Life Fighters F.C. is a

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

n 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 ...

team based in

Otjiwarongo Otjiwarongo (Herero language, Herero for "beautiful place") is a city of 49,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Otjiwarongo Constituency, Otjiwarongo electoral constituency and also the capital ...

. Nicknamed ''Okahirona'', it competes in the

Namibia Premier Football League The Namibia Premiership, or the Debmarine Namibia Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of domestic association football in Namibia. It operates under the auspices of the Namibia Football Association. History After ongoi ...

and is one of the oldest teams in the country.

History

The club was founded in 1964, the same year as

Black Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

and

Eleven Arrows Eleven Arrows is a Namibian professional football club based in Walvis Bay. Founded in 1961, the club competes in country's highest division, the Namibia Premier League. Achievements *Namibia Premier League: 1 ::1991 * NFA-Cup: 1 ::2011 Perform ...

, by a young group led by local grocery store owner Emil Kuhanga. It organized exhibitions in the absence of a league structure and hosted the Ovaherero knockout tournament for the

Herero Herero may refer to: * Herero people, a people belonging to the Bantu group, with about 240,000 members alive today * Herero language, a language of the Bantu family (Niger-Congo group) * Herero and Nama genocide * Herero chat, a species of bird ...

-speaking teams of the region, and developed a fierce rivalry with

African Stars The African Stars Football Club are a professional football in Namibia, Namibian football club from Windhoek. They play in the country's highest division, the Namibia Premiership. Achievements *Namibia Premiership **Champions (3): 2022–23 Nami ...

. It played its first season in the new

Namibia Premier League The Namibia Premier League (NPL) was the highest level of domestic association football in Namibia until it was disbanded following the 2018-19 season. The league was established in 1990 and was trimmed to 12 teams from the traditional 16 in 2005 ...

in 1987 but were relegated after only a few seasons. After returning to the top tier, the Life Fighters played in the finals of the Namibia FA Cup in 2000 and 2004, losing each time. Still, it was a great achievement for the team managed by former player Eliah Tjazerua. The 2004–05 Premier League season saw them finish 15th out of 16 teams. The league had earlier made the decision to award them a 0–2 loss in Round 20 against

United Africa Tigers The Tigers FC are a Namibian football club. They are based in the Namibian capital Windhoek, and play in the country's top league, the Namibia Premier Football League. In the 1990s, they were sponsored by Mukorob Pelagic and referred to as the ...

for a "lack of security personnel," and their appeal for arbitration was dismissed by the Namibia Football Association Appeals Committee. After months of deliberation the league announced that the 12th through 16th placed teams were to play in a qualifying playoff to determine who would play in the actual promotion/relegation playoff. Nevertheless, they refused to participate and were automatically relegated after the games were played without them. The Life Fighters spent the following decade in the second and third tiers of the national league system, but diehard supporter Anton Kake took over as chairman and invested his own money to save his childhood club. Under his leadership they eventually secured promotion to the top tier at the end of the 2015–16 season with four matches left. There was no season held the next year, although they did play in the 2017 FA Cup. The team made its long-awaited return to the Premier League in 2017–18, finishing in tenth place. At the midway point the following season, they stood in third place with only three losses, and 21-year-old striker Isaskar Gurirab earned a call-up to the Namibia national team by manager

Ricardo Mannetti Ricardo Mannetti (born 24 April 1975) is a Namibian retired footballer who now works as a coach. He has managed and coached the Namibia national team. Playing career club Nicknamed ''Bucksy'', Mannetti grew up in Windhoek's Bethlehem township ...

Domestic history

Notable players

Below are the notable former players who have represented Life Fighters in the Namibia Premier League and international competition since the club's foundation in 1964. To appear in the section below, a player must have represented his country's national team either while playing for Life Fighters or after departing the club. * Charlie Aoseb * Isaskar Gurirab * Steve Mbemukenga * Chris Nauseb * Milton Nauseb * Oscar Tjikurunda

Managers

* Eliah Tjazerua (early 2000s) * Christy Guruseb (September 2017–January 2018) * Turipamue Upi (January 2018–September 2018) * Agnus Elemu (September 2018–)

Notes

References

{{Namibia Premier Football League Football clubs in Namibia Namibia Premier League clubs Otjiwarongo Association football clubs established in 1964 1964 establishments in South West Africa Namibia Premier Football League clubs