Ajax Cape Town F.C.

**Home colours**

**Away colours**

Template:AFC Ajax sections
**Ajax Cape Town** (Template:Lang-af, pronounced [ˈɑːjaks ˈkɑːpstat]) is a South African football club based in Parow that plays in the Premier Soccer League. Dutch Eredivisie club AFC Ajax is their parent club and acts as the majority shareholder.

## History

Ajax Cape Town was formed in 1999 via the amalgamation of two Cape Town-based teams, Seven Stars and Cape Town Spurs, as AFC Ajax expanded their worldwide talent-feeder network to South Africa.

Ajax, nicknamed Urban Warriors, played their first official game against Kaizer Chiefs in the Iwisa Charity Spectacular on 17 July 1999. Ajax caused an upset when they beat Chiefs 1–0 with Sam Pam, the Ajax Cape Town captain, scoring the winning goal.

Former South Africa national team coach Gordon Igesund, the country's most successful club coach, who won league titles with Manning Rangers, Orlando Pirates, Santos and Sundowns, coached the club from 2002 until 2006.

Since coming into existence, Ajax has never won the league title with their highest finish being runners-up in 2003–04, 2007–08 and 2010–11. Ajax managed to win the Rothmans Cup in 2000, the Nedbank Cup in 2007, the Telkom Knockout in 2008 and most recently the MTN8 in 2015.

In January 2007 Ajax CT managed to beat AFC Ajax 3–1 in a friendly game held in Cape Town. The next friendly, played in Amsterdam, ended in a 3–2 win for AFC Ajax in July 2009.

Over the years several Ajax CT players have made the step to the mother club, among them Steven Pienaar in 2002, Daylon Claasen in 2009, Eyong Enoh in 2008 and Thulani Serero in 2011.

In July 2013, it was announced that the Comitis brothers, longtime partners and shareholders with the Efstathiou brothers, had sold their shares to the Efstathiou family. Ari Efstathiou was announced as the new chairman, and Muhsin Ertuğral was reinstated as manager of the club, following an interim managerial period after originally being hired as the clubs new technical director.

In September 2015, Ajax won the 2015 MTN8 tournament edging Kaizer Chiefs 1–0 in the final.

## Youth program

Since the inception of the club, Ajax Cape Town have imported the AFC Ajax philosophy and effective youth development schemes in the Western Cape. The majority of the senior squad players have come up from the club's own youth ranks, such as the likes of Nazeer Allie, Granwald Scott and Thulani Hlatshwayo, while others such as Steven Pienaar and Thulani Serero have moved on to some of the top clubs in Europe.

With the introduction of the Ajax Cape Town Community Scheme in conjunction with the South African Police Services, Ajax CT also provides football opportunities to young people within the greater Cape Town area regardless of race, gender, social status or disability, facilitated through structured programs in a safe and fun learning environment.

Since then the Ajax Cape Town Community Scheme has been implemented in more than 120 schools across the Western Cape as far as the Cape Winelands, reaching more than 8,000 children.

## Stadium

In the beginning Ajax CT played their home games at Athlone Stadium and Newlands Stadium. The latter is a 51,900 capacity venue, which was first built in 1888, and was also host to the 1995 Rugby World Cup opening match. Essentially being a rugby stadium, it was a home they shared with clubs Santos and Vasco da Gama, as well as rugby teams Stormers and Western Province. Athlone Stadium was home to the Santos and has a capacity of 30,000. The stadium located in Athlone, Cape Town was also host to some of Ajax CT early home matches as well.

Moving to the Green Point Stadium, an 18,000 seat multi-purpose stadium in the Green Point area of Cape Town. The stadium was eventually demolished in 2007 to make way for the new Cape Town Stadium for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Construction of the new stadium was completed in 2009, and the Urban Warriors have played their home games at the Cape Town Stadium since the beginning of the 2010–11 Premier Soccer League season to an improved capacity of 55,000. On 3 August 2011 a contract extension of three years was negotiated with the stadium, which will see Ajax CT playing their home games there until 2014.

The first match played at the new stadium was a Cape Town derby between Ajax CT and Santos on 23 January 2010 as part of the official inauguration of the stadium.

Ajax Cape Town also has a modern training facility called Ikamva located in Parow, Cape Town (33°53′45.5″S 18°34′41.5″E﻿ / ﻿33.895972°S 18.578194°E﻿ / -33.895972; 18.578194

Fatal error: The format of the coordinate could not be determined. Parsing failed.

). It serves as the training grounds for the senior squad, as well as for the Ajax Cape Town Youth Development Academy. It has hosted a number of foreign clubs among them German Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart during their midseason camp in 2014 as well as Viking FK from Norway.

## Shirt sponsor & kit manufacturer

* Shirt sponsor: Huawei
* Kit manufacturer: Adidas

## Honours

### Cup competitions

* **MTN 8: 1**

Winners: 2015
* **Rothmans Cup/Telkom Knockout: 2**

Winners: 2000, 2008
* **ABSA Cup: 1**

Winners: 2007
### Preseason

* **Mangaung Cup: 2**

Winners: 2007, 2008
## Performance in CAF competitions

### Continental appearances

* **CAF Champions League: 2 appearances**

2005 – Final Group Round
2009 – First Round
* **CAF Confederation Cup: 1 appearance**

2008 – First Round of 16
### Continental results

(1) CCP = CAF Co-efficiency points. Total amount of points for CAF Coefficient: **17.0**
## Club records

* Most starts: File:Flag of South Africa.svg Brett Evans 311
* Most goals: File:Flag of South Africa.svg Thembinkosi Fanteni 42
* Most capped player: File:Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Edelbert Dinha
* Most starts in a season: File:Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Edelbert Dinha 41 (2000–01)
* Most goals in a season: File:Flag of South Africa.svg Mabhuti Khenyeza 23 (2008–09)
* Record Victory: 5–1 vs Moroka Swallows (19/2/06, PSL); vs File:Flag of Cameroon.svg Mount Cameroon (26/4/08, CAF Confederation Cup)
* Record defeat: 0–6 v Orlando Pirates (22/9/04, PSL); vs Golden Arrows (24/10/09, MTN 8)

### Premier Soccer League record

* 1999–00 – 4th
* 2000–01 – 11th
* 2001–02 – 14th
* 2002–03 – 13th
* 2003–04 – 2nd
* 2004–05 – 6th
* 2005–06 – 11th
* 2006–07 – 4th
* 2007–08 – 2nd
* 2008–09 – 7th
* 2009–10 – 7th
* 2010–11 – 2nd
* 2011–12 – 9th
* 2012–13 – 14th
* 2013–14 – 12th
* 2014–15 – 5th
* 2015–16 – 10th
 17 years in the PSL and yet AJAX CT have still not won the league...

## First team squad

*As of 29 June 2017*

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

### 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.

* Template:Country data GHA Lawrence Lartey
* File:Flag of Zambia.svg Aubrey Funga
* File:Flag of Zambia.svg Rodrick Kabwe
* File:Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Thomas Chideu
* File:Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Erick Chipeta

### On loan

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

### Retired numbers

* **21** – File:Flag of South Africa.svg Cecil Lolo (Defender, 2009–15). *Number retired on 30 October 2015 at Lolo's memorial service.*

## Club officials/Technical team

* Honorary Life Chairman: File:Flag of South Africa.svg **John Comitis**
* Chief Executive Officer: File:Flag of Greece.svg **Ari Efstathiou**
* Chief Commercial Officer:File:Flag of Greece.svg Alexi Efstathiou
* General Manager of Football: File:Flag of Germany.svg **Maximilian Grünewald**
* Head coach: File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg **Stanley Menzo**
* Assistant coach: File:Flag of South Africa.svg **Mich d'Avray**
* Goalkeeper coach: File:Flag of South Africa.svg **Andre Petim**
* Multichoice Diski Challenge team coach: File:Flag of Serbia.svg **Vladislav Heric**
* ABC Motsepe team coach: File:Flag of Serbia.svg **Vladislav Heric**
* Head of scouting: File:Flag of South Africa.svg **Sergio Dos Santos**

## Notable former players

*Main article: List of Ajax Cape Town players*

## List of Ajax Cape Town managers

* File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Leo van Veen (1999–00)
* File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Henk Bodewes (2000)
* File:Flag of South Africa.svg Steve Haupt *(interim)* (2000–01)
* File:Flag of England.svg Rob McDonald (2001–02)
* File:Flag of South Africa.svg Gordon Igesund (2002–06)
* File:Flag of Turkey.svg Muhsin Ertuğral (2006–07)
* File:Flag of South Africa.svg Craig Rosslee (2007–09)
* File:Flag of Turkey.svg Muhsin Ertuğral and File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jan Pruijn *(interim)* (2009)
* File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Foppe De Haan (2009–11)
* File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Maarten Stekelenburg (2011–12)
* File:Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Wilfred Mugeyi and File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jan Pruijn *(interim)* (2012)
* File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jan Versleijen and File:Flag of Turkey.svg Muhsin Ertuğral *(int.)* (2013)
* File:Flag of Turkey.svg Muhsin Ertuğral (2013–14)
* File:Flag of South Africa.svg Ian Taylor *(interim)* (2014)
* File:Flag of South Africa.svg Roger De Sá (2014–2016)
* File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Stanley Menzo (2016–)

## References

1. ↑ Ajax kom nou tuis by Kaapstad-stadion Nuus24, geraadpleegd 28 augustus 2011
2. ↑ http://www.kickoff.com/news/35388/comitis-brothers-sell-shares-in-ajax-cape-town-after-feud-with-efstathiou-family
3. ↑ Soccer in South Africa Archived 17 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
4. ↑ "Comitis-familie stapt uit Ajax CT", Ajax Showtime. Retrieved on 2013-07-08.
5. ↑ "Efstathiou: Ertugral Stays, Comitis goes", Kick Off Magazine. Retrieved on 2013-07-08.
6. ↑ Ajax Cape Town Club History. ajaxct.com (5 August 2011). Retrieved on 5 August 2011.
7. ↑ Chiefs to use Rand Stadium this season. KickOff Magazine (30 June 2010). Archived from the original on 9 August 2010. Retrieved on 8 July 2010.
8. ↑ Ajax CT to use Cape Town Stadium as Home Ground. Goal.com (3 August 2011). Retrieved on 5 August 2011.
9. ↑ Norwegian Giants At Ikamva. Soccerladuma.co.za (27 January 2014). Retrieved on 24 September 2015.
10. ↑ http://www.ajaxct.co.za/jersey-no-21-belongs-to-lolo/
11. ↑ "Blank Ajax Cape Town vaart tegen stroom in", Trouw, 2 October 1999. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.
12. ↑ "Bodewes takes the helm at Ajax Cape Town", IOL News, 5 May 2000. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.
13. ↑ "Ajax, Pirates ponder problems ahead of replay", IOL News, 12 December 2000. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.
14. ↑ "Just be consistent, McDonald tells Ajax", IOL News, 5 May 2001. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.
15. ↑ "Ajax system to become 'Igesund way'", IOL News, 13 August 2002. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.
16. ↑ "Ajax Cape Town appoint Igesund replacement", Mail & Guardian, 13 June 2006. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.
17. ↑ "South Africa: Rosslee Set to Continue Youth Policy at Ajax", All Africa, 27 June 2007. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.
18. ↑ "Ertuğral Confirmed As New Ajax Cape Town Coach", Goal.com, 18 May 2009. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.
19. ↑ "Jan Pruijn In Charge Of Ajax Cape Town For Now", Goal.com, 17 October 2009. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.
20. ↑ "Introducing the New Coach for Ajax Cape Town", Cape Town Magazine, 17 October 2009. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.
21. ↑ "Maarten Stekelenburg coach Ajax Cape Town", AD.nl, 21 June 2011. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.
22. ↑ "Ajax CT wins under interim coaches", Ajax.nl, 18 October 2012. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.
23. ↑ "Pruijn wants to take over as head coach of Ajax Cape Town", Goal.com, 23 October 2012. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.
24. ↑ "Ertuğral steps into the Ajax Cape Town hot seat as Versleijen resigns", Goal.com, 25 April 2013. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.
25. ↑ "Ajax Cape Town coach Muhsin Ertuğral: The team is stable", Goal.com, 3 July 2013. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.
26. ↑ "Taylor to take over from Ertuğral", Africanfootball.com, 23 January 2014. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.
27. ↑ "Roger De Sá unveiled as Ajax Cape Town coach", Goal.com, 20 February 2014. Retrieved on 27 October 2014.

## External links

* Official website
* Premier Soccer League
* PSL Club Info
* South African Football Association
* Confederation of African Football

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