Black Leopards FC is a South African football club based in

Thohoyandou Thohoyandou ( ve, Ṱhohoyanḓou) is a town in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. It is the administrative centre of Vhembe District Municipality and Thulamela Local Municipality. It is also known for being the former capital of the bantust ...

, Vhembe Region,

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

that plays 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 Afric ...

History

The club was founded in 1983 by business people in the Vhembe Region. In 1998 the club was taken over by the Thidiela family. After just two seasons of campaigning in the

, Black Leopards FC was promoted to the ABSA Premier Soccer League. In 2008 they were relegated back to the

after playing for seven seasons in the Absa Premiership but the club made its return to the top tier division three years later.

Honours

*First Division Inland Stream: 1 ::2000-01 *National First Division promotion/relegation playoffs: 2 ::

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

:: 2017–18

Club records

*Most starts: Christopher Netshidzivhe 163 *Most goals: Mulondo Sikhwivhilu 44 *Most capped player:

Robert Ng'ambi Robert Ng'ambi (born 11 September 1986) is a Malawian retired footballer who played most of his career for South African clubs Black Leopards and Platinum Stars. Playing at the midfielder position he earned 66 caps with the Malawi national team. ...

*Most starts in a season:

Nkosiyabo Xakane Nkosiyabo Xakane is a football defender. He plays for FC Cape Town in the South African National First Division The National First Division (NFD), officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the secon ...

36 (2011–12) *Most goals in a season: David Zulu 16 (2013–14) *Record victory: 7–1 vs

Bush Bucks Bush Bucks is a South African association football club. The club was founded in 1957 and originally based in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. In 2001, the team moved to East London. It was nicknamed ''Imbabala (The Bucks)''. History The club was fo ...

(13/4/02), (PSL) *Record defeat: 0–5 vs

Kaizer Chiefs Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) are a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premier Soccer League. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Lords" or "Chi ...

(9/9/03), (PSL)

Premier Soccer League record

* 2001–02 – 8th * 2002–03 – 11th * 2003–04 – 8th * 2004–05 – 14th * 2005–06 – 12th * 2006–07 – 11th * 2007–08 – 15th (relegated) * 2011–12 – 14th *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

– 16th (relegated) * 2018–19 – 13th * 2019–20 – 15th *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

– 16th (relegated)

Club officials/Technical team

* Coach:

Morgan Shivambu Morgan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend * Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin * Morgan (singer), ...

First team squad

Shirt sponsor and kit manufacturer

*Shirt sponsor: None *Kit manufacturer: Umbro

Notable former coaches

* Milo Bjelica (1999) *

Jacob Sakala Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jac ...

Jan Simulambo Jani Liabwa Simulambo (born 9 November 1953) is a former Zambian footballer and coach. Nicknamed ''Be Good,'' Simulambo had an outstanding career and played at the heart of Zambia’s midfield for close to ten years, representing the country a ...

(2000) *

Gavin Hunt Gavin Hunt (born 11 July 1964) is a South African former football (soccer) player and coach who currently manages Supersport United. He previously managed Premier Soccer League club Kaizer Chiefs. On 28 May 2021 Kaizer Chiefs released him from ...

(July 2001 – 2 June) * Arnaldo Salvado (2002) *

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

(2003) *

Ephraim Mashaba Ephraim Mashaba (born 6 August 1950) is a South African former soccer player and manager. Career Mashaba managed Vaal Reef Stars until the club was relegated from the South African top-tier. He managed the South Africa national team, but w ...

(Feb 2004 – 5 March) *

Jean-Yves Kerjean Jean-Yves Kerjean (born 25 June 1958 in Ploudalmézeau) is a French retired football coach and footballer who is last known to have managed Stade Brestois B in his home country. South Africa Given the Orlando Pirates head coach post in 2001 ...

(2005) *

Boebie Solomons Abubakaar "Boebie" Solomons (born 22 March 1955 in Cape Town) is a South African football coach who last coached Premier Soccer League club Polokwane City. He is one of the few footballing coaches in the country to have won winners medals for bo ...

(April 2006 – 8 March) *

Bibey Mutombo Kalambay "Bibey" Mutombo (2 October 1961 – 8 August 2008) was a Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congolese football (soccer), football manager. He was born in Kinshasa. He died on 8 August 2008 in Belgium after a long illness. Clubs mana ...

(July 2006 – 6 Oct) *

Mlungisi Ngubane Mlungisi Raphael "Professor" Ngubane (born 20 February 1956 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal) is a former South African football (soccer) player and coach currently managing National First Division club Thanda Royal Zulu. He previously coached Durban ...

(Nov 2006 – 7 Jan) *

Hans-Dieter Schmidt Hans-Dieter Schmidt (born 9 January 1948) is a former German football player turned manager. Playing career Schmidt's playing career – part of which he spent with Hannover 96 – ended early after a severe injury at the age of 23. Coaching ca ...

(Jan 2007 – 7 June) * Joel Masutha ''(interim)'' (March 2008) *

Augustine Eguavoen Augustine Owen Eguavoen (born 19 August 1965) is a Nigerian football manager and former player who thrice served as manager of the Nigeria national team. Playing career Club During his varied career Eguavoen began his career with ACB Lagos in ...

(March 2008) * Sheppard Murape (March 2008 – 8 June) * Joel Masutha (June 2008 – 9 June) *

Mario Marinica is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...

(June 2009 – 10 June) *

Vladislav Heric Vladislav ( be, Уладзіслаў (', '); pl, Władysław, ; Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, sh-Cyrl, Владислав) is a male given name of Slavic origin. Variations include ''Volodislav'', ''Vlastislav'' and ''Vlaslav' ...

(2009–10) *

Sunday Chidzambwa Sunday Marimo Chidzambwa is a Zimbabwean association football coach and former player. Early and personal life He was born in Enkeldoorn. He is nicknamed "Mhofu" in Zimbabwe. His younger brother Misheck was also a Zimbabwean international p ...

(Oct 2010 – 11 Oct) *

(Oct 2011 – 12 May) *

(May 2012 – 12 Oct) * Ian Palmer (Oct 2012 – 12 Dec) * Abel Makhubela ''(interim)'' (Jan 2013–) * Kostadin Papic ( August 2013 – May 2014) *

Zeca Marques José "Zeca" Marques (born 16 August 1961) is a Portuguese South African football (soccer) manager. Personal Born in Porto, Portugal, Marques and his family moved to Johannesburg during his childhood. In South Africa he has been nicknamed "Mr ...

(June 2014–20xx) * Jean-Francois Losciuto (−2017) *

Ivan Minnaert Ivan Jacky Minnaert is a Belgian football coach who is currently assigned to Al-Ittihad Tripoly of the Libyan Premier League as of 2018/2019. He holds an UEFA Pro Licence, the highest football coaching qualification. He received the UEFA Pro L ...

(2017) *

Cavin Johnson Cavin Dennis Johnson (born 11 November 1958)Kickoff PSL Yearbook 2012/2013, p. 40 is a South African soccer coach who currently works as an assistant coach at Al Ahly in the Egyptian Premier League. Johnson has previously managed South Afric ...

(2019–2020)

References

External links

* {{National First Division Association football clubs established in 1983 Premier Soccer League clubs Soccer clubs in Limpopo National First Division clubs 1983 establishments in South Africa Polokwane