Fadluraghman "Fadlu" Davids (born 21 May 1981 in

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 ...

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

) is a retired

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

striker who is a Head Coach for

Tanzanian Premier league The Tanzania Mainland Premier League () is a top-level Tanzania, Tanzanian professional association football, football league, governed by the Tanzania Premier league Board, TPLB under Tanzania Football Federation. History The league was first or ...

club

Simba Simba is a fictional character in Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's ''The Lion King (franchise), The Lion King ''franchise. First appearing as a cub in ''The Lion King'' (1994), the character flees his homeland when his father, Mufasa, is ...

. He was twice the highest goal scorer in the South African

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 ...

Playing career

Davids joined Maritzburg United in 2007. He previously played for

Silver Stars The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an ...

;

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 ...

, Manning Rangers; Santos Cape Town; Chernomorets Burgas,

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

; Avendale Athletico, Mother City

Managerial career

Maritzburg United

Since his retirement in 2012 Davids has served as assistant coach to Ernst Middendorp at Maritzburg United. When Middendorp left Martizburg United in 2016, Davids was named interim coach of Maritzburg for a third time in his career. His brother, Maahier Davids, was named as his assistant. Upon the arrival of Roger De Sá, Davids resumed his position as Maritzburg's assistant coach. However, only seven games later, he reclaimed his position as interim coach after De Sá's resignation. Davids was caretaker for the rest of the 2016–17 South African Premier Division. On 1 July, Maritzburg United announced that Fadlu Davids would be the permanent coach after a very good performance as caretaker; he was in charge for the final nine games of the season, winning four, drawing three and losing two. Davids first full season as a coach was a success united were 4 points away from going to the

2018–19 CAF Confederation Cup The 2018–19 CAF Confederation Cup (officially the 2018–19 Total CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 16th edition of Africa's secondary club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), under t ...

and they also lost in the finals of the 2017–18 Nedbank Cup which was their last chance to qualify for the CAF tournament. Davids team played 15 league games and only won once, and on 24 December, Maritzburg United sacked Davids. He gained a reputation for promoting younger players after creating first team opportunities for the likes of Siphesihle Ndlovu‚ Bandile Shandu and Mlondi Dlamini, all of whom started out as ball boys.

Orlando Pirates and Josef Zinnabauer

Davids returned to be an assistant coach, this time for

Orlando Pirates F.C. Orlando Pirates Football Club, referred to as simply Pirates, is a South African professional association football, football club based in Orlando, Soweto that plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as South African Pr ...

, and has been in that position since 15 January 2019 before leaving to join Josef Zinnabauer as his assistant in both Russian side

Lokomotiv moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

and Moroccan side

Raja Casablanca Raja Club Athletic, widely known as Raja Casablanca or simply Raja, is a Football team, football club based in Casablanca, Morocco, that competes in Botola, the top flight of Moroccan football league system, Moroccan football. Founded on 20 M ...

where he helped the side win the Moroccan league unbeaten before leaving to join Tanzanian giants

ahead of the 24/25 season

Simba

In July 2024 he was announced as the head coach of

Tanzanian Premier League The Tanzania Mainland Premier League () is a top-level Tanzania, Tanzanian professional association football, football league, governed by the Tanzania Premier league Board, TPLB under Tanzania Football Federation. History The league was first or ...

side

References

1981 births Living people Soccer players from Cape Town South African people of Malay descent South African men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Platinum Stars F.C. players Santos F.C. (South Africa) players Durban City F.C. (2024) players Manning Rangers F.C. players 21st-century South African sportsmen South African expatriate soccer managers South African soccer managers Premier Soccer League managers Tanzanian Premier League managers South African expatriate sportspeople in Morocco South African expatriate sportspeople in Russia South African expatriate sportspeople in Tanzania Expatriate football managers in Tanzania {{SouthAfrica-footy-forward-stub