 | ||
| Full name | Cape Town Spurs Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Urban Warriors | |
| Founded | 11 January 1970; 55 years ago (1970-01-11) | |
| Ground | Athlone Stadium (most games),Parow Park[1] | |
| Capacity | 34,000, 2,000 | |
| Chairman | Ari Efstathiou | |
| Manager | Ernst Middendorp | |
| League | National First Division | |
| 2023–24 | Premiership, 16th of 16 (relegated) | |
| Website | capetownspurs.co.za | |
CapeTownSpursF.C. (formerly known asAjax Cape Town) is a South African professionalfootball club based inParow in the city ofCape Town that plays in theNational First Division. DutchEredivisie clubAFC Ajax was their parent club and majority shareholder after a merger of both Cape Town Spurs and Seven Stars in January 1999 until selling its shares in September 2020.[2]
Cape Town Spurs were formed on 11 January 1970, competing in theFederation Professional League from 1971 until 1984, winning the league seven times, and theNational Soccer League from 1985 to 1995, winning the championship in thefinal season, before the establishment of theSouth African Premiership in 1996. The club also won league and the Cup in 1995, then known as theBob Save Super Bowl.
In 1999 Ajax Cape Town was formed via the amalgamation of two Cape Town-based teams,Seven Stars and Cape Town Spurs, asAFC Ajax expanded their worldwide talent-feeder network to South Africa, with the club adopting the club crest of the Amsterdam-based club.[3] Ajax Cape Town was originally founded by John Comitis and Rob Moore in 1999. John Comitis, the honouree life chairman of Ajax Cape Town, later sold his shares in the club after 14 years at the helm and is now the chairmen of his new football team,Cape Town City Football Club.
Ajax, nicknamed Urban Warriors, played their first official game againstKaizer Chiefs in theIwisa Charity Spectacular on 17 July 1999. Ajax caused an upset when they beat Chiefs 1–0 withSam Pam, the Ajax Cape Town captain, scoring the winning goal.
Former South Africa national team coachGordon Igesund, the country's most successful club coach,[4] who won league titles withManning Rangers,Orlando Pirates,Santos andSundowns, coached the club from 2002 until 2006.
Since coming into existence, Ajax has never won the league title with their highest finish being runners-up in 2003–04, 2007–08 and 2010–11. Ajax managed to win the Rothmans Cup in 2000, theNedbank Cup in 2007, theTelkom Knockout in 2008 and most recently the MTN8 in 2015.
In January 2007 Ajax CT managed to beat AFC Ajax 3–1 in a friendly game held in Cape Town. The next friendly, played inAmsterdam, ended in a 3–2 win forAFC Ajax in July 2009.
Over the years several Ajax CT players have made the step to the mother club, among themSteven Pienaar in 2002,Daylon Claasen in 2009,Eyong Enoh in 2008 andThulani Serero in 2011.
In July 2013, it was announced that the Comitis brothers, longtime partners and shareholders with the Efstathiou brothers, had sold their Cape Town Stars shares, (19.6% of Ajax Cape Town), to the Efstathiou family.[5] Ari Efstathiou was announced as the new chairman, andMuhsin Ertuğral was reinstated as manager of the club, following an interim managerial period after originally being hired as the club's new technical director.[6]
In September 2015, Ajax won the 2015 MTN8 tournament edgingKaizer Chiefs 1–0 in the final.
Ajax CT were relegated to theNational First Division after finishing bottom in the2017–18 season due to having points deducted.
Ajax CT were deducted points for fielding Thendai Ndoro, who, according to the governingPremier Soccer League, was an illegible player. Ajax CT had previously been given the green light by the league and had officially registered the player with them as they were in possession of his player card. The team, therefore would have not been relegated had the points not been deducted and had the league not overturned their original decision that Ndoro was eligible to play.
Ajax CT finished in 4th place, outside of the playoff positions, in the2018–19 National First Division, and again failed to achieve promotionthe following season after losing in theplayoffs toBlack Leopards. Shortly thereafter, Ajax Amsterdam sold their 51% share in Ajax Cape Town.[2]
In 2020, Ajax CT ended their association with Dutch club AFC Ajax, with Cape Town Stars acquiring full control of the club, and they subsequently renamed it Cape Town Spurs.[7][8][9]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(August 2011) |
The likes ofNazeer Allie,Granwald Scott andThulani Hlatshwayo came up through the youth ranks, while others such asSteven Pienaar andThulani Serero have moved on to some of the top clubs in Europe.[10]
As of 2011, the then Ajax Cape Town Community Scheme had been implemented in more than 120 schools across the Western Cape as far as the Cape Winelands, reaching more than 8,000 children.[11]
Cape Town Spurs play most of their games at theAthlone Stadium.
From 1999, Ajax CT played their home games atAthlone Stadium andNewlands Stadium. The latter is a 51,900 capacity venue, which was first built in 1888, and was also host to the1995 Rugby World Cup opening match. Essentially being arugby stadium, it was a home they shared with clubsSantos andVasco da Gama, as well as rugby teamsStormers andWestern Province.Athlone Stadium was home to theSantos and has a capacity of 30,000. The stadium located inAthlone, Cape Town was also host to some of Ajax CT early home matches as well.
Spurs later moved to theGreen Point Stadium, an 18,000 seat multi-purpose stadium in the Green Point area ofCape Town. The stadium was eventually demolished in 2007 to make way for the newCape Town Stadium for the2010 FIFA World Cup.Construction of the new stadium was completed in 2009, and the Urban Warriors played their home games at theCape Town Stadium from the beginning of the2010–11 season to an improved capacity of 55,000. On 3 August 2011 a contract extension of three years was negotiated with the stadium, which saw Ajax CT play their home games there until 2014.[12][13]
The first match played at the new stadium was a Cape Town derby between Ajax CT andSantos on 23 January 2010 as part of the official inauguration of the stadium.
Spurs train at their home base located in Parow. (33°53′45.5″S18°34′41.5″E / 33.895972°S 18.578194°E /-33.895972; 18.578194). It serves as the training grounds for the senior squad, as well as for the Ajax Cape Town Youth Development Academy. It has hosted a number of foreign clubs among them German Bundesliga clubVfB Stuttgart during their midseason camp in 2014 as well asViking FK from Norway.[14]
1. Trophies won asAjax Cape Town F.C. from 11 January 1999 to 28 September 2020.
| Season | Competition | Round | Country | Club | Score | CCP(1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Champions League | Preliminary Round |  Swaziland | Mhlambanyatsi Rovers | 1–0, 1–1 | 2.0 |
| First Round |  Burkina Faso | ASFA Yennenga | 1–0, 0–1 | |||
| Second Round |  Guinea | Fello Star | 2–0, 0–2 | |||
| Final Group Round |  Nigeria | Enyimba | 1–1, 2–0 | |||
 Morocco | Raja Casablanca | 1–1, 0–3 | ||||
 Egypt | Al Ahly | 2–0, 0–0 | ||||
| 2008 | Confederation Cup | First Round |  Seychelles | Anse Réunion | 1–0, 4–1 | 1.0 |
| First Round of 16 |  Cameroon | Mount Cameroon | 5–1, 0–5 | |||
| 2009 | Champions League | First Round |  Zimbabwe | Monomotapa United | 3–2, 1–2 | 0.3 |
Brett Evans 311Nathan Paulse 56Edelbert DinhaEdelbert Dinha 41 (2000–01)Mabhuti Khenyeza 23 (2008–09)Mount Cameroon (26 April 2008, CAF Confederation Cup)Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Cecil Lolo (Defender, 2009–15).Number retired on 30 October 2015 at Lolo's memorial service.[16]
Leo van Veen (1999–00)[17]Henk Bodewes (2000)[18]Steve Haupt(interim) (2000–01)[19]
Rob McDonald (2001–02)[20]Gordon Igesund (2002–06)[21]
Muhsin Ertuğral (2006–07)[22]Craig Rosslee (2007–09)[23]Muhsin Ertuğral andJan Pruijn(interim) (2009)[24][25]Foppe De Haan (2009–11)[26]Maarten Stekelenburg (2011–12)[27]Wilfred Mugeyi andJan Pruijn(interim) (2012)[28][29]Jan Versleijen andMuhsin Ertuğral(int.) (2013)[30]Muhsin Ertuğral (2013–14)[31]Ian Taylor(interim) (2014)[32]Roger De Sá (2014–2016)[33]Stanley Menzo (2016–2017)Muhsin Ertuğral (2017–2018)Andries Ulderink (2018–20)[34]
Vladislav Herić (2020–2021)Shaun Bartlett (2021–2023)[35]
Ernst Middendorp (2023–present)[36]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
