Mamelodi Sundowns F.C.

**Home colours**

**Away colours**

**Mamelodi Sundowns** are a South African football club based in Pretoria that plays in the Premier Soccer League. They are the most successful team in the PSL era. They are also regarded as one of the giants in Africa.

Since the inception of the PSL in 1996 Sundowns have won the league title a record seven times and they are the current CAF Champions League champions and 2016 CAF Club Of The Year. They have also won the Nedbank Cup four times, and hold the joint record of three National Football League Championships and they are the only South African team to compete in the FIFA Club World Cup where they finished in 6th place

Sundowns are owned by billionaire mining magnate Patrice Motsepe. The club's nickname, *The Brazilians*, is a reference to their uniforms, which echo those of the Brazilian national team.

## History

Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club originated from Marabastad, a cosmopolitan area North West of the Pretoria CBD.

The club was originally formed in the early 1960s by a group of youngsters, among whom were Reginald Hartze, Joey Lawrence and Bernard Hartze, to mention but a few, and it became an official football club in 1970.

The club was affiliated to the Federation Professional Football League in 1973 and in the same year reached the finals of the Coca-Cola Cup, where they played against Berea United and lost 5–3.

In 1978, the Federation Professional Football League threw their weight behind the then National Professional Football League. This meant the end of the Federation Professional Football League and the subsequent relegation of Sundowns to the second division.

For five years 'Downs battled to gain promotion and during that period the Sundowns' management resolved to disband the club, but instead the club relocated to Mamelodi in the early 1980s.

In 1985 South African football was the first sport to become non-racial and the National Soccer League was formed incorporating the top clubs in the country.

Sundowns earned promotion to the NPSL in 1983 but in their first season in top-flight football, they found the going difficult until Zola Mahobe came on board in 1985 and appointed Ben Segale as their coach.

In 1988, the ownership of the club fell into the hands of Standard Bank, which repossessed the club from Zola Mahobe. The club went into liquidation and the football family Angelo and Natasha Tsichlas spoke to the bank and saved the club. They then formed a company with Abe Krok and bought 100% of the club. Under the Tsichlas/Krok leadership Sundowns became the best team in South Africa. They won the first NSL League Trophy with Angelo Tsichlas as coach.

### Premier Soccer League

National Soccer League was replaced by Premier Soccer League for the 1996–97 season. Sundowns won three consecutive titles from 1998 to 2000 as well as being Bob Save Super Bowl winners in 1998 and Rothmans Cup winners in 1999.

The club reached the final of the 2001 CAF Champions League where they were defeated 4–1 on aggregate by Egyptian club Al Ahly.
Under Tsichlas the team became the best in South Africa and won more trophies than any other team in the country.

In 2004, mining magnate Patrice Motsepe bought a 51% share in the club and later took total control of the club by buying the remaining shares, thus becoming the sole owner and shareholder of the club. Under their new owner, Sundowns picked up their first piece of silverware for six years in May 2006 when co-coaches Miguel Gamondi and Neil Tovey oversaw Sundowns' triumph in the PSL, the seventh league title in their history.

After a slow start to the 2006–07 season, Gamondi and Tovey were relieved of their positions, and Gordon Igesund took over as head coach. Under Igesund, Sundowns defended their title in emphatic style, running away with the trophy. They failed to win the 'double', losing to Ajax Cape Town in the 2007 ABSA Cup final.

After a stuttering start to the 2009–10 season, an impressive run through the second half of the season saw the club to second position in the final league standings. The club nevertheless parted ways with coach Hristo Stoichkov.

In the 2010–11 season, Antonio Lopez Habas, who was the assistant coach under Stoichkov, took over the reins of the senior team. Sundowns made its best ever start to a League season and topped the league standings at the end of the first round. The second round of the league proved more competitive and Sundowns were in the hunt for the league title until the second last match. Habas resigned in February, citing personal reasons and went back to Spain. Assistant coach Ian Gorowa was appointed as interim head coach.

In 2011 Johan Neeskens was appointed coach of Sundowns.

On 2 December 2012 Pitso Mosimane took over as head coach and under his leadership Mamelodi Sundowns won the league 2013/2014 and 2015/2016 season. Mosimane oversaw the rise of Sundowns to win the CAF Champions League, which was the goal of owner Patrice Motsepe when he bought the club in 2004. 2017 Sundowns became the first team in South Africa to win the Caf Super cup by defeating TP Mazembe from DRC.

On 4 March 2012, the team set a remarkable South African record in the Nedbank Cup when they beat Powerlines by 24–0.

### 2016

Starting line up for CAF Champions League 2016 Final first leg

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Sundowns were eliminated in the preliminary rounds of the 2016 CAF Champions League, but were placed back in the competition after Congolese team Vita Club were disqualified from the competition for fielding a suspended player. They continued in the competition all the way to the final, where they beat Egypt's Zamalek SC 3–1 on aggregate, claiming their first ever continental title and becoming only the second South African team to be crowned champions of Africa.

## Honours

### National Titles

* **Premier Soccer League**

**Winners (7)**: 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2013–14, 2015–16 **Record**
*Runners-up (3)*: 2009–10, 2014–15, 2016-17
* **National Soccer League**

**Winners (3)**: 1988, 1989–90, 1992–93
*Runners-up (2)*: 1990–91, 1994–95
* **Nedbank Cup**

**Winners (4)**: 1986, 1998, 2008, 2014–15
*Runners-up (5)*: 1989, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2011–12
* **Telkom Knockout**

**Winners (3)**: 1990, 1999, 2015
*Runners-up (4)*: 1997, 1998, 2007, 2012
* **MTN 8**

**Winners (3)**: 1988, 1990, 2007
*Runners-up (6)*: 1992, 1994, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2016
### Challenge Cup's

* **Telkom Charity Cup**

**Winners (5)**: 1991, 2000, 2004, 2005,2006
### African Competitions

* **CAF Champions League:**

* **CAF Super Cup:**

### Individual Awards

* **African Club of the Year 2016**
* **South African team of the year 2016**
* **PSL team of the season 2015-16, 2013-14**

## Performance in CAF Competitions

**NB:** South African football clubs started participating in CAF Competition's in 1993, After 16 years of being banned from FIFA due to the apartheid system. The ban started from 1976 to 1992

* **African Cup of Champions Clubs / CAF Champions League: 10 appearances**

The club have 1 appearances in African Cup of Champions Clubs 1994 and 9 appearances in CAF Champions League from 1999 until now.

* **CAF Confederation Cup: 4 appearances**
* **CAF Super Cup: 1 appearance**

* **CAF Cup: 2 appearances**
* **African Cup Winners' Cup: 1 appearance**

Note
* DNQ - Did Not Qualify
* The CAF announced on 24 May 2016 that Mamelodi Sundowns won on walkover after AS Vita Club were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player in their preliminary round tie against Mafunzo.Mamelodi Sundowns played in the Confederation Cup play-off round before they were reinstated to the Champions League.

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## Performance in Fifa Club World Cup

* **FIFA Club World Cup: 1 Appearance**

**NB**: Mamelodi Sundowns is the first football club from Southern African to represent CAF in FIFA Club World Cup, following their 2016 CAF Champions League success.

*As of 18 December 2016*

## First team squad

*As of 22 September 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 ALG Fares Hachi
* File:Flag of Brazil.svg Ricardo Nascimento
* File:Flag of Burundi.svg Fiston Abdul Razak
* File:Flag of Botswana.svg Mogakolodi Ngele
* Template:Country data COL Leonardo Castro
* Template:Country data CIV Soumahoro Bangaly
* Template:Country data CIV Yannick Zakri
* Template:Country data GHA Brimah Razak
* File:Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Cuthbert Malajila

Permanent residency:

* Template:Country data LBR Anthony Laffor
* Template:Country data UGA Denis Onyango
* File:Flag of Zambia.svg Kennedy Mweene
* File:Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Khama Billiat

## Shirt sponsor & kit manufacturer

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 1990-1994

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## References

1. ↑ "Sundowns make South African history with 24–0 win", *BBC Sport*, BBC, 4 March 2012. Retrieved on 7 March 2012.
2. ↑ Downs thrash Powerlines in record win. Sundowns FC (4 March 2012). Retrieved on 7 March 2012.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mortada Mansour blames sorcery for Zamalek African Champions League defeat. *The Guardian* (24 October 2016). Retrieved on 24 October 2016.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mamelodi Sundowns. Kickoff.com. Retrieved on 2013-11-17.
5. ↑ Disqualification of AS Vita Club. CAF (24 May 2016).
6. ↑ Kickoff PSL Yearbook 2013/2014, p. 28.

## External links

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

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