Kaizer Chiefs profile: Club history, fanbase, finances, PSL glory and more

Chiefs is a football club based in the Soweto township of Johannesburg in South Africa. They are the best supported sports team in the entire country and are among the most successful football clubs in its history, arguably the most successful of all.

Known affectionately as “Amakhosi” and “the Phefeni Glamour Boys”, Chiefs have had a tremendous impact on pop culture. Lucas Radebe, who became Leeds United captain after playing for Chiefs, inspired the name of the rock band Kaiser Chiefs.

The name of the football club is in reference to founder Kaizer Motaung senior, who remains club chairman today, also drawing inspiration from Atlanta Chiefs, for whom Motaung played.

How Kaizer Chiefs were started

When Motaung, a former Orlando Pirates player, returned to South Africa from a stint in the USA, he was greeted by turmoil and infighting within his old club.

Initially, Motaung tried to act as a peacemaker but was unable to resolve the conflict and ultimately decided to found Kaizer Chiefs instead to serve as a home for expelled former Orlando Pirates players.

Not all welcomed Chiefs’ presence in the game but they soon justified their place in South African football by winning the 1974 league title. They were also very successful in cup competitions in the 1970s, most notably winning the BP Top Eight in 1973, 1974 and 1976.

In ‘76, iconic team manager Ewert ‘The Lip’ Nene was killed while in Springs to sign Nelson ‘Teenage’ Dladla by hooligans who did not want the transfer to go through. As it turned out, Dladla signed for Chiefs anyway and became a club legend, sporting the number 11 jersey.

In 1978, the same year that multiracial football was introduced to South Africa despite the brutal apartheid regime, Lucky Stylianou became the first white Kaizer Chiefs player.

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Also in the 1970s, Chiefs became the first black club to beat a white one in South Africa when they saw off Hellenic 2-1 at Rand Stadium.

They endured a difficult period in the 1980s but were steered through it by players such as Johannes “Ryder” Mofokeng and Marks Maponyane.

By 1989, they had another league title-winning squad brimming with talented players, including legendary midfielder Doctor Khumalo, a Kaizer Chiefs youth product who was promoted to the first team by Romanian coach Ted Dumitru.

From 1989 to 1994, Chiefs were graced by the player who still today arguably remains their most famous of all time, Lucas Radebe. At the end of his stint with Amakhosi, he left for Leeds United, where he became captain and stayed for 11 years.

The Premier Soccer League (PSL) was founded in 1996 and the modern era of South African football began. Naturally, Kaizer Chiefs were among the founding members.

The crazy 2001/02 season

The 2001/02 season was simultaneously one of the best and worst for Kaizer Chiefs, depending on how you look at it.

The fact that they finished ninth in the league is an undisputed failure but they still managed to win four trophies that season in the Vodacom Challenge, the BP Top Eight, the Coca-Cola Cup, and the African Cup Winners' Cup within the space of four months.

This came off the back of the Ellis Park Disaster on 11 April 2001. That had seen 43 people crushed to death as spectators poured into the Ellis Park Stadium to watch Chiefs play Orlando Pirates.

Back-to-back PSL titles

In 2003/04, with Dumitru once again presiding over Kaizer Chiefs as coach, they won their first league title of the PSL era, finishing six points above Ajax Cape Town and conceding only 11 goals across the 30 games of their season.

Chiefs followed that up with another league title in 2004/05, with Dumitru’s side overtaking Orlando Pirates to clinch the title on the final day of the dramatic season.

Chiefs return to the top

Following the two Premiership titles in a row under Dumitru, Chiefs took a backseat for several years. Mamelodi Sundowns won the next two league titles, then SuperSport United the following three, then Orlando Pirates the two after that.

Ahead of the 2012/13 campaign, Stuart Baxter was appointed Kaizer Chiefs coach. Despite losing his first competitive match 4-1 to Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8, Baxter led Chiefs to the 2012/13 league title.

Despite losing it to Mamelodi Sundowns during the following campaign, Baxter and Chiefs regained it with a team built off a rock-solid defensive unit in 2014/15.

Mixed fortunes

Baxter left Kaizer Chiefs in 2015 and was replaced by Steve Komphela. Unfortunately for the Amakhosi faithful, Komphela was unable to halt a rampant Mamelodi Sundowns side which, buoyed by the investment of billionaire owner Patrice Motsepe and the astuteness of iconic coach Pitso Mosimane, dominated South African football and even became African champions in 2016.

After three years without a trophy, Komphela resigned as Kaizer Chiefs coach following fan violence in April 2018, which erupted at the Moses Mabhida Stadium after his side exited the Nedbank Cup at the semi-final stage.

Komphela was replaced by Giovanni Solinas ahead of the 2018/19 season, but after a disastrous start, he was replaced midway through by Ernst Middendorp. Despite being an unpopular appointment, Middendorp assembled a competitive team that led the way for much of the 2019/20 league season. However, a 1-1 draw to Baroka on the final day of the campaign meant they lost the title to Mamelodi Sundowns.

Ahead of the 2020/21 campaign, Middendorp was replaced by Gavin Hunt. The man who led SuperSport United to three league titles on the trot and also won one with Bidvest Wits has now been tasked with ending the longest trophy drought in Kaizer Chiefs’ history.

In recent seasons, much the same as the rest of the Premiership, Chiefs have been playing second fiddle to a dominant Mamelodi Sundowns outfit that have won the past six league titles in a row.

The Soweto Derby

Naturally, with Chiefs having been founded by a former Orlando Pirates icon, Pirates are their biggest rivals. The two teams contest the Soweto Derby, which is usually played at FNB Stadium, but draws in a full house even when it is played in other areas of the country.

The original Soweto Derby was contested between Orlando Pirates and Moroka Swallows. However, after Chiefs usurped both as the dominant force in South African football, the rivalry between Chiefs and Pirates intensified and it has been the biggest match-up of the season for more than 50 years.

Chiefs’ rivalry with Mamelodi Sundowns has grown in recent seasons, as Sundowns have been South Africa’s most successful side in the PSL era. Chiefs, Pirates and Sundowns are known as the “Big Three” of South African football.

Kaizer Chiefs fanbase

It is a common sight before Kaizer Chiefs home matches for Chiefs players to make a ‘peace’ sign to the crowd, with the crowd reciprocating, respecting the “Love and Peace” club motto.

Chiefs play most of their home matches at the near-95,000-capacity FNB Stadium, although they do not own it. 

Wherever Chiefs go in South Africa, their supporters tend to outnumber the opposing team’s. 

It is therefore commonly joked that there are no away matches for Chiefs.

Finances

It has been widely reported that Kaizer Chiefs is the second richest club in African football, behind only Egyptian giants Al Ahly. 

However, not much is known regarding the true market value of Kaizer Chiefs.

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