Durban Stars F.C.

Durban Stars FC

Full name	Durban Stars Football Club
Nickname(s)	Isivunguvungu Segagasi (stormy waves), Friends
Founded	July 2003
Ground	SJ Smith Stadium, Chatsworth, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (Capacity: N/A)
Owner	Phindani Nene
Coach	Ramadhan Nsanzurwimo
League	Vodacom League, KwaZulu-Natal province
2010-11 season	1
Home colours Away colours

Durban Stars is a semi-professional association football club based in the Chatsworth suburb of Durban, in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The club was founded in July 2003, where the business man Phindani Nene acquired the Castle League franchise of the National First Division club Moja United from Pietermaritzburg,^[1] and hereby established his new club Durban Stars FC, directly into the second level of South African football. The club played at this level from 2003-09, before being relegated to Vodacom League.

At the subsequent 2009-10 season, the club even got relegated to the fourth level, known as the SAB Regional League, after having received no less than 14 "dicsiplinary 0-2 defeats" from SAFA. Presumeably the disciplinary irregularity arose from the fact, that the team had fielded ineligible players, during almost half of the matches in the season. To avoid the relegation for the fourth level, the club decided to buy the Castle League franchise of Globe City in Vodacom League. At the next 2010-11 season, the newly reinforced Durban Stars, managed to win the KwaZulu-Natal division of Vodacom League. In June 2011, they will participate in the Vodacom League playoffs, competing for a promotion back to the almighty National First Division.

Durban Stars company and affiliations

The company Durban Stars is based in the La-Lucia suburb of Durban, and handles events and marketing across South Africa. Durban Stars Sports and Marketing is a subdivision of Durban Stars, that specialises in Sports Development, Sports Events, Branding, Digital Advertising and Sports Sponsorship and Sales. Among the customers of the services provided by Durban Stars are: MTN Group, Nedbank, SuperSport, SABC, Ethekwini Municipality and KwaZulu-Natal provincial government. As of 2008, the annual events organised by Durban Stars include: Varsity Cup, Mini Soccer World Cup, MTN Top 32 Schools Soccer Tournament, and Durban Summer Splash.

The company also opted to establish the Durban Stars Sporting Club as a subdivision, to develop sporting clubs within several sports disciplines. As of 2008, they have created professional teams within Beach soccer, BMX, Skateboarding, Touch rugby, Beach cricket, Basketball, Volleyball and Indigenous Games.

Club records and best achievements

• Won the silver medal of the National First Division in 2004-05.
• Reached the 1/8-Finals (round 16) of the 2004 ABSA cup.
• Highest scored point average, 2.33 points per match, was achieved when the club won the KwaZulu-Natal province of Vodacom League in 2010-11.

Historical League results

2003–04 (NFD) – 3rd (in Coastal stream) 2004–05 (NFD) – 2nd 2005–06 (NFD) – 10th 2006–07 (NFD) – 7th 2007–08 (NFD) – 6th (in Coastal stream) 2008–09 (NFD) – 8th (in Coastal stream => Relegated)

2009–10 (VL) – 16th (in Kwazulu-Natal) 2010–11 (VL) – 1st (in Kwazulu-Natal)

Former notable players

• Sthembiso Ngcobo
• Musa Bilankulu
• Siya Mngoma
• Sthembiso Ngcobo
• John Arwuah
• Thamsanqa Gabuza

Team squad in 2008-09

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Jehu Rostand Youthe 2 DF Mpho Litsoane 3 DF May Enoch Majola 4 MF Menzi Zulu 5 DF Daniel Moeletsi 6 DF Roland Koffi Konan 7 MF Gregery Maasdorp 8 MF Nkosinathi Dlamuka 9 FW Andile Sicina 10 MF Bridget Motha 11 FW Thamsanqa Gabuza

No. Position Player 12 MF Zakhele Nene 14 MF Katlego Qhina 15 DF Nkosana Junior Sekete 16 DF Godfrey Mokoena 18 FW Aaron Ababio 19 FW Zamokwakhe Hlophe 20 MF Mike Makaab Jr. 21 DF Eugine Linda Mbatha 22 FW Serges Claude Ekambi 23 FW Salawuddeen Rafiu 30 GK Lance Niewenhuis

As of December 2008.

Team squad in 2010-11

The list below highlight the teams most valuable players as of May 2011, according to the South African soccer site KickOff.^[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. No. Position Player MF Nkosinathi Dlamuka

Head Coach: Ramadhan Nsanzurwimo
1st Assistant: Alex Zondi

Stadium

According to available match statistics from 2007-09, the preferred home venue for the team while playing in the National First Division, was Chatsworth Stadium with a capacity of 22,000. After the relegation to Vodacom League in June 2009, the team moved their home venue for the next season to Kings Park Stadium with a capacity of 55,000. In the 2010-11 season, the team could however only afford to play at much smaller venues in Durban. The preferred home venue in this season, was the SJ Smith Stadium, being situated in the Lamontville district, at the Chatsworth suburb in Durban.

External links

• Durban Stars official website (not updated since December 2008)
• Vodacom League official log results
• National First Division official website

References

1. ^ KickOff (2009-04-06). "Durban Stars accept relegation". http://www.kickoff.com/news/7734/durban-stars-accept-relegation.php. 
2. ^ KickOff (2011-06-06). "The teams vying for a place in the First Division". http://www.kickoff.com/news/22205/the-teams-vying-for-a-place-in-the-first-division.php.