Roses United is a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

n football club based in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape ...

Free State province The Free State, known as Orange Free State until the 28th of June 1995 when its name was changed, is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Boer ...

that plays in the

National First Division The National First Division (NFD), officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African club football after the South African Premier Division. Both the NFD and South Afric ...

. The club was founded in 2009, where they acquired the Castle League franchise of the nearby Bloemfontein club Mangaung FC; which were a newly promoted club to

Vodacom League The ABC Motsepe League, previously known as the Vodacom League between 1998 and 2012, was founded in 1998 as the current Second Division and the overall third tier of South African football. The competition is regulated by SAFA, and until 2012 ...

, and not to be confused with Mangaung City in the same division. Both in 2009–10 and 2010–11, Roses United won the Free State division of Vodacom League, but at the playoffs fell short to win a further promotion to the

History

Around the beginning of 2009, Roses United bought the Castle League franchise of the now defunct Mangaung FC, to start campaigning in the SAFA Vodacom League. In July 2009 the club received an important transport sponsorship from Ruwacon, providing the team with a mini bus and money to cover all future transportation related costs. When the new sponsorship was announced at a press meeting, the manager of the team proclaimed, that the goal of the club was to qualify for the

, within the next 3 years. The motto of the club was said to be: ''Roses United will keep on keeping on''. The club won the Free State Province of Vodacom league, with a 10-point gap over runner-up

Maluti Fet College Maluti TVET College is a South African football club based in Phuthaditjhaba, Free State that plays in the ABC Motsepe League. The team represents the Maluti TVET College which has a number of campuses around the Free State, including Bethleh ...

in 2009–10, but at the promotional play-offs, they only ended as third in the Coastal Stream. In the next season, another provincial victory was secured, but this time with only a 2-point gap over runner-up

Botshabelo Botshabelo, meaning "a place of refuge", is a large township set up in 1979 by the then apartheid government. It is located 45 km east of Bloemfontein in the present-day Free State province of South Africa. Botshabelo is now the largest t ...

. By the end of the season, they were in fact only the runner-up of the division, trailing 1 point behind Botshabelo. After having successfully appealed the result of one of their matches, ''-an initial 2–1 defeat against

Sasolburg Juventus Sasolburg is a large industrial city within the Metsimaholo Local Municipality in the far north of the Free State province of South Africa. Sasolburg is further sub-divided into three areas: Sasolburg proper, Vaalpark (a more affluent cluster o ...

, being corrected by the Sports Court into a 2–0 win for Roses United-'', the victory of the province was however secured. The reasoning behind the changed result of the match, was that it had been unfairly abrupt after 75 minutes, when Rugby fans suddenly invaded the pitch; and as Sasolburg Juventus had failed to protect the security of the pitch, they were imposed a disciplinary defeat by the court. At the subsequent promotional play-offs in June 2011, Roses United delivered a respectable performance with 7 points in 4 matches. Not quite good enough to win promotion, but good enough to achieve another third place in the Coastal Stream.

Roses United managers

* John Tlale (Jul 1, 2012 – Oct 8, 2012)

Club records and best achievements

* Won the Free State Province of Vodacom League in 2009–10 and

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

Historical League results

* 2008–09 (VL) – 12th (in Free State) * 2009–10 (VL) – 1st (in Free State) * 2010–11 (VL) – 1st (in Free State) * 2011–12 (VL) – 1st (in Free State)

Stadium

The club always played their home games in

. After buying the league franchise of Mangaung FC, they played second half of the 2008–09 season, at their home venue in ''

University of the Free State The University of the Free State is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It was first established as an institution of higher learning in 1904 as a tertiary se ...

''. In all subsequent seasons, the club however opted to play at

Westdene Stadium Westdene is an area of the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. It is an affluent northern suburb of the city, west of Patcham, the A23 (London Road) and the London to Brighton railway line, north of Withdean and northeast of West Bl ...

, being situated just 2 km South from the club house in Bayswater.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.rosesunited.co.za
Premier Soccer LeagueNFD Club Info
Association football clubs established in 2009 Soccer clubs in South Africa SAFA Second Division clubs Soccer clubs in the Free State (province) National First Division clubs 2009 establishments in South Africa