Polokwane City Football Club 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 the city of
in the
Limpopo
Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...
province that currently plays in the first tier
South African Premiership
The South African Premiership, also known as the Betway Premiership for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the PSL after its governing body, is a professional soccer league in South Africa and the highest level of the South Afr ...
. The team plays its home matches at the
Peter Mokaba Stadium
The Peter Mokaba Stadium is a football and rugby union stadium in Polokwane (formerly Pietersburg), South Africa, that was used for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It has a capacity to host 45,500 spectators but for the purposes of the 2010 FIFA World ...
.
History
Polokwane City FC was established in 2012 although after the owners of
Bay United sold the franchise to the Mogaladi family. After playing in various temporary venues, the club was moved officially from
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 ...
to Polokwane City.
Bay United originally came into existence in 2006 when the franchise of the struggling National First Division club
Maritzburg United
Durban City are a South African soccer club based in the city of Durban. Prior to the start of the 2024–25 National First Division, they were called Maritzburg United, and were based in the city of Pietermaritzburg. They were promoted to t ...
was purchased and relocated to
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 spent
one season 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 ...
, and the other years of its existence in the National First Division. Following the 2010–11 NFD season, the club's NFD franchise was moved to Polokwane, Limpopo.
In May 2013 City was promoted to the
Premiership.
They won the
2022–23 National First Division
The 2022–23 National First Division (called the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the season from September 2022 to June 2023 of South Africa's second tier of professional soccer, the National First Division.
Previo ...
on the final day, earning promotion to the
2023–24 Premiership.
Honours
*
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 ...
**Champions:
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
,
2022–23
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 ...
November 2012 accident
Four of the club's players died in a traffic accident on 11 November 2012. The crash occurred on the R71 highway, near
as the players were returning from their match against
FC AK
FC AK is a South African football club from the West Rand, Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous ...
. A 36-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of drunken and reckless driving. The deceased players were:
''Kickoff'', South Africa: Deceased Polokwane City players named
/ref>
* Khomotso Silvester Mpaketsane (27) – born 13 April 1985 – joined the club in January 2011 (during Bay United F.C. season) and stayed after move to Polokwane
* Benjamin Moeketsi Nthete (23) – born 22 February 1989 – attacker who joined the club in 2012 on loan from Orlando Pirates
Orlando Pirates Football Club, referred to as simply Pirates, is a South African professional football club based in Orlando, Soweto that plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as Betway Premiership. The team plays i ...
* Mojalefa Robert Mphuthi (21) – born 31 August 1991 – striker, nicknamed 'Small', who joined the club after it moved to Polokwane
* Koketso Isaiah Takalo (20) – born 15 February 1992 – left-wing, nicknamed 'Kaiser' or 'KK', who joined the club after it moved to Polokwane
League record
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 ...
* 2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
– 1st (promoted)
Premiership
* 2013–14 – 15th
* 2014–15 – 12th
* 2015–16 – 13th
* 2016–17 – 6th
* 2017–18 – 12th
* 2018–19 – 5th
* 2019–20 – 16th (relegated)
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 ...
* 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 ...
– 13th
* 2021–22 – 6th
* 2022–23
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 ...
– 1st (promoted)
Premiership
* 2023–24 – 8th
* 2024–25 – 7th
Current squad
''Updated 17 August, 2024.''
Foreigners
In the South African Premiership
The South African Premiership, also known as the Betway Premiership for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the PSL after its governing body, is a professional soccer league in South Africa and the highest level of the South Afr ...
, only five non-South African nationals can be registered. Foreign players who have acquired permanent residency
Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with such l ...
can be registered as locals. Namibians born before 1990 can be registered as South Africans.
* Boban Zirintusa
* George Chigova
* Carlington Nyadombo
* Banele Sikhondze
----
;permanent residency
* Essau Kanyenda
Essau Black-Mamba Kanyenda (born 27 September 1982) is a former Malawian international footballer who played as a striker.
Career
Kanyenda started his career in 1998 in Malawi's First Division for FC Welfare in Dwangwa. He was spotted by Jom ...
Notable former coaches
* Vladislav Heric (1 July 2012 – 21 Jan 2013)
* Duncan Lechesa
Duncan Thaane Lechesa (born 26 July 1976) is a retired South African football player who as of December 2023 is the head coach of the National First Division team Venda F.C.
Career
In a 15-year career, Lechesa played as a central midfielder ...
(22 Jan 2013 – 18 Sept 2013)
* Eduardo Schoeler ''(interim)'' (18 Sept 2013 – 20 Oct 2013)
* Boebie Solomons (20 Oct 2013 – 1 Sept 2014)
* Kosta Papić
Kosta Papić ( sr-Cyrl, Коста Папић; born 17 July 1960) is a Serbian football coach who has managed a number of great African clubs in South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania.
Coaching career
Previous clubs: Kaizer Chiefs, Maritzb ...
(5 Sept 2014 – 15 Oct 2015)
* Júlio Leal (12 Nov 2015 – 6 July 2016)
* Luc Eymael (6 July 2016 – 2018)
* Jozef Vukušič
Jozef Vukušič (born 31 August 1964) is a Slovak association football, football manager and former player who most recently managed FC Košice (2018), FC Košice.
Managerial career
Previously Vukušič managed FC Nitra, FC Cape Town and Polokwa ...
(2018–2019)
References
External links
* {{Official website, https://www.polokwanecityfc.co.za
Premier Soccer League
PSL Club Info
South African Football Association
Confederation of African Football
Polokwane City F.C Results
Soccer clubs in Limpopo
National First Division clubs
Polokwane
2012 establishments in South Africa
Association football clubs established in 2012