Godfrey Sapula to coach Sundowns Ladies in absence of suspended Jerry Tshabalala

The Brazilians will host JVW on Sunday, 9 March in one of the most anticipated clashes in the league.

Sapula takes over, for now, from coach Jerry Tshabalala who has been suspended by the club since December last year, pending an investigation into improper misconduct.

The award-winning Kappa, as Tshabalala is known to his peers, has won a record five league titles with Banyana ba Style since the start of the elite women’s football league in South Africa back in the 2019/20 season.

He was crowned the 2024 Hollywoodbets Super League Coach of the Season, a feat he also achieved in 2021 and 2022.

Sapula is not new to the Sundowns Ladies team as he was roped in to beef up the technical team towards the end of last season.

He also travelled with the squad to Morocco in their ill-fated CAF Women’s Champions League title defence where the South Africans couldn’t get out of the group for the first time in the history of the competition.

READ: Banyana Banyana stalwarts spotted at TS Galaxy Queens

Following the suspension of Tshabalala, Sapula, who holds a CAF A Coaching Licence obtained in September last year, has been barking orders during pre-season training, and looks set to continue while the club looks into Tshabalala’s case.

The former midfielder was in charge of the now-disbanded M-Tigers, a Sundowns men’s youth team.

Born in Mamelodi, he was named the PSL Footballer of the Season in the 2006/07 season.

He has played club football for Jomo Cosmos, where he made his name, before moving to Turkey and returning to South Africa to join Orlando Pirates.

Nicknamed Godfather, Sapula rounded of his playing career at Platinum Stars in 2010, after spending time at Mamelodi Sundowns.

He made 24 appearances for Bafana Bafana.