Moroka Swallows Football Club (often known as simply Swallows or The Birds) is a South African professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, Kick (football), kicking a Football (ball), ball to score a Goal (sport), goal. Unqualified, Football (word), the word ''football'' normally means the form of football tha ...

club based in

Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...

in the city of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to De ...

in the

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

province. Founded in 1947, Swallows are one of the original two

clubs, together with

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club (often known as "The Buccaneers") is a South African professional football club based in the Houghton suburb of the city of Johannesburg and plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as DSt ...

, thus contest what is known as the Original Soweto Derby. Until relegation in the 2014–15 season, the club had played every season of the

Premier Soccer League Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

. They won the 2019–20 National First Division and competed in the

2020–21 South African Premier Division The 2020–21 South African Premier Division season (known as the DSTV Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 25th season of the Premier Soccer League since its establishment in 1996. Mamelodi Sundowns were the three-time defending champion ...

, they finished 6th in what was their first season back in top-flight football league system and qualified for 2021 MTN 8 Cup competition. They play their home matches at

Dobsonville Stadium The Dobsonville Stadium, formerly Volkswagen Dobsonville Stadium and also referred to as Dobsie Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Soweto, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. The venue is managed by Stadium Management SA (SMSA). It is m ...

History

The club was founded in the 1940s by a trio of soccer lovers, Ishmael Lesolang, Strike Makgatha, and Johnny Kubheka. They originally named the side ''Congregated Rovers'' after the firm in which most of the players and officials worked, later changing it to ''Moroka Rovers''. But then, on 10 October 1947, the trio decided to change the name again to ''Moroka Swallows'', basing themselves in the township formally known as Masakeng. The name has lasted for the best part of 55 years, a period which has seen consistent success both on the field and off it. The name 'moroka' means 'rain maker' in Setswana and the township was probably named after Chief Moroka of Barolong boo-Seleka who became the president of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

in 1940s. It is hardly surprising therefore that the club was renamed the 'rain bird'. The 1950s and 1960s were a successful time for the club, culminating in their greatest ever achievement, winning the South African League title in 1965. Off the field, the club was becoming a business and in 1971 they became the first ever football team to register as a public company. That same year they were also the first to receive an official sponsorship when Teljoy began their association with the club. The decade between 1982 and 1992 was a successful one for the team, culminating in four pieces of silverware. In 2007, the club celebrated its 60th anniversary. Two years later Swallows won the Nedbank Cup, the club's first piece of silverware for five years. The club narrowly avoided relegation in the 2013–14 season, finishing thirteenth. The 2014–15 season saw them relegated for the first time in their history, finishing 15th, and failing to retain their position after being defeated in the promotion-relegation playoffs. Following their first relegation from the top level, the club finished bottom of the log in the National First Division, and were relegated again to the SAFA Second Division. Prior to the start of the 2018–19 season, Swallows purchased the franchise of National First Division team Maccabi for R8 million, and competed in the 2019–20 National First Division. At the end 2019–20 National First Division season, the club gained promotion to the

following a 3–0 win against third-placed Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila F.C., and will compete in the

Honours

* South African Soccer League **''Winners'': 1965 * Mainstay Cup **''Winners'': 1983 * Bob Save Super Bowl **''Winners'': 1989, 1991 * BP Top Eight Cup **''Winners'': 1975, 1979 * Sales House Cup **''Winners'': 1978 * ABSA Cup **''Winners'': 2004 * Nedbank Cup **''Winners'':

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

MTN 8 MTN 8 is the current branding for a South African soccer cup competition launched in 1972 for teams who finished in the top 8 positions of the league table of the country's preceding top-flight league (currently the DStv Premiership) season. ...

** ''Winners'': 2012 * National First Division **''Winners'': 2019–20

Club records

*Most starts: Andries Mpondo 395 *Most goals: Thomas Hlongwane 73 *Most capped player: Lerato Chabangu 13 *Most starts in a season: Andries Mpondo 49 (1986) *Most goals in a season: Thomas Hlongwane 27 (1985) *Record Victory: 8–0 vs African Wanderers (29 September 1991, NSL) *Record Defeat: 2–6 vs Hellenic (7/3/85, Sales House Cup); Rangers (3/7/87, NSL) Source:

Premier Soccer League record

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

– 6th *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

– 15th *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

– 13th *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gath ...

– 9th *

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who Assassination of Muammar Gaddafi, was killed tha ...

– 2nd *

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull, Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A ...

– 13th *

– 8th *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

– 11th *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhut ...

– 7th *

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

– 3rd *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered ...

– 4th *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

– 5th *

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

– 7th *

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

– 4th *

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

– 6th *

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen fro ...

– 15th *

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

– 12th *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

– 15th *

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic (1997 film), Titanic'', the List of highest-grossing films, highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; ...

– 11th *

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

– 11th

Club officials/Technical team

*MD & Chairman: David Mogashoa *CEO: Sipho Xulu *Head Coach: Ernst Middendorp

First team squad

''Updated 13 August, 2022''

Notable players

* Brad Norman (2019): He converted into the first South African to play in Paraguay following his stint with Moroka Swallows.

Notable former coaches

* Walter Rautmann * Eddie Lewis (1989–91) * Sandile Bali (1991–92) * Milo Bjelica (1992) * Mich d'Avray (1992–93) * Walter da Silva (1999) * Viktor Bondarenko (2000–02) * Gavin Hunt (1 July 2002 – 30 June 2007) * Ian Gorowa (1 July 2007 – 30 June 2008) * Júlio César Leal (1 July 2008 – 30 June 2009) * Rainer Zobel (17 July 2009 – 28 Nov 2010) * Gordon Igesund (29 Nov 2010 – 30 June 2012) * Zeca Marques (1 July 2012 – 2014) * Craig Rosslee (March 2015–)

References

External links

*
Premier Soccer LeaguePSL Club InfoSouth African Football AssociationConfederation of African Football
{{Greater Johannesburg, sports Association football clubs established in 1947 Soweto Premier Soccer League clubs National First Division clubs Soccer clubs in Johannesburg Sport in Germiston 1947 establishments in South Africa