 2004âÂÂ05 season are listed below.