Moroka Swallows Football Club
 |
|
| Full name | Moroka Swallows Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Birds, The Beautiful Birds, The Dube Birds |
| Founded | 10 October 1947 |
| Ground |
Volkswagen Dobsonville Stadium, Soweto, Johannesburg |
| Capacity | 24,000 |
| Owner | Unknown Consortium |
| Chairman | TBA |
| Coach |
 Craig Rosslee
|
| League | National First Division |
| 2015–16 | NFD, 16th (relegated) |
Moroka Swallows are a South African soccer club based in Johannesburg. Until relegation in the 2014–15 season, the club played in the Premier Soccer League.
Founded in 1947, Swallows are considered as one of the original two Soweto clubs, together with Orlando Pirates.
The club was founded in the 1940s by a trio of soccer lovers, Ishmael Lesolang, Strike Makgatha and Johnny Kubheka.
They originally named the side Congregated Rovers after the firm in which most of the players and officials worked, later changing it to Moroka Rovers.
But then, on 10 October 1947, the trio decided to change the name again to Moroka Swallows, basing themselves in the township formally known as Masakeng.
The name has lasted for the best part of 55 years, a period which has seen consistent success both on the field and off it.
The name 'moroka' means 'rain maker' in Setswana and the township was probably named after Chief Moroka of Barolong boo-Seleka who became the president of the ANC in 1940s. It is hardly surprising therefore that the club was renamed the 'rain bird'.
The 1950s and 1960s were a successful time for the club, culminating in their greatest ever achievement, winning the South African League title in 1965.
Off the field, the club was becoming a business and in 1971 they became the first ever football team to register as a public company.
That same year they were also the first to receive an official sponsorship when Teljoy began their association with the club. The decade between 1982 and 1992 was a successful one for the team, culminating in four pieces of silverware.
In 2007 the club celebrated its 60th anniversary. Two years later Swallows won the Nedbank Cup, the club's first piece of silverware for five years.
The club narrowly avoided relegation in the 2013–14 season, finishing thirteenth. The 2014–15 season saw them relegated for the first time in their history, finishing 15th, and failing to retain their position after being defeated in the promotion-relegation playoffs.
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