Chippa United Football Club (often known as Chilli boys or Chippa) 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

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

province, having previously been based in Nyanga suburb of 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 ...

. The club's first team currently plays in the

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 ...

's Premier Division, with the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

playing in the PSL's reserve league. The team plays most of its home games at the Buffalo City Stadium, while hosting night matches at

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is a association football, soccer and rugby union stadium in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It hosted 2010 FIFA World Cup matches, including the third-place play off. It is the home of Chip ...

History

The club was founded in January 2010 when Chippa Mpengesi purchased the Vodacom League franchise of

Paarl Paarl (; ; derived from ''parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a city with 294,457 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the largest city in the Boland, Western Cape, Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni ...

based club, Mbekweni Cosmos, for R400,000. Cosmos had won promotion from the Castle League at the end of the 2008–09 season, and started campaigning in the Vodacom League in the 2009–10 season. In 2010–11 season, the club began playing under the name, Chippa United. Chippa United's first season was very successful with the club winning the Western Cape Vodacom League before winning the Vodacom League National Coastal Stream to achieve promotion to 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 ...

. Chippa were also crowned the overall 2010–11 Vodacom League National champions after beating Inland Stream winners Sivutsa Stars. The club finished their debut season in the National First Division in 2nd place behind

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

and won promotion to the

via the play-offs in June 2012. Chippa used five managers during the course of the 2012–13 PSL season and finished 15th, eventually getting relegated after failing to win the playoffs. A

feeder team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

, called Peace Makers, was once owned by Chippa United, and ran teams under the club's umbrella. It ran a team in the SAFA Second Division and also junior teams in

's junior leagues. The Peace Makers franchise was sold to Milano United before the beginning of the 2013–14 season. In

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

the club runs its youth teams under the Chippa United name, and play in the Port Elizabeth Football Association leagues.

Ownership

Chippa United is wholly owned by Chippa Investment Holdings, which is a Cape Town-based construction, security and cleaning company founded by Siviwe "Chippa" Mpengesi. During 2015, the club was effectively under the administration of Access Facilities and Leisure Management, the operating company of

Stadium

During the club's early seasons in

, it used Philippi Stadium as its home ground. The stadium was used from 2009–10 to 2011–12 and again in 2013–14. Following the 2011–12 the club was promoted from the

to the Premier Division. Philippi Stadium was deemed not to be up to standard to host matches in the Premier Division. Due to this, the club hosted its matches at

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 ...

and

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 ...

. However, the ground had previously been used by

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 ...

during the 2010–11 season. From March 2013, the club was allowed to host matches at Philippi Stadium. Following the 2013–14 season the club was promoted to the Premier Division once more. During the off season, the club announced that it would move to

. The club and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

announced a three-year deal to use Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. The municipality also announced that certain matches would be played at the city's Wolfson Stadium and Gelvandale Stadium. During the 2014–15 season, the club was forced to host matches at the Wolfson Stadium. According to a report tabled by the Nelson Mandela Bay mayor's office, Chippa United's contract to play in the city is for 18 years, beginning with the 2014–15 season, and thus running to 2031–32. During the 2015–16 season, the club announced plans to host some of its matches at

's Buffalo City Stadium. The club cited the high cost of hosting matches at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, and lack of paying spectators as reasons for the decision.

Training ground

On the club's movement to

, it announced that it intended to use Wolfson Stadium as its training ground, and intended pursuing a long-term lease from the

Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (; ) is one of eight metropolitan municipalities in South Africa. It is located on the shores of Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape province and comprises the city of Gqeberha, the nearby towns of Uitenhage and De ...

. As the ground was not yet up to standard, the club announced that it would use Gelvandale Stadium for training, until the necessary upgrades were completed at Wolfson Stadium. During the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons, the club split its training at

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Nelson Mandela University, formerly Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, is a public university in South Africa. Established in 1882 as Port Elizabeth, Art School it comprises the former University of Port Elizabeth, the Port Elizabeth Te ...

's Second Avenue Campus and

's outdoor fields. Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium's outer fields are shared with the rugby team.

Achievements

*NFD Champions: :: 2013–14 *PSL promotion/relegation play-offs: :: 2011–12 *Second Division National play-offs: :: 2010–11 *Second Division Western Cape Stream: :: 2010–11 *Metropolitan Under-19 Premier Cup ::2012 (As ''Philippi United'') *U-17 Engen Knockout Challenge ::2015 ::2016

Club records

Premiership

* 2012–13 – 15th (relegated) * 2014–15 – 14th * 2015–16 – 6th * 2016–17 – 13th * 2017–18 – 10th * 2018–19 – 12th * 2019–20 – 11th * 2020–21 – 15th * 2021–22 – 14th * 2022–23 – 14th * 2023–24 – 12th * 2024–25 – 11th

National First Division

* 2011–12 – 2nd (promoted via play-off) * 2013–14 – 1st (promoted)

SAFA Second Division

* 2009–10 – 13th (as Mbekweni Cosmos) * 2010–11 – 1st (promoted via play-off)

Nedbank Cup

* 2011–12 – NFD qualification round * 2012–13 – Round of 32 * 2013–14 – NFD qualification round * 2014–15 – Round of 32 * 2015–16 – Round of 32

Telkom Knockout

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

– Round of 16 *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

– Round of 16 *

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 ...

– Round of 16

MTN 8

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

– Semi-finals*

PSL Reserve League

* 2014–15 – 6th (Group B) * 2015–16 – 16th

Shirt sponsor & kit manufacturer

Internationals

Players who have made an appearance for national football team, while playing for Chippa United. Caps and period refer to the number of caps earned, and the period in which they are earned, while at Chippa United.

Current squad

Managerial history

* Manqoba Mngqithi (9 July 2012 – 20 Aug 2012) * Julius Dube (23 Aug 2012 – Sept 12, 2012) * Roger Sikhakhane (Sept 13, 2012 – 28 Oct 2012) * Farouk Abrahams (28 Oct 2012 – 29 Jan 2013) * Wilfred Mugeyi (29 Jan 2013 – 11 April 2013) * Mark Harrison (12 April 2013 – 7 Oct 2013) * Ian Palmer (8 Oct 2013 – 27 Jan 2014) * Vladislav Herić (29 Jan 2014 – 30 June 2014) * Kosta Papić (1 July 2014 – Sept 3, 2014) * Roger Sikhakhane (Sept 4, 2014 – 5 Jan 2015) * Ernst Middendorp (5 Jan 2015 – 30 March 2015) * Roger Sikhakhane (2 July 2015 – 7 Dec 2015) * Dan Malesela (Dec , 2015 – Sept, 2017) * Teboho Moloi (Sept 30, 2017 – 3 Mar 2018) * Vladislav Herić (3 Mar 2018 – 27 May 2018) * Dan Malesela (27 May 2018 – 21 Aug 2018) *

Lehlohonolo Seema Lehlohonolo Seema (born 9 June 1980) is a retired Mosotho footballer who played as a defender and midfielder. He began his coaching career at Bloemfontein Celtic where he was Assistant Manager in 2013. He went on to manage Black Leopards, La ...

( – 23 Dec 2020) * Luc Eymael (23 Dec 2020 – 24 Dec 2020) * Dan Malesela (27 Dec 2020 – 4 Apr 2021) * Gavin Hunt (7 Jul 2021 – Jul 2022) * Daine Klate (Jul 2022 – Sep 2022) * Morgan Mammila (Jun 2023 – Jan 2024) * Thabo September and Kwanele Kopo (Jan 2024 – present)

Former technical directors

* Mich d'Avray * Vladislav Herić

References

External links

*
Premier Soccer LeagueChippa United F.C results
{{Premier Soccer League teamlist Soccer clubs in South Africa Association football clubs established in 2010 SAFA Second Division clubs Premier Soccer League clubs Soccer clubs in the Eastern Cape Soccer clubs in Cape Town National First Division clubs 2010 establishments in South Africa East London, South Africa