Mumbai City FC appoints Petr Kratky as new Coach

MUMBAI: Mumbai City FC announced the arrival of Petr Kratky as the Club’s new Head Coach. Kratky continues his journey within the City Football Group as he arrived from sister club Melbourne City. The 42-year-old joins Mumbai City in his new role until the end of the 2024-25 season.

Born in the Czech Republic, Kratky enjoyed a 15-year playing career as a right back and represented some of the biggest Czech clubs including Mlada Boleslav and Slovan Liberec before finishing his career with Heidelberg United in Australia. Kratky 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.

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. As Assistant Coach, Kratky was instrumental in guiding Melbourne City to consecutive A-League Men’s Premier titles in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

“We are delighted to welcome Petr to the Mumbai City family. In the last few years, we have played the ‘City Way’ and showcased some exciting football under two excellent coaches. However, the salience of the ‘City’ philosophy is that it stands strong on an ideology and does not rely on any one single individual,” said Kandarp Chandra, CEO of Mumbai City FC.

“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,” said Petr Kratky.

Petr will arrive in India and join the Islanders’ camp today and will take charge in his first game for the Islanders against FC Goa in the Indian Super League on December 12.