CAPS United F.C. is a

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

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

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

. Formed in 1973, the team rose to prominence in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was formerly nicknamed the Manchester Road Boys because of their former address. The team's current nicknames are "Makepekepe" and "Green Machine". Caps United was also known as the "Cup Kings" as they were known to perform well and win cup competitions.

History

The team is popularly known as the "Cup Kings" or "Makepekepe" due to their dominance in most cup tournaments. They are Harare's second most popular team after their rivals Dynamos F.C., whose fans refer to them as "Madzvinyu" (Lizards). While CAPS United have fewer trophies than Dynamos, they have produced some of the country's best players, including legends

Shacky Tauro Shackman "Shacky" Tauro (28 June 1959 – 17 June 2009) was a Zimbabwean association football, football player and coach. Career Playing career Tauro, who played as a forward (association football), striker, spent his entire professional caree ...

and Brenna Msiska, along with other great players. In 1972, Maurice Kraemer decided to start an official football outfit to entertain workers at Central African Pharmaceuticals, a business based at Manchester Road. Just one year later CAPS Rovers was registered as a team in the Northern Region. Coach, Steven Kwashi led the team to victory in the 1996 championship. In 2004, Charles Mhlauri took over the club, winning back-to-back championships with the club only losing one game in 2004; a 4–3 home defeat to

Highlanders F.C. Highlanders Football Club, or more commonly Highlanders F.C., is a Zimbabwean football club based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe that plays in the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League. It is also known colloquially as iBosso, Amahlolanyama. Founded in 1926 ...

in a thrilling game at the National Sports Stadium. On 30 August 2010, Lloyd Chitembwe's 20-month stint as CAPS United's head coach ended when his contract was terminated by mutual consent, following a poor run of results that had sparked a rebellion among the club's fans. On 12 January 2012,

Sean Connor Sean Connor (born 12 July 1967) is a Northern Irish football manager and former player who is the head coach at Botswana Premier League club Jwaneng Galaxy. He had a brief playing career which included spells at Distillery, Port Vale, Maccle ...

was appointed manager. Due to the large fan bases and the passionate rivalry between CAPS United and the Dynamos, their games are referred to as the "Harare Derby", and they attract huge crowds. As for other rivalries, the matches between CAPS United and

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

side Highlanders FC have been dubbed the "Battle of the Cities". In the past, these matches have been associated with violence with the match at

Barbourfields Stadium Barbourfields Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located iBarbourfields Suburbin Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The stadium is currently used mostly for association football, football matches. It is owned by Bulawayo, Bulawayo City Council and it is the ...

in 2004 being abandoned due to crowd trouble in the 88th minute after CAPS United came from 3–1 down to level the match at 3–3.

Crest

File:CAPS United.png, Former logo File:CAPS United (logo).png, Present logo

Management

*Manager: Lloyd Chitembwe *Assistant Manager: Nelson Matongorere *Assistant Manager: Fungai "Tostao" Kwashi *Assistant Manager: Tonderai Marume

Honours

*BP Cup: 4 ::1996;1997;1998/99:2002 *

Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League is the top professional division of the Zimbabwe Football Association. It was founded in 1980, as a successor to the 1962 formed ''Rhodesia National Football League.'' It is currently sponsored by Delta Beverages ...

: 5 ::1979, 1996, 2004, 2005, 2016 * Castle cup, ZIFA cup, CBZ: 9 ::1980, 1981, 1982, 1983,1989, 1992, 1997, 2004, 2008 *

Zimbabwean Independence Trophy The Zimbabwean Independence Trophy is a Zimbabwean association football knockout tournament. It was created as a clubs competition in 1983 played during commemorations of the country's independence. The final is usually played on 18 April, which is ...

: 4 ::1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 * Zimbabwean Charity Shield: 2 ::1996;

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

* Zambezi Challenge Cup - Malawi: 1 ::2014

Performance in CAF competitions

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 ...

: 4 appearances ::

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

– Third Round ::

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 ...

– Second Round ::

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

– disqualified in Second Round ::

– Group Stage (Top 16) *

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 ...

: 2 appearances ::

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 ::

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

– Second Round of 16 *

CAF Cup The CAF Cup was an annual competition organised by the CAF for domestic leagues runners-up of member associations who have not qualified to one of the two pre-existing CAF international club competitions the African Cup of Champions Clubs or t ...

: 3 appearances ::

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 ...

– withdrew in First Round ::

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 ...

– disqualified in First Round ::

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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

– withdrew in First Round *

CAF Cup Winners' Cup The African Cup Winners' Cup was a football competition that started in 1975 and merged with the CAF Cup in 2004 to form the CAF Confederation Cup. It was a competition between the winning clubs of domestic cups in CAF-affiliated nations and was ...

: 4 appearances ::

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

– Second Round ::

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

– Quarter-finals ::

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

– Quarter-finals ::

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 ...

– First Round

Current squad

Historical list of coaches

* Sarupinda asu* Ashton Nyazika * Lovemore Nyabeza * Freddie Mukwesha * Nti Bihene Bonzu * Shaky Tauro * Kabole * Mafemba * Friday Phiri * Steve Kwashi * Brenna Msiska * Luke Masomere * Justin Mathuthu * Rahman Gumbo (2002–03) * Fewdays Musonda (2003) * Charles Mhlauri (2004–05) * Lloyd Chitembwe (2008–10) * Moses Chunga (2010–11) *

(2012) * Mkhuphali "Mike" Masuku (2012) * Taurai Mangwiro (2013–14) * Mark Harrison (2015) * Lloyd Chitembwe (2015–19) * Darlington Dobo (2019–22) * Lloyd Chitembwe (2022-)

References

External links

* {{Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League Association football clubs established in 1973 Football clubs in Harare 1973 establishments in Rhodesia Works association football teams