Kaizer Chiefs F.C.

Kaizer Chiefs
Full name	Kaizer Chiefs Football Club
Nickname(s)	Amakhosi (Chiefs),; Glamour Boys
Founded	7 January 1970
Ground	FNB Stadium, Soweto, Johannesburg
Capacity	94,796
Chairman	Kaizer Motaung
Manager	Steve Komphela
League	ABSA Premiership
2014–15	ABSA Premiership, 1st
Home colours	Away colours

Kaizer Chiefs Football Club is a South African football club based in Johannesburg that plays in the Premier Soccer League. The team is nicknamed Amakhosi, which means "lords" or "chiefs" in Zulu, and the "Phefeni Glamour Boys". They currently play most of their home games at Soccer City in Nasrec, Soweto, which is commonly also referred to as the FNB Stadium. The club is arguably the most successful football club in the country, and also the second most supported club in South Africa and the neighbouring countries of Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia etc only behind their soweto rivals Orlando Pirates. It has been estimated that the club has over 16 million supporters.

The team has a local rivalry with Orlando Pirates, a fellow Soweto team which Chiefs founder Kaizer Motaung played for in his early playing career. Famous players who donned the black and gold jersey in the past include former national team captains Neil "Mokoko" Tovey, Lucas "Rhoo" Radebe and also Patrick "Ace" Ntsoelengoe and Doctor "16V" Khumalo.

Chiefs were banned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) from competing in African club competitions until 2009 after their abrupt withdrawal from the 2005 CAF Confederation Cup. This was the second time in four years that Chiefs had been penalized by CAF for refusal to participate in a scheduled CAF competition.

Kaiser Chiefs, a British indie/britpop band, was named after the club because Lucas Radebe, a former player of Kaizer Chiefs, captained Leeds United, the team they all supported.^[1]

History

Kaizer Chiefs were founded on 7 January 1970 shortly after the return of Kaizer "Chincha Guluva" Motaung from the United States where he played as a striker for the Atlanta Chiefs of the North American Soccer League (NASL). He combined his own first name with the Atlanta Chiefs to create the name of Kaizer Chiefs.

Several other people have played key roles in the formation and growth of Kaizer Chiefs, including the late Gilbert Sekgabi, Clarence Mlokoti, China Ngema,Ewert "The Lip" Nene and Rabelani Jan Mofokeng, he trailed and quit because of work.^[2]

Kaizer Chiefs are known as Amakhosi by its fans. Their headquarters is Kaizer Chiefs Village, in Naturena, six kilometres south of Johannesburg.^[2]

The 2001/2002 season was one of the Club’s most successful in their history as well as their most tragic. They won four major trophies in four months; the Vodacom Challenge, the BP Top Eight, the Coca-Cola Cup, and the African Cup Winners' Cup.^[3] At the time the team was said to have been a team that was on "Operation vat alles" by its then public relations officer Putco Mfani, "vat alles" being an Afrikaans statement meaning "take everything" in English. However, the highs of cup wins was contrasted by the lows of the Ellis Park Stadium disaster on 11 April 2001, in which 43 fans were crushed to death during the Soweto derby between Chiefs and their arch-rivals Orlando Pirates.^[4]

By virtue of winning the African Cup Winners' Cup, Chiefs went on to play the 2001 CAF Champions League winners Al-Ahly of Egypt in the 2001 CAF Super Cup. In April 2002, Kaizer Chiefs' achievements during 2001 were recognized as they were chosen as the "CAF Club of the Year" by the Confederation of African Football.^[2]

In the 2003/2004 season Chiefs were given the Fair Play Award at the Peace Cup in South Korea. Chiefs ended the season as league champions, winning the PSL for the first time in their history.^[5]

During the championship race of the 2004/2005 soccer season, Chiefs overtook the season-long leaders (Orlando Pirates) in the last game of the season to defend its PSL championship. Under the leadership of Romanian coach Ted Dumitru, Zambian striker Collins Mbesuma had a record-breaking season scoring 39 goals in all competitions.^[6]

Kaizer Chiefs' forays into Africa were temporarily scuttled by a Confederation of African Football (CAF) ban.^[7] However, it still made its presence felt through the annual Vodacom Challenge that pit Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates with an invited European club. Chiefs have won the Vodacom Challenge Cup 5 times since its inception. They beat a young Manchester United side 4-3 on penalties in the 2006 Challenge to win the trophy.^[8]

In March 2007, coach Ernst Middendorp and the club parted company. The club instantly appointed their rival team Orlando Pirates' former coach Kosta Papić for the remainder of the 2006/7 season.^{[citation needed]}

Muhsin Ertuğral returned for the 2007/2008 season to begin his second stint with Chiefs having already coached The Glamour Boys from 1999 until 2003.^[9]

Stadiums

Amakhosi Stadium

During the past years, the Amakhosi have used no less than nine stadiums in Johannesburg as their home-ground, and often rotated between several stadiums during the season. In August 2006, the club made a strategic decision to sign a "mutual interest agreement" with a stadium developer and the local municipality regarding the construction of a new permanent home venue for Kaizer Chiefs, at a total planned cost of R1.2 billion (£105m), which was to be partly owned by the club. This future home venue was named Amakhosi Stadium, and will be situated in Krugersdorp, roughly 40 km west of Johannesburg. Initially it was planned to open in December 2008, but according to the latest revised construction plan, it is now expected only to be finalized by August 2012. The planned stadium was redesigned into a cheaper project, with a new price tag at R700 million, and the capacity being reduced from 55,000 to 35,000 seats.^[10] As part of the new revised construction plan for the stadium, it was announced by Kaizer Chiefs, that they no longer plan to be one of the owners of the stadium, but remain ready to support the stadium as a long time committed tenant.

The new stadium was initially planned to be part of a greater sports precinct, into which the club would also move its entire "Kaizer Chiefs Youth Development Programme". The Gauteng Provincial Government have agreed to develop the needed infrastructures around the stadium, in order to guarantee sufficient road and railway access for the huge crowd of spectators.

The stadium developers initially had set time lines for the Amakhosi stadium, to open its doors for the public in December 2008. As of July 2010, construction however had not yet started. Kaizer Chiefs announced in August 2010, that construction of Amakhosi Stadium was now expected only to start in fall 2010, and finalised by August 2012. It had been postponed several years, due to Kaizer Chiefs and its joint partners, facing difficulties to finance the construction. For the football seasons in 2010-12, the team instead planned to use Rand Stadium as their home venue.^[11]

Kaizer Chiefs however only played four of their 15 home games at Rand Stadium in 2010-11, due to some experienced capacity problems, with the transportation related infrastructures around the stadium -and a low spectator attendance. Instead the team during this season, played most of their home games, at the big FNB Stadium -Soccer City.^[12]

FNB Stadium/Soccer City

FNB Stadium is a stadium located in Johannesburg, with a capacity of 94,736 seats. It is located next to the South African Football Association headquarters (SAFA House), where both the FIFA offices and the Local Organising Committee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is housed.^[13]

The Soweto derby

The Soweto derby between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates is one of the most fiercely contested matches in world football, and in contrast to most of the other games played in the South African Premier Soccer League, matches between the two rivals always attract a large fanbase.

Achievements

League

Premier Soccer League: 4

Champions 2003-04, 2004-05, 2012-13, 2014-15

National Soccer League: 3

Champions 1989, 1991, 1992

NPSL: 5

Champions 1974, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1984

^[14]

Cup competitions

MTN 8: 15

Winners 1974, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 2001, 2006, 2008, 2014

Telkom Knockout: 13

Winners 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010

Nedbank Cup: 13

Winners 1971, 1972, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1992, 2000, 2006, 2013

Charity Spectacular: 11

Winners 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2010

Ohlsson's Challenge Cup titles: 2

Winners 1987, 1989

Castle Challenge Cup: 2

Winners 1990, 1991

Stylo Cup: 1

Winners 1970

UCT Super Team Competition: 1

Winners 1972

Sales House Cup: 6

Winners 1974, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984

Panasonic Cup: 1

Winners 1986

Carling Black Label Cup: 1

Winners 2013

International

African Cup Winners' Cup: 1

Winners 2001

African Club of the Year: 1

Winners 2001

Vodacom Challenge: 5

Winners 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2009

Club records

Most appearances – Doctor Khumalo 497
Most goals – Marks Maponyane 85
Most capped player – Siphiwe Tshabalala 83
Most appearances in a season – Neil Tovey 52 (1992)
Most goals in a season (all competitions) – Collins Mbesuma - 35 2004/05 (Previous record Fani Madida 34 in 1991)
Record win – 9–1 vs Manning Rangers (Coca-Cola Challenge – 23 March 1996)
Record loss – 1-5 vs AmaZulu (League - 8/6/86), Orlando Pirates (League - 3/11/90)

Premier Soccer League record

1996/97 - 2nd
1997/98 - 2nd
1998/99 - 2nd
1999/00 - 3rd
2000/01 - 2nd
2001/02 - 9th
2002/03 - 6th
2003/04 - 1st
2004/05 - 1st
2005/06 - 3rd
2006/07 - 9th
2007/08 - 6th
2008/09 - 3rd
2009/10 - 3rd
2010/11 - 3rd
2011/12 - 5th
2012/13 - 1st
2013/14 - 2nd
2014/15 -1st

Club officials/Technical team

Executive chairman: Kaizer Motaung
Football manager: Bobby Motaung
Team manager: Gerald Sibeko
Coach: Steve Komphela
Assistant coaches: Doctor Khumalo & Arthur Zwane
Goalkeeper coach: Rainer Dinkelacker &Brian Baloyi

First team squad

As of 13 March 2015

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	RSA	Reyaad Pieterse
3	DF	RSA	Erick Mathoho
4	DF	RSA	Daniel Cardoso
5	DF	RSA	Siboniso Gaxa
5	DF	RSA	Siyanda Xulu
6	MF	RSA	Reneilwe Letsholonyane
9	FW	TOG	Camaldine Abraw
12	MF	RSA	George Maluleka
14	MF	RSA	Siphiwe Tshabalala (Captain)
16	GK	RSA	Nhlanhla Khuzwayo
17	MF	RSA	George Lebese
18	DF	RSA	Kgotso Moleko
19	FW	RSA	Bongani Ndulula


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
20	FW	RSA	Siphelele Mthembu
23	DF	RSA	Keegan Ritchie
24	DF	RSA	Tsepo Masilela
25	FW	RSA	Bernard Parker
26	DF	RSA	Lorenzo Gordinho
27	MF	RSA	Hendrick Ekstein
29	FW	ZIM	Ovidy Karuru
30	DF	UGA	Ivan Bukenya
31	MF	ZIM	Willard Katsande
36	DF	RSA	Simphiwe Mtsweni
83	DF	RSA	Morgan Gould

On loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	ZIM	Lincoln Zvasiya (at OFI Crete until 30 June 2014)
—	MF	RSA	Abia Nale (at Mpumalanga Black Aces until 30 June 2014)
—	FW	RSA	Sakhile Hlongwa (at Thanda Royal Zulu until 30 June 2014)

Foreigners

In the South African PSL, only five non-South African nationals can be registered. Foreign players who have acquired permanent residency can be registered as locals.