Kaizer Chiefs
When Motaung returned to his home country in 1970, he decided to start his own professional soccer team. Motaung named his club "Kaizer Chiefs" after himself and his former NASL team. Another South African, Jomo Sono, also a former player for Orlando Pirates, joined an NASL side New York Cosmos in the late 70s (1977). He also returned to form his own professional soccer team which he named Jomo Cosmos after himself and his former NASL team, the New York Cosmos. Jomo Cosmos was however relegated in the 2011/12 edition of the South African Premier Soccer League.
Despite early setbacks and opposition, Motaung succeeded in assembling a good mix of veterans and talented rookies and the club soon became a force to be reckoned with. The Kaizer Chiefs soon had a large following.
Within a short time, the Kaizer Chiefs became the most successful team in South Africa, winning more than 78 trophies and gaining an estimated fourteen million supporters throughout the country. Indeed, it is often jokingly stated that Kaizer Chiefs do not really play any away matches, as their supporters always outnumber those of the home team.
As of 2005, Motaung is still at the helm of the club he started. One of the Kaizer Chiefs' most recent achievements is winning the Mandela Cup African Club Championships in 2001, despite it only being the club’s second season in the competition.
Read more about this topic: Kaizer Motaung
Famous quotes containing the word chiefs:
“If you tie a horse to a stake, do you expect he will grow fat? If you pen an Indian up on a small spot of earth, and compel him to stay there, he will not be contented, nor will he grow and prosper. I have asked some of the great white chiefs where they get their authority to say to the Indian that he shall stay in one place, while he sees white men going where they please. They can not tell me.”
—Chief Joseph (c. 1840–1904)