Credit: http://thesportseagle.co.za
LEGIONS of supporters descend on soccer stadiums wherever they play, some with faces painted in the colours of their team. They come chanting songs, beating drums, blowing horns and whistling to spur on their heroes.
orlando.jpgOn the one hand: Orlando Pirates, known affectionately as 'the ghosts' or the Mighty Buccaneers, with their menacing black and white skull and crossbones symbol.
On the other hand: Kaizer Chiefs, otherwise known as the Amakhosi, with a more regal two-fingerer peace sign and distinctive bright gold colours.
The two Jo'burg teams have triggered excitement and intense rivalry whenever they have played over the last three decades. South Africans have played soccer for over a century. However, it was only in the 1970s that a non-racial professional league was established, indeed soccer was the first major team sport to become fully non-racial. So passionate are South Africans about soccer that many consider it the national sport, pulling in a far larger following than any other game, especially among black South Africans.
As the economic hub of the country, Johannesburg teams have always dominated the local premier league. Their strategic location enables them to attract much sought after sponsorship and thus secure the best players money can buy. Of the 18 teams currently in the local premier league, five are based in Jo'burg. The biggest teams in the country are the arch rivals, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, both rooted in Johannesburg's Soweto.
Established in 1937, Pirates has for decades been a symbol of civic pride in Orlando township where it originated. Born in the midst of urban squalor, where most football teams played what was then called 'street soccer', it became a symbol of black sporting prowess.
Pirates is the longest surviving black team. It had its first heyday in the amateur league of the 1950s when it won virtually every accolade and every trophy. As a professional club, Pirates has performed consistently well, except in the late 1980s and early 1990s when it went through a dry spell. The glorious period for the team in the professional league was in the 1970s. The club won the National Professional Soccer League title in 1971, 1973, 1975 and 1976. Since the 1970s, Pirates has won more than 20 trophies.
The worst period in the team's history came in 1985 when it was split into two factions, following a similar breakaway in the professional league. However, the club's fortunes have since improved. As the reigning league champion, Pirates remains to date, the team to beat in South Africa. Its crowning moment came in 1995 when it became the first South African team to win the African Champions Cup Winners trophy. The team followed this up by winning the African Super Cup Winners cup the following year.
Other major Johannesburg teams such as Kaizer Chiefs and Jomo Cosmos owe their genesis to Orlando Pirates.
Kaizer Chiefs was established in 1970 as a break-away team from Orlando Pirates. Under the leadership of its managing director, Kaizer Motaung, many disillusioned Pirates players left to form a new club. Motaung was at the time one of the most distinguished Orlando Pirates stars. Motaung had left Pirates to ply his trade in the North American Soccer League and on his return, he recruited a group of his old teammates and they toured the country playing exhibition games. The tour was so successful that the team was never disbanded. Today, 'Amakhosi,' as they are affectionately called by their fanatical supporters, command by far the biggest following in the country.
Originally from Phefeni in Soweto, Chiefs now has its headquarters in Naturena, south of Johannesburg. Perhaps because the identity of the team revolves around the personality of its flamboyant MD, the team has never suffered from factionalism or internal divisions. Everywhere they play, whether home or away games, their bright yellow colours decorate the stadium. This popularity has brought wealth to the team, as sponsors always consider it a worthwhile investment.
Chiefs is a renowned collector of treasures in the league, having won the league on eight occasions, as well as 50-odd other trophies. The team's biggest achievement however is the African Cup Winners Cup, which they won in the 2000 season.
For more information on Chiefs, visit their website at: www.kaizerchiefs.com
Wits University is the team with the longest history in the city, dating back to 1922. It was originally established as a university soccer team but from 1961 it began playing semi-professional soccer in the second division of the white National Football League (NFL), moving up to the first division in 1976.
In 1978, the team was one of the first NFL teams to join the non-racial National Professional Soccer League, entering with a bang to win the coveted Mainstay Cup by beating the much more fancied Chiefs, as well as finishing second in the league. It was not until 1984 that the club lifted a trophy again after winning the BP Top Eight. The glorious moment however came in 1995 when the team won both the BP and the Coca Cola cup. To read more about Wits, visit: http://www.witsfc.tierranet.com/
The legendary Jomo Sono who has been appointed the technical director of the national squad
Jomo Cosmos has a more recent genesis. The team's claim to fame is that it is owned by a man who, in his day, was the most illustrious player in the country. Jomo Sono, known as 'the black prince', is arguably the most accomplished player South Africa has had. He played for Pirates and in the USA before moving on to establish his own team in 1983.
As a club manager and coach, Sono has made a name for himself by his ability to spot talent. He is by far the country's most successful talent scout, having discovered many of the big-name players in the country who went on to play for overseas teams. The team's support base remains modest though. Its major achievement to date is winning the league in 1987 and the Bob Save Super Bowl in 1990.
Another Johannesburg team steeped in history is Moroka Swallows Limited - also known as 'The Birds'. Established in 1947, Swallows were the archrivals of Pirates throughout the 1950s. The club reached its peak in the 1970s, when it gained a reputation for playing entertaining football. The league title has eluded the team, but they have had better luck with trophies, winning four cups in the 1970s and the Iwisa Charity Spectacular in 1992. As I write, in early 2002, Moroka Swallows occupies the first position on the log.
The team has been dogged by infighting and splits since the 1960s, compounded by financial problems. Its supporters are mainly older people who still cherish memories of the team's invincibility in the 1970s. The youth of today don't share this sense of nostalgia and as such the team's support base has dwindled considerably over the years.
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