RANS Nusantara Football Club (formerly known as Cilegon United and RANS Cilegon) is an Indonesian football club based in Malang Regency, East Java. RANS Nusantara compete in the Championship, the second tier of Indonesian football, and play their home matches at Kanjuruhan Stadium, having moved there from Batu for the 2026–27 season. The club is nicknamed The Magenta Force and The Prestige Phoenix.
The club was founded in 2012 as Cilegon United in Cilegon, Banten, and won the Second Division in 2013 and the First Division in 2014. In 2021 it was acquired by RANS Entertainment, an entertainment company owned by Raffi Ahmad and Nagita Slavina, and the supercar dealership Prestige Motorcars, and renamed RANS Cilegon. The club finished as runners-up in the 2021–22 Liga 2, earning promotion to Liga 1, and adopted its current name in 2022. After two seasons in Liga 1 it was relegated in 2024, and it was relegated again from Liga 2 in 2025. RANS Nusantara won the 2025–26 Liga Nusantara to return to the second tier after a single season in the third.
History
Cilegon United (2012–2020)
The club was founded in 2012 as Cilegon United Football Club in Cilegon, Banten. It won the 2013 Second Division and the 2014 First Division in consecutive seasons, and the resulting promotions took it to the second tier. Cilegon United remained at that level until its acquisition in 2021, although its 2015 and 2020 seasons were not completed. Kas Hartadi was head coach from 2014 to 2017.
RANS takeover and promotion (2021–22)
On 31 March 2021, Cilegon United was acquired by RANS Entertainment, a company owned by Raffi Ahmad and Nagita Slavina, and Prestige Motorcars, a supercar dealership in North Jakarta, and renamed RANS Cilegon Football Club. RANS Cilegon began the 2021–22 Liga 2, then the second tier, on 28 September 2021 with a 3–1 defeat to Dewa United at the Gelora Bung Karno Madya Stadium. They finished second in their first-round group, Group B, after a 3–0 win over PSKC Cimahi on 1 December, and topped Group X in the second round after a 0–0 draw with Sriwijaya on 22 December. Five days later, a 3–0 semi-final win over PSIM Yogyakarta secured promotion to Liga 1, then the top tier, but RANS Cilegon lost the final 2–1 to Persis Solo on 30 December and finished as runners-up. On 30 May 2022, at the 2022 PSSI Ordinary Congress in Bandung, the club was renamed RANS Nusantara Football Club.
Liga 1 (2022–24)
In the 2022–23 Liga 1, RANS Nusantara finished bottom of the 18-team table with 19 points from 34 matches, having won three, drawn ten and lost 21. They avoided relegation because the Liga 2 season was halted after the Kanjuruhan Stadium disaster: no club was promoted, and the league operator did not apply relegation that season.
In the 2023–24 season, RANS Nusantara finished 16th, with eight wins, 11 draws and 15 defeats, and were relegated to the Liga 2 after two seasons in the top tier. They did not win any of their last 18 matches.
Relegation and return to the Championship (2024–present)
In the 2024–25 Liga 2, RANS Nusantara finished bottom of the relegation round and were relegated to the third tier, Liga Nusantara, after one season in the second tier. The club moved its home base to Batu, East Java, ahead of the 2025–26 season.
In the 2025–26 Liga Nusantara, Kas Hartadi, on loan from PSMS Medan, where he was technical director, took over as head coach before the knockout stage. RANS Nusantara beat Persiba Bantul 2–1 in the semi-finals to secure promotion to the Championship. They won the title on 8 February 2026, beating Dejan 4–3 on penalties after the final at Sriwedari Stadium in Surakarta ended 2–2 after extra time. RANS Nusantara entered the 2026–27 Championship with Hartadi, who had also coached the club when it was Cilegon United, as head coach and Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang Regency as its home ground.
Stadium
As Cilegon United, the club played at Krakatau Steel Stadium in Cilegon. It has changed home base several times since, playing in Cilegon, Bogor and Bantul before moving to Batu in 2025. In Batu, the club planned to use Brantas Stadium, which it was to share with the local Liga 4 side Persikoba Batu.
For the 2026–27 season, RANS Nusantara announced Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang Regency, which is also the home ground of Arema, as its new home. Club management said it chose the stadium because it is the closest to Batu, where the team had prepared during the previous season.
Supporters
RANS Nusantara's supporters are known as Boys of RANS. When the club changed its name in 2022, its operations director, Darius Sinathrya, said the aim was to widen its supporter base to include fans of Raffi Ahmad, followers of football in Cilegon and supporters elsewhere in Indonesia.
Mascot
The club's mascot is a phoenix wearing a white club jersey. Its head, body and the bases of its wings and tail are magenta, the tips of its crest, wings and tail shade into blue, and its legs are orange.[citation needed]
Players
Current squad
As of September 2026
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
