RANS Nusantara FC has announced that they will be playing out of Sleman Regency in the Special Region of Yogyakarta for the upcoming 2023/24 Liga 1 Indonesia season. The Prestige Phoenix will be ground-sharing with PSS Sleman at the Maguwoharjo Stadium, which will replace their previous ground-share agreement with Persikabo 1973 at the Pakansari Stadium in Bogor Regency.
“Hopefully everything goes smoothly. Sleman is a great area. Close to Yogyakarta. I think for foreign players, you can be happy in Sleman,” said RANS Nusantara chairman Raffi Ahmad, as quoted from Bola.com in a video uploaded on Tuesday that saw the actor sending off his team to Yogyakarta.
The Pakansari Stadium will be closed for renovations throughout the first half of the 2023/24 season, forcing its two tenants to play elsewhere. While RANS Nusantara are moving to Sleman for good this season, Persikabo instead decided to temporarily move to the Wibawa Mukti Stadium in Cikarang, Bekasi Regency, at least for the first half of the season.
Finishing dead last in the 2022/23 campaign, RANS Nusantara were saved by the decision taken to abolish relegation following the Kanjuruhan Stadium disaster, and the Prestige Phoenix are more than determined to ensure that a repeat of such dismal performances won’t occur again this season.
Under new head coach Eduardo Almeida, RANS Nusantara had beaten two powerhouses of Indonesian football in Persija Jakarta and Arema FC, the former being beaten 2-1 on June 21st and the latter also succumbing to a 2-1 defeat on June 25th.
“I would like to thank the guys as we got a new mentality and spirit. I hope we can develop step by step throughout this season,” said Raffi, “Last season, our results were bad. But, I believe you guys. We are a team. I have always believed, there is no superman, there is a super team. My target is not grandiose, just give our best, play to our heart’s content.”
As part of their rebuild for the upcoming season, RANS Nusantara had brought in several new players, such as Misbakus Solikin, Kushedya Hari Yudo, Dallen Doke and Paulo Sitanggang, as well as Filipino international Kenshiro Daniels and Angola international Evandro Brandao. The Prestige Phoenix also retained the services of former Borussia Dortmund man Mitsuru Maruoka, who impressed in his debut season despite RANS Nusantara’s abysmal performance in the league.