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

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 DStv ...

, 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 champio ...

, 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 mo ...

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 Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's premier club soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of giving lower league and amateur teams a chance t ...

, 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 The National First Division (NFD), officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African club football after the South African Premier Division. Both the NFD and South Afr ...

, 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 The South African Soccer League (SASL) was an association football league based in South Africa. It was formed in 1961 and folded in 1967. It was established by the South African Soccer Federation which represented the black African, Coloured and ...

**''Winners'': 1965 *

Mainstay Cup The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's premier club soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of giving lower league and amateur teams a chance t ...

**''Winners'': 1983 *

Bob Save Super Bowl The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's premier club soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of giving lower league and amateur teams a chance ...

**''Winners'': 1989, 1991 *

BP Top Eight Cup 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'': 1975, 1979 *

Sales House Cup Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in ...

**''Winners'': 1978 *

ABSA Cup The ABSA Cup, formerly the Barclays Cup, is the current branding for an association football single-elimination tournament, cup competition launched in 2007 by the Football Association of Zambia. Participants are decided half-way through curren ...

**''Winners'': 2004 *

**''Winners'': 2009 * MTN 8 ** ''Winners'': 2012 *

**''Winners'': 2019–20

Club records

*Most starts:

Andries Mpondo Andries "Chaka Chaka" Mpondo (born 22 January 1963) is a retired South African football (soccer) striker who played for Moroka Swallows his whole career. Early life Mpondo played for Roman Rangers and Meadowlands Inter African Eleven as a ...

395 *Most goals:

Thomas Hlongwane Thomas "Who's Fooling Who" Hlongwane (17 March 1962 – 14 October 2006) was a South African footballer who played striker. Arcadia Shepherds He joined the Arcs in the late 70s and became their Footballer of the Year in 1981 Moroka Swallows ...

73 *Most capped player:

Lerato Chabangu Mpho Lerato Chabangu (born 15 August 1985) is a South African soccer player who plays as a right winger for Baberwa. He has previously played for the South Africa national football team.Andries Mpondo Andries "Chaka Chaka" Mpondo (born 22 January 1963) is a retired South African football (soccer) striker who played for Moroka Swallows his whole career. Early life Mpondo played for Roman Rangers and Meadowlands Inter African Eleven as a ...

49 (1986) *Most goals in a season:

27 (1985) *Record Victory: 8–0 vs

African Wanderers African Wanderers is a South African professional football club, based in the Chatsworth township, which is a suburb of Durban in South Africa. The club currently play in the KwaZulu-Natal province of Vodacom League The ABC Motsepe League, p ...

(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 coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

– 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 wat ...

/ 2015 – 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 gat ...

– 9th * 2011/

– 2nd * 2010/ 2011 – 13th * 2009/ 2010 – 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; ...

/ 2009 – 11th * 2007/

– 7th * 2006/ 2007 – 3rd * 2005/ 2006 – 4th * 2004/ 2005 – 5th * 2003/ 2004 – 7th * 2002/ 2003 – 4th * 2001/ 2002 – 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 from S ...

/ 2001 – 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'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

– 11th * 1996/

– 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 Walter Rautmann (born 30 August 1945) is an Austrian retired football coach and player. He has coached Mpumalanga Black Aces F.C., Mpumalanga Black Aces, Dangerous Darkies, Real Rovers, Moroka Swallows F.C., Moroka Swallows, Rabali Blackpool,

Eddie Lewis Edward Lewis may refer to: Politicians * Edward Lewis (Devizes MP) (1650–1674), British MP for Devizes, 1669–1674 * Edward Lewis (Radnor MP), British MP for Radnor, 1761–1768, 1769–1774 and 1775–1790 * Edward Parke Custis Lewis (1837–1 ...

(1989–91) * Sandile Bali (1991–92) * Milo Bjelica (1992) *

Mich d'Avray Jean-Michel (Mich) d'Avray (born 19 February 1962 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a former professional association footballer who spent the majority of his playing career at Ipswich Town. He was most recently Technical Director at Ajax Cape To ...

(1992–93) *

Walter da Silva Walter Cesar Nogueira da Silva (12 January 1942 – 21 May 2009) was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a striker. Active primarily in South Africa – scoring a total of 162 goals for Highlands Park, Powerlines, Hellenic and Be ...

(1999) * Viktor Bondarenko (2000–02) * Gavin Hunt (1 July 2002 – 30 June 2007) * Ian Gorowa (1 July 2007 – 30 June 2008) *

Júlio César Leal Júlio César Leal Junior (born April 13, 1951 in Itajuba, Brazil) is an association football manager. Leal has coached clubs in Kuwait, Brazil, Japan, United States and South Africa. He parted ways with Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates ...

(1 July 2008 – 30 June 2009) *

Rainer Zobel Rainer Zobel (born 3 November 1948) is a German football manager and former player. Playing career Zobel was born in Wrestedt. He played for FC Bayern Munich during the 1970s. Coaching career In 2005, Zobel was head coach of Persepolis F.C. in ...

(17 July 2009 – 28 Nov 2010) *

Gordon Igesund Gordon Igesund (born 22 July 1956) is a former South African football player and coach who was most recently the manager of Highlands Park in the Premier Soccer League. Early life Igesund was born in Durban to George Norman Igesund (born 193 ...

(29 Nov 2010 – 30 June 2012) * Zeca Marques (1 July 2012 – 2014) *

Craig Rosslee Craig William Rosslee (born 1 January 1970 in Cape Town) is a former South African association football player and manager. Rosslee enjoyed success as a player with Cape Town Spurs, Hellenic and Santos. He made his league debut for Cape Town S ...

(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