History
Kaizer Chiefs were founded on 7 January 1970 shortly after the return of Kaizer "Chincha Guluva" Motaung from the USA 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 Kaiser 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.
In addition to its impressive record of 80 titles in 36 years, the Chiefs have also set benchmarks in local soccer sponsorship.
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.
Read more about this topic: Kaizer Chiefs F.C.
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