| Full name | Moroka Swallows Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Birds, The Beautiful Birds, The Dube Birds |
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| Founded | October 10, 1947 | ||
| Ground | Volkswagen Dobsonville Stadium, Soweto, Johannesburg (Capacity: 24,000) |
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| Owner | FB Soccer Investment Ltd., Cape Town | ||
| Chairman | Leon Prins | ||
| Coach | Gordon Igesund | ||
| League | ABSA Premiership | ||
| 2010–11 | ABSA Premiership, 13th | ||
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Moroka Swallows are a South African football (soccer) club based in Johannesburg. The club plays in the Premier Soccer League. [1]
Founded in 1947, Swallows are considered as one of the original Soweto clubs together with Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.
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The club was founded in the 1940s by a trio of soccer lovers, Ishmael Lesolang, Strike Makgatha and Johnny Kubheka. [2]
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.[3]
But then, on the 10 October 1947, the trio decided to change the name again to Moroka Swallows, basing themselves in the township formally known as Masakeng.[4]
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.[5]
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.[6]
Off the field, the club was becoming a business and in 1971 they became the first ever soccer 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. [7] The decade between 1982 and 1992 was a successful one for the team, culminating in four pieces of silverware.[8]
In 2007 the club celebrated its 60th anniversary. Two years later Swallows won the Nedbank Cup, the club's first piece of silverware after five years. [9]
As of September 14, 2011 Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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In the South African PSL, only five non-South African nationals can be registered. Players with foreign and South African citizenship do not count as foreigners.
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