Indian Super League's Mumbai City FC named Czech Petr Kratky as the new head coach on Saturday.
The 42-year-old joins Mumbai City in his new role until the end of the 2024-25 season. Petr Kratky arrives in Mumbai from Melbourne City -- a sister club of the ISL Shield winners. Both Melbourne and Mumbai City are among the 13 teams owned by the City Football Group (CFG).
The Islanders's ISL clash against FC Goa on December 12 will be Kratky's first game in charge of the club, which currently stand fourth in the league table.
A right-back in his playing days, Kratky spent 15 years donning the colours of some of the biggest Czech clubs like Mlada Boleslav and Slovan Liberec. He hung his boots after a stint with Heidelberg United in Australia, reported PTI.
He then joined A-League side Melbourne City as an academy coach, taking charge of the club's developmental squad in the NPL2, before coaching them in the NPL Seniors.
Following Des Buckingham's move from Melbourne to Mumbai in October 2021, Kratky was promoted to the role of assistant coach of Melbourne City's first team. As assistant, the Czech-Australian coach served under Patrick Kisnorbo, Rado Vidosic and most recently, under Aurelio Vidmar.
A 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 look at our new boss 👀#WelcomePetr #MumbaiCity #AamchiCity 🔵 pic.twitter.com/0qk92kvvAb
— Mumbai City FC (@MumbaiCityFC) December 9, 2023
During his seven-year stint at Melbourne City, Kratky coached and nurtured several young players from his developmental squad, creating a pathway for them into senior football, Mumbai City FC said on their website.
As an assistant coach, Kratky was instrumental in guiding Melbourne City to consecutive A-League Men's Premiers titles in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
"I am excited to embark on this new opportunity at Mumbai City FC and to continue working as part of the City Football Group. One thing that I value most within CFG is that we are aligned by the same vision and philosophy which is centred around playing the City way," Kratky said in a release.
#TheIslanders’ new man at the helm is here and he’s ready! 🙌#WelcomePetr #MumbaiCity #AamchiCity 🔵 @PetrKratky pic.twitter.com/i6oP1pDOLO
— Mumbai City FC (@MumbaiCityFC) December 9, 2023
"Our philosophy has the overarching goal to succeed, and I'm very excited to get started in Mumbai as I know the club has set strong foundations for long-term success. I hope to build on everything Mumbai City has achieved in recent years and to uphold our proud legacy of winning whilst playing attractive football."
