Cape Town Spurs F.C. (formerly known as Ajax Cape Town) 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 (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in Parow in the city of

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

that plays in the

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

. Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

was their parent club and majority shareholder after a merger of both Cape Town Spurs and Seven Stars in January 1999 until selling its shares in September 2020.

History

Cape Town Spurs were formed on 11 January 1970, competing in the

Federation Professional League The Federation Professional League (FPL) was a South African soccer league founded in 1969. At the time, under the country's apartheid policies, integrated sport was prohibited, and the National Football League The National Football Lea ...

from 1971 until 1984, winning the league seven times, and the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

from 1985 to 1995, winning the championship in the final season, before the establishment of the

South African Premiership The South African Premiership, also known as the Betway Premiership for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the PSL after its governing body, is a professional soccer league in South Africa and the highest level of the South Afr ...

in 1996. The club also won league and the Cup in 1995, then known as the Bob Save Super Bowl.

Ajax Cape Town era

In 1999 Ajax Cape Town was formed via the amalgamation of two Cape Town-based teams, Seven Stars and Cape Town Spurs, as

expanded their worldwide talent-feeder network to South Africa, with the club adopting the club crest of the Amsterdam-based club. Ajax Cape Town was originally founded by John Comitis and Rob Moore in 1999. John Comitis, the honouree life chairman of Ajax Cape Town, later sold his shares in the club after 14 years at the helm and is now the chairmen of his new football team, Cape Town City Football Club. 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 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 ...

, the country's most successful club coach, who won league titles with Manning Rangers,

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club, referred to as simply Pirates, is a South African professional football club based in Orlando, Soweto that plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as Betway Premiership. The team plays i ...

, 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 The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's Premier Soccer League, premier club association football, soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of gi ...

in 2007, the

Telkom Knockout The Carling Knockout Cup is a South African professional soccer knockout competition which comprises the 16 teams in the South African Premiership. The Carling Knockout Cup is the third of the three main cups administered by the PSL along with ...

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 Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, 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 Steven Jerome Pienaar (; born 17 March 1982) is a South African former professional footballer and current coach of the U14 team of Sharjah FC in the United Arab Emirates. He hails from Westbury, a suburb in Johannesburg's Westrand. He was a ...

in 2002, Daylon Claasen in 2009, Eyong Enoh in 2008 and

Thulani Serero Thulani Caleb Serero (born 11 April 1991) is a South African soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Cape Town City and the South African national team. He started his career at Ajax Cape Town in the South African Premier Soccer League, ...

in 2011. In July 2013, it was announced that the Comitis brothers, longtime partners and shareholders with the Efstathiou brothers, had sold their Cape Town Stars shares, (19.6% of Ajax Cape Town), to the Efstathiou family. Ari Efstathiou was announced as the new chairman, and

Muhsin Ertuğral Muhsin Ertuğral (born 15 September 1959) is a UEFA Pro Licensed Turkish football manager. Playing career Ertuğral played for Antalyaspor before leaving his homeland and continuing his career at clubs in Belgium and Germany where he also ho ...

was reinstated as manager of the club, following an interim managerial period after originally being hired as the club's new technical director. In September 2015, Ajax won the 2015 MTN8 tournament edging Kaizer Chiefs 1–0 in the final. Ajax CT were relegated to the

after finishing bottom in the 2017–18 season due to having points deducted. Ajax CT were deducted points for fielding Thendai Ndoro, who, according to the governing

Premier Soccer League The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the administrative body for professional soccer leagues and cups in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, and was founded in 1996 following an agreement between the National Soccer League and the remnant ...

, was an illegible player. Ajax CT had previously been given the green light by the league and had officially registered the player with them as they were in possession of his player card. The team, therefore would have not been relegated had the points not been deducted and had the league not overturned their original decision that Ndoro was eligible to play. Ajax CT finished in 4th place, outside of the playoff positions, in the 2018–19 National First Division, and again failed to achieve promotion the following season after losing in the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

Black Leopards Black Leopards FC is a South African professional association football, football club based in Thohoyandou, Vhembe, Vhembe Region, Limpopo, that plays in the National First Division. History The club was founded in 1983 by business people in ...

. Shortly thereafter, Ajax Amsterdam sold their 51% share in Ajax Cape Town. In 2020, Ajax CT ended their association with Dutch club AFC Ajax, with Cape Town Stars acquiring full control of the club, and they subsequently renamed it Cape Town Spurs.

Youth programme

The likes of Nazeer Allie, Granwald Scott and

Thulani Hlatshwayo Thulani Tyson Hlatshwayo (born 18 December 1989) is a South African professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Supersport United. Career Ajax Cape Town Hlatshwayo was born in Soweto, Gauteng. He made his professional debut for Aj ...

came up through the youth ranks, while others such as Steven Pienaar and Thulani Serero have moved on to some of the top clubs in Europe. As of 2011, the then Ajax Cape Town Community Scheme had been implemented in more than 120 schools across the Western Cape as far as the Cape Winelands, reaching more than 8,000 children.

Stadium

Cape Town Spurs play most of their games at the

Athlone Stadium The Athlone Stadium is a stadium in Athlone on the Cape Flats in Cape Town, South Africa. It is used mostly for soccer matches and it is the home ground of Cape Town Spurs. The stadium holds 34,000 people and it was built in 1972. The stadiu ...

. From 1999, Ajax CT played their home games at Athlone Stadium and

Newlands Stadium The Newlands Stadium is located in Cape Town, South Africa. The stadium has a capacity of 51,900 people, but is not an all-seater venue. Various sports teams used the stadium as their home base, including: * Stormers in Super Rugby * Wester ...

. The latter is a 51,900 capacity venue, which was first built in 1888, and was also host to the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup (), was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in ...

opening match. Essentially being a rugby stadium, it was a home they shared with clubs Santos and

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

, as well as rugby teams

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) and the academic team DHL Stormers is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a tra ...

and

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

. Athlone Stadium was home to the Santos and has a capacity of 30,000. The stadium located in

Athlone, Cape Town Athlone is a suburb of Cape Town located to the east of the city centre on the Cape Flats, south of the N2 highway. Two of the suburb's main landmarks are Athlone Stadium and the decommissioned coal-burning Athlone Power Station. Athlone is ma ...

was also host to some of Ajax CT early home matches as well. Spurs later moved to the Green Point Stadium, an 18,000 seat multi-purpose stadium in the Green Point area of

. The stadium was eventually demolished in 2007 to make way for the new

Cape Town Stadium The Cape Town Stadium (; ; known until 2025 as the DHL Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is an association football (soccer) and rugby union stadium in Cape Town, South Africa, that was built as part of the country's hosting of the 2010 FIFA World ...

for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. Construction of the new stadium was completed in 2009, and the Urban Warriors played their home games at the Cape Town Stadium from the beginning of the 2010–11 season to an improved capacity of 55,000. On 3 August 2011 a contract extension of three years was negotiated with the stadium, which saw Ajax CT play 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. Spurs train at their home base located in Parow. (). 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 Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

during their midseason camp in 2014 as well as

Viking FK Viking Fotballklubb, commonly known as Viking or Viking Stavanger internationally, is a Norwegian professional football club from the city of Stavanger. The club was founded in 1899. It is one of the most successful clubs in Norwegian football, ...

from Norway.

Honours

League

**Winners:

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

**Winners: 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1981

Cup competitions

MTN 8 The MTN 8 is a South African soccer single-elimination tournament, cup competition launched in 1972 for teams who finished in the top 8 positions of the league table of the country's preceding season of the top-flight league (currently the Sout ...

(Top 8 Tournament) **Winners:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

¹ *

(League Cup) **Winners: 2000¹,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

¹ *

**Winners:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Pre-season

* Mangaung Cup **Winners: 2007¹, 2008¹ 1. Trophies won as Ajax Cape Town F.C. from 11 January 1999 to 28 September 2020.

Performance in CAF competitions

Continental appearances

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...

: 2 appearances ::

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

– Group stage (Top 8) ::

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

– First Round *

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...

: 1 appearance ::

– First Round of 16

Continental results

: (1) CCP = CAF Co-efficiency points. Total number of points for CAF Coefficient: 17.0

Club records

* Most starts: Brett Evans 311 * Most goals: Nathan Paulse 56 * Most capped player:

Edelbert Dinha Edelbert Dinha (born 13 March 1973 in Harare, Salisbury) is a Zimbabwean former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He works at Shumba Sports Management. He is the agent of Archford Gutu and Rodreck Mutuma. ...

* Most starts in a season:

41 (2000–01) * Most goals in a season: Mabhuti Khenyeza 23 (2008–09) * Record Victory: 5–1 vs

Moroka Swallows Moroka Swallows Football Club (often referred to as Swallows or The Birds) is a South African professional football club based in Soweto, Johannesburg, in the Gauteng province. Founded in 1947, Swallows are one of the original two Soweto clubs ...

(19 February 2006, PSL); vs

Mount Cameroon Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in the Southwest Region of Cameroon next to the city of Buea near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako (the name of the higher of its two peaks) or by its indigenous ...

(26 April 2008, CAF Confederation Cup) * Record defeat: 0–6 v

(22 September 2004, PSL); vs Golden Arrows (24 October 2009, MTN 8)

League record

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

– 18th (relegated) *

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

– 11th *

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

– 18th (relegated) *

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

– 10th *

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

– 10th *

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

– 2nd *

– 1st (champions)

Premiership

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

* 2018–19 – 4th (as Ajax Cape Town) * 2019–20 – 2nd * 2020–21 – 14th (as Cape Town Spurs) * 2021–22 – 14th * 2022–23 – 2nd

Premiership

* 2023–24 – 16th (relegated)

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

* 2024–25 – 15th (relegated)

Players

On loan

Retired numbers

*21 – Cecil Lolo ( Defender, 2009–15). ''Number retired on 30 October 2015 at Lolo's memorial service.''

Notable former players

Managers

Leo van Veen Leo van Veen (; born 6 June 1946) is a Dutch former footballer who played as a forward or defender. During his career he played for FC Utrecht, Los Angeles Aztecs, Ajax Amsterdam and RKC Waalwijk, making 555 appearances in the Eredivisie ...

(1999–00) * Henk Bodewes (2000) * Steve Haupt ''(interim)'' (2000–01) * Rob McDonald (2001–02) *

(2002–06) *

(2006–07) *

Craig Rosslee Craig William Rosslee (born 1 January 1970) is a South African association football manager and former player. Rosslee had a playing career which included time with Cape Town Spurs and Hellenic. He made his league debut for Cape Town Spurs in ...

(2007–09) *

and Jan Pruijn ''(interim)'' (2009) *

Foppe De Haan Foppe Geert de Haan (, born 26 June 1943) is a Dutch football coach. He is known for his long association with Frisian club Heerenveen. De Haan was the manager of the Tuvalu national team during 2011 and then rejoined Heerenveen's youth prog ...

(2009–11) *

Maarten Stekelenburg Maarten Stekelenburg (; born 22 September 1982) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Stekelenburg began his career at Ajax, playing 282 matches over nine seasons in his first spell there and winning nine honours ...

(2011–12) * Wilfred Mugeyi and Jan Pruijn ''(interim)'' (2012) * Jan Versleijen and

''(int.)'' (2013) *

(2013–14) * Ian Taylor ''(interim)'' (2014) * Roger De Sá (2014–2016) *

Stanley Menzo Stanley Purl Menzo (born 15 October 1963) is a Dutch football manager and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the manager of the Suriname national team. He spent ten full seasons at Ajax, appearing in more th ...

(2016–2017) *

(2017–2018) *

Andries Ulderink Andries Ulderink (born 30 July 1969) is a Dutch association football coach and a former player. He coached Dutch professional and amateur teams. He is the manager of Cape Town City in South Africa. Football career Ulderink was a footballer at V ...

(2018–20) * Vladislav Herić (2020–2021) *

Shaun Bartlett Shaun Bartlett (born 31 October 1972) is a South African professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Cape Town Spurs. During his playing career, he played as a striker. Early life Born in Cape Town, Bartlett was r ...

(2021–2023) * Ernst Middendorp (2023–present)

History

Ajax Cape Town era

Youth programme

Stadium

Honours

League

Cup competitions

Pre-season

Performance in CAF competitions

Continental appearances

Continental results

Club records

League record

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

Premiership

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

Premiership

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

Players

On loan

Retired numbers

Notable former players

Managers

References

External links