Kaizer Chiefs F.C.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 08/2014
Full name:
Kaizer Chiefs Football Club
Nicknames:
Amakhosi (Chiefs)
Glamour Boys
Founded:
7 January 1970
Ground:
FNB Stadium, Soweto, Johannesburg
Capacity:
94,736
Chairman:
Kaizer Motaung
Coach:
Stuart Baxter
League:
ABSA Premiership
2012-13:
ABSA Premiership, 1st
Kaizer Chiefs Football Club is a South African football (soccer) 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 most supported club in South Africa and the neighbouring countries of Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia etc.
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.
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.
Kaizer Chiefs are known as Amakhosi by its fans.
Their headquarters is Kaizer Chiefs Village, in Naturena, six kilometres south of Johannesburg.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Kaizer Chiefs' forays into Africa were temporarily scuttled by a Confederation of African Football (CAF) ban.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.