 | ||||
| Full name | Chippa United Football Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Chilli Boys | |||
| Founded | January 2010; 15 years ago (2010-01) | |||
| Ground | Buffalo City Stadium (night games) Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 16,000 | |||
| Chairman | Siviwe Mpengesi | |||
| League | Betway Premiership | |||
| 2022–23 | 14th | |||
| Website | chippaunitedfc | |||
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Chippa United Football Club (often known as Chilli boys or Chippa) is a South African professionalfootball club based inEast London in theEastern Cape province, having previously been based inNyanga suburb of the city ofCape Town. The club's first team currently plays in thePremier Soccer League'sPremier Division, with thereserve team playing in the PSL'sreserve league.[1] The team plays most of its home games at theBuffalo City Stadium, while hosting night matches atNelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
The club was founded in January 2010 when Chippa Mpengesi purchased theVodacom League franchise ofPaarl based club,Mbekweni Cosmos, forR400,000.[2] Cosmos had won promotion from theCastle League at the end of the 2008–09 season, and started campaigning in the Vodacom League in the2009–10 season. In2010–11 season, the club began playing under the name, Chippa United.
Chippa United's first season was very successful with the club winning the Western Cape Vodacom League before winning the Vodacom League National Coastal Stream to achieve promotion to theNational First Division.[3] Chippa were also crowned the overall2010–11 Vodacom League National champions after beating Inland Stream winnersSivutsa Stars.[3]
The club finished their debut season in the National First Division in 2nd place behindUniversity of Pretoria and won promotion to thePremier Soccer League via the play-offs in June 2012.[4] Chippa used five managers during the course of the2012–13 PSL season[5] and finished 15th, eventually getting relegated after failing to win the playoffs.[6]
Afeeder team, called Peace Makers, was once owned by Chippa United, and ran teams under the club's umbrella. It ran a team in theSAFA Second Division and also junior teams inCape Town's junior leagues.[7] The Peace Makers franchise wassold toMilano United before the beginning of the2013–14 season.[8] InPort Elizabeth the club runs its youth teams under the Chippa United name, and play in the Port Elizabeth Football Association leagues.[9]
Chippa United is wholly owned byChippa Investment Holdings, which is a Cape Town-based construction, security and cleaning company founded bySiviwe "Chippa" Mpengesi.
During 2015, the club was effectively under the administration of Access Facilities and Leisure Management, the operating company ofNelson Mandela Bay Stadium.[10]
During the club's early seasons inCape Town, it usedPhilippi Stadium as its home ground. The stadium was used from 2009–10 to 2011–12 and again in 2013–14.
Following the2011–12 the club was promoted from thePremier Soccer League'sNational First Division to thePremier Division. Philippi Stadium was deemed not to be up to standard to host matches in the Premier Division. Due to this, the club hosted its matches atAthlone Stadium andCape Town Stadium.[11] However, the ground had previously been used byVasco da Gama during the2010–11 season. From March 2013, the club was allowed to host matches at Philippi Stadium.[12]
Following the2013–14 season the club was promoted to the Premier Division once more. During the off season, the club announced that it would move toPort Elizabeth.[13] The club andmunicipality announced a three-year deal to use Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.[14] The municipality also announced that certain matches would be played at the city'sWolfson Stadium andGelvandale Stadium.[15] During the 2014–15 season, the club was forced to host matches at the Wolfson Stadium.
According to a report tabled by the Nelson Mandela Bay mayor's office, Chippa United's contract to play in the city is for 18 years, beginning with the 2014–15 season, and thus running to 2031–32.[16]
During the2015–16 season, the club announced plans to host some of its matches atEast London'sBuffalo City Stadium.[17] The club cited the high cost of hosting matches at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, and lack of paying spectators as reasons for the decision.[18]
On the club's movement toPort Elizabeth, it announced that it intended to useWolfson Stadium as its training ground, and intended pursuing a long-term lease from theNelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality. As the ground was not yet up to standard, the club announced that it would useGelvandale Stadium for training, until the necessary upgrades were completed at Wolfson Stadium. During the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons, the club split its training atNelson Mandela Metropolitan University's Second Avenue Campus andNelson Mandela Bay Stadium's outdoor fields. Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium's outer fields are shared with theEastern Province Elephants rugby team.[citation needed]
| Season | Division | Result | Pld | Won | Draw | Lose | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Nedbank Cup | Telkom KO | MTN 8 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 | 3rd | 13th | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 48 | 48 | 0 | 35 | ||||
| 2010-11 | 3rd | Winner | 32 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 96 | 18 | 78 | 83 | ||||
| 2011-12 | NFD | 2nd/Promoted | 30 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 46 | 29 | 17 | 51 | 1st round | — | — | |
| 2012-13 | PSL | 15th/Relegated | 30 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 28 | 41 | -13 | 28 | R32 | |||
| 2013-14 | NFD | 1st/Winner | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 54 | 36 | 18 | 58 | 1st Round | — | — | |
| 2014-15 | PSL | 14th | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 30 | 47 | -17 | 30 | R32 | R16 | – |
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | Rada Sport | Vacant |
| 2011–12 | Adidas | Vacant |
| 2012–13 | Kappa | Vodacom |
| 2013–14 | Umbro | Chippa Holdings |
| 2014 | Nike[22] | |
| 2015 | Umbro | |
| 2015–16 | Puma[23] | |
| 2016-17 | Canterbury[24] | |
| 2017-20 | Umbro[25] | Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality |
| 2020- | Monflair[26] |
Players who have made an appearance for national football team, while playing for Chippa United. Caps and period refer to the number of caps earned, and the period in which they are earned, while at Chippa United.
| Player | National team | Caps | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Zulu | South Africa | 0 | 2013 |
| James Okwuosa | Nigeria | 2 | 2013– |
| Thamsanqa Sangweni | South Africa | 1 | 2014– |
| Chrisopher Komane | South Africa | ? | 2014– |
| Siyabonga Zulu | South Africa | ? | 2014– |
| William Twala | South Africa | 2 | 2015– |
| Aristide Bancé | Burkina Faso | 3 | 2015– |
| Zitha Macheke | South Africa U-23 | 1 | 2015– |
| Zaid Patel | South Africa U-23 | ? | 2015 |
| Diamond Thopola | South Africa | 0 | 2016– |
| Daniel Akpeyi | Nigeria Olympic Team | 1 | 2016 |
| Stanley Nwabali | Nigeria National Team | 7 | 2024 |
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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Manqoba Mngqithi (9 July 2012 – 20 Aug 2012)Julius Dube (23 Aug 2012 – Sept 12, 2012)Roger Sikhakhane (Sept 13, 2012 – 28 Oct 2012)Farouk Abrahams (28 Oct 2012 – 29 Jan 2013)
Wilfred Mugeyi (29 Jan 2013 – 11 April 2013)
Mark Harrison (12 April 2013 – 7 Oct 2013)Ian Palmer (8 Oct 2013 – 27 Jan 2014)
Vladislav Herić (29 Jan 2014 – 30 June 2014)[28]Kosta Papić (1 July 2014 – Sept 3, 2014)Roger Sikhakhane (Sept 4, 2014 – 5 Jan 2015)
Ernst Middendorp (5 Jan 2015 – 30 March 2015)Roger Sikhakhane (2 July 2015 – 7 Dec 2015)Dan Malesela (Dec , 2015 – Sept, 2017)[29][30]Teboho Moloi (Sept 30, 2017 – 3 Mar 2018)[31][32]Vladislav Herić (3 Mar 2018 – 27 May 2018)[33][34]Dan Malesela (27 May 2018 – 21 Aug 2018)[30]
Lehlohonolo Seema ( – 23 Dec 2020)[35]
Luc Eymael (23 Dec 2020 – 24 Dec 2020)[36]Dan Malesela (27 Dec 2020 – 4 Apr 2021)[37]Gavin Hunt (7 Jul 2021 – Jul 2022)[38]Daine Klate (Jul 2022 – Sep 2022)[39][40]Morgan Mammila (Jun 2023 – Jan 2024)[41]Thabo September and Kwanele Kopo (Jan 2024 – present)[42]
