Platinum Stars
Encyclopedia
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n association football club based in Phokeng
Phokeng
Phokeng is a town in the North West province of South Africa. It is the capital of the Royal Bafokeng Nation and lies near Rustenburg.-Etymology:Phokeng gained its name from the Setswana word for dew, Phoka, hence Place of dew...
near Rustenburg, North West Province
North West (South African province)
North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mafikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng.-History:...
that plays in the Premier Soccer League
Premier Soccer League
Premier Soccer League is the trading name of the National Soccer League of South Africa. The top league is the ABSA Premiership, sponsored by ABSA...
. The club is fully owned by the Royal Bafokeng Nation
Royal Bafokeng Nation
The Royal Bafokeng Nation is the ethnic homeland of the Bafokeng people, a Setswana-speaking traditional community. The monarchy covers in the North West Province of South Africa. The administrative capital is Phokeng, near Rustenburg. "Bafokeng" is used to refer to both the tribal grouping as...
and are nicknamed Dikwena, the Tswana
Tswana language
Tswana or Setswana is a language spoken in Southern Africa by about 4.5 million people. It is a Bantu language belonging to the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho languages branch of Zone S , and is closely related to the Northern- and Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalagadi...
name for Crocodiles.
The team's best finish in the Premiership came during the 2006–07 season
Premier Soccer League 2006-07
The following is the final results of the 2006–07 Premier Soccer League football season.-Final table:P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points...
, when the club finished as league runners-up, earning them their only appearance in the CAF Champions League
CAF Champions League
The CAF Champions League is an annual international club football competition run by the Confederation of African Football . The top club sides from Africa's football leagues are invited to participate in this competition, which is the premier club football competition on the continent and the...
. During the same season, the club also collected their first major trophy, when the club won the Telkom Knockout
Telkom Knockout
The Telkom Knockout is a football knockout competition which comprises the 16 teams in the South African Premier Soccer League.It was started in 1992, called the Coca-Cola Cup and was played until 1996, when it was replaced by the Rothmans Cup which was changed back to the Coca-Cola Cup in 2001...
league cup, in December 2006.
History
The club is the historical descendent of Khakhu Fast XI, that initially were founded as an amateur club in 1937, and represented the local city Khakhu -located 170km northeast of PolokwanePolokwane
Polokwane, meaning "Place of Safety",is a city in the Polokwane Local Municipality and the capital of the Limpopo province, South Africa. It is also often referred to by its former name, Pietersburg. Polokwane is a major urban centre, the biggest and most important north of Gauteng. The population...
. Ahead of the 1998–99 season, the club owner Joseph Mapfulagasha, relocated the team approximately 30km south to the city Mapate, and at the same time changed the name of the club to Mapate Silver Stars. Along with the new official name, a trend also developed to nickname the team as Tycoon Silver Stars, as the new owner Joseph Mapfulagasha was commonly known by the nickname "Tycoon".
In the first season of Mapate Silver Stars, the club managed straight away to win promotion from Vodacom League
Vodacom League
Vodacom League, sometimes also referred to as Vodacom Promotional League, was founded in 1998 as the current Second Division and the overall third tier of South African football . The competition is regulated by SAFA, and sponsored by mobile telecommunications company Vodacom...
, to play the subsequent season in the second tier of professional football in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, known as the National First Division
National First Division
The National First Division is the second-highest league of South African club football after the Premier Soccer League . Both the NFD and PSL are organised by the National Soccer League.-For seasons in 2007-11:...
.
Starting from the 2000–01 season and a few years ahead, the club became shortly affiliated with the reborn phoenix club Highlands Park FC
Highlands Park FC
Highlands Park F.C. was an association football club in Johannesburg , that existed from November 1959 to February 1983. In 1971, Highlands Park FC merged together with Powerlines FC from Nigel -a city located 61 km southeast of Highlands North in Johannesburg, and also playing in the top...
, which were founded on the remainings of the well-known and successful original Highlands Park FC, that played at the top flight level of South African football from November 1959 to February 1983, at Balfour Park Stadium in the northern Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
suburb Highlands North. The historical fan base of Highlands Park, were located in the surrounding affluent (and highly Jewish) northern Johannesburg neighbourhoods, such as Houghton
Houghton Estate, Gauteng
Houghton Estate, often simply called Houghton is a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, north-east of the city centre. Part of it is located in Region 3, the other part in Region 4 ....
, Saxonwold, Sydenham
Sydenham
Sydenham is an area and electoral ward in the London Borough of Lewisham; although some streets towards Crystal Palace Park, Forest Hill and Penge are outside the ward and in the London Borough of Bromley, and some streets off Sydenham Hill are in the London Borough of Southwark. Sydenham was in...
, Glenhazel, Highlands North, Rosebank
Rosebank, Gauteng
Rosebank is a cosmopolitan commercial and residential suburb in the northwestern part of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region 3, and will be the location of a Gautrain station in 2011....
, Killarney
Killarney, Gauteng
Killarney is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. A relatively wealthy area, located west of the M1 freeway, Killarney is a densely built-up area, and it has numerous apartment blocks, as well as a large shopping mall, Killarney Mall. Neighbouring suburbs include Houghton Estate, Riviera, and...
, Linksfield and Cyrildene
Cyrildene
Cyrildene is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is noted for a new Chinatown that exists on Derrick Avenue. This new Chinatown is now considered as the main Chinatown in Johannesburg, replacing the declining Chinatown on Commissioner Street in the inner-city of Johannesburg.-History:Up...
. In 1996 the long time fan and businessman Larry Brookstone, purchased Highlands Park out of a previous bankruptcy, and re-established them as an amateur club. When he in 2000 also opted to purchase 50% of the shares in Mapate Silver Stars, and became the managing director of the club, he decided to start a collaboration between both of his two clubs, where the Highlands Park juniors -located at Highlands North, initially became the nursery team of Silver Stars, that played all their professional home matches 309km northeast of Highlands North, at the big Peter Mokaba Stadium
Peter Mokaba Stadium
The Peter Mokaba Stadium is a football stadium in Polokwane , South Africa, that was used for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It has a capacity of 41,733. and was named after Peter Mokaba, a former leader of the ANC Youth League...
in Polokwane
Polokwane
Polokwane, meaning "Place of Safety",is a city in the Polokwane Local Municipality and the capital of the Limpopo province, South Africa. It is also often referred to by its former name, Pietersburg. Polokwane is a major urban centre, the biggest and most important north of Gauteng. The population...
.
In order to reflect this unique collaboration, the name of the professional club also changed ahead of the 2000–01 season, to HP Silver Stars. Due to the long distance between the two clubs, the collaboration between them however only lasted for a few years, and soon the name of the club was therefor also shortened, to Silver Stars.
Playing in the Premier Soccer League
After playing four seasons in the National First DivisionNational First Division
The National First Division is the second-highest league of South African club football after the Premier Soccer League . Both the NFD and PSL are organised by the National Soccer League.-For seasons in 2007-11:...
, the club finally won promotion to play the 2003–04 season in the top flight Premier Soccer League
Premier Soccer League
Premier Soccer League is the trading name of the National Soccer League of South Africa. The top league is the ABSA Premiership, sponsored by ABSA...
(PSL). The clubs first PSL season ended with a respectable 11th place, and they managed to further improve in the following two seasons, with a 7th place and 5th place. Ahead of the next 2006–07 season, the Royal Bafokeng Nation
Royal Bafokeng Nation
The Royal Bafokeng Nation is the ethnic homeland of the Bafokeng people, a Setswana-speaking traditional community. The monarchy covers in the North West Province of South Africa. The administrative capital is Phokeng, near Rustenburg. "Bafokeng" is used to refer to both the tribal grouping as...
signed a sponsorship deal with Silver Stars, where the club in return, agreed to move its home venue from Polokwane
Polokwane
Polokwane, meaning "Place of Safety",is a city in the Polokwane Local Municipality and the capital of the Limpopo province, South Africa. It is also often referred to by its former name, Pietersburg. Polokwane is a major urban centre, the biggest and most important north of Gauteng. The population...
to the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace near Rustenburg in the North West Province. Silver Stars immediately managed to repay their new sponsors, by achieving their first set of top flight medals in the club's history, when they managed to beat Ajax Cape Town 3–1 in the final of the inaugural Telkom Knockout
Telkom Knockout
The Telkom Knockout is a football knockout competition which comprises the 16 teams in the South African Premier Soccer League.It was started in 1992, called the Coca-Cola Cup and was played until 1996, when it was replaced by the Rothmans Cup which was changed back to the Coca-Cola Cup in 2001...
league cup, in December 2006. By the end of the 2006–07 season, the club also managed to win silver medals in the Premier Soccer League. After this great season of the club, the investment vehicle of the Royal Bafokeng Nation (RBN), Royal Bafokeng Holding
Royal Bafokeng Nation
The Royal Bafokeng Nation is the ethnic homeland of the Bafokeng people, a Setswana-speaking traditional community. The monarchy covers in the North West Province of South Africa. The administrative capital is Phokeng, near Rustenburg. "Bafokeng" is used to refer to both the tribal grouping as...
, decided to buy 51% of the shares in May 2007, and along the way also opted to change the name of the club to Platinum Stars.
The reason behind the introduction of a new name for the club, was in order to better reflect the historic association of both the North West province and the RBN, with platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
mining in South Africa being their major business activity. Currently the club is the only one in the top flight Premier Soccer League, to represent the North West region, and the club's goal is now to grow a large fan base from this entire region, and promote the Platinum Stars brand -also known from other sports. With the arrival of RBN as the new owners, the long time managing director Larry Brookstone and the successful team coach Owen Da Gama
Owen Da Gama
Owen Da Gama is a former South African footballer, and current manager of Platinum Stars.He is also known for having coached Orlando Pirates and has previously managed current club Platinum Stars, who were previously known as Silver Stars, from 2000 until 2007.During his playing career he spent...
, at the same time opted to stop working for the club in May 2007. Larry Brookstone moved on to work as the CEO of the reborn Highlands Park FC
Highlands Park FC
Highlands Park F.C. was an association football club in Johannesburg , that existed from November 1959 to February 1983. In 1971, Highlands Park FC merged together with Powerlines FC from Nigel -a city located 61 km southeast of Highlands North in Johannesburg, and also playing in the top...
, and Owen Da Gama continued for the next three seasons as a team coach for other top flight clubs in the Premier Soccer League.
In 2008, Platinum Stars became the first South African side to beat the Egyptian club Al Ahly, when they won a first leg clash 2–1, at the third round of the African Champions League. The result however only provided some shortly lived success, as Platinum Stars lost the second leg 0–2, and was kicked out of the tournament by Al Ahly, due to a better aggregate score. Meanwhile, the results of the club had also started to falter in PSL, where the club only achieved a 10th place in the 2007–08 season. And the next two seasons brought no further improvement, with only a 13th place in 2008–09 and a 14th place in 2009–10. Despite having experienced this hard time with several years of faltering results, the financial support by the Royal Bafokeng Nation was fully maintained, with RBN even opting in November 2008, to buy the remaining 49% of the club shares held by Brookstone and Mapfulagasha. During the 2009–10 season, the club also moved their daily training ground and administrative headquarters with backroom staff, from the previous location at the Modderfontein Sports Club in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, to the brand-new state-of-the-art Bafokeng Sports Campus in Rustenburg.
This new building complex was modernized and improved ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
, with the facilities being used by England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
during the tournament. At that point of time, Platinum Stars also hosted and lost a memorable 3–0 friendly game to the England national football team
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
, being the latter's final warm-up match, ahead of their World Cup opener at 7 June 2010.
As the ambitions of Platinum Stars were higher than the achieved results in the last three seasons, the club decided to re-employ their former top coach Owen Da Gama, for the current 2010–11 season.
Club records
- Most starts: Stanley Kgatla 116
- Most goals: Dingane Masanabo 24
- Most capped player: Manqoba Kunene (Swaziland)
- Most starts in a season: Edward Williams 34 (2003/04)
- Most goals in a season: Hareaipha Marumo 13 (2006/07)
- Record victory: 4–0 vs Lesotho Correctional Services (18/02/08, CAF Champions League)
- Record defeat: 0–6 vs Golden Arrows (18/3/09, PSL)
Premier Soccer League record
- 2009–102009–10 Premier Soccer LeagueThe 2009–10 Premier Soccer League season was the fourteenth since its establishment. Supersport United were the defending champions, having won their second premier league title in the 2008–09 season. The campaign began in August 2009, and ended in March 2010. A total of 16 teams competed in the...
– 14th - 2008–09 – 13th
- 2007–08 – 10th
- 2006–07 – 2nd
- 2005–06 – 5th
- 2004–05 – 7th
- 2003–04 – 11th
Club officials/Technical team in 2010
- Chairman:
George Khonou - GM: Jason Raine
- Team manager: Obed Legobate
- Coach: Owen Da GamaOwen Da GamaOwen Da Gama is a former South African footballer, and current manager of Platinum Stars.He is also known for having coached Orlando Pirates and has previously managed current club Platinum Stars, who were previously known as Silver Stars, from 2000 until 2007.During his playing career he spent...
- Assistant coach: Willem JacksonWillem JacksonWillem Jackson is a South African footballer playing as defender for Platinum Stars of the Premier Soccer League.He played mostly for Bloemfontein Celtic and Orlando Pirates....
- Goalkeeper coach: Stephane Ekakala
2011–12 First team squad
As of October 31, 2011Foreigners
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. Namibians born before 1990 can be registered as South Africans.Etame Soppo Robert Ng'ambi
Robert Ng'ambi
Robert Ng'ambi is a Malawian football player who currently plays for Platinum Stars in the South African Premier Soccer League. His position is midfielder.- External links :* at National Football Teams...
Terrence Mandaza Henrico Botes
Henrico Botes
Henrico Botes is a Namibian football striker. He plays for Platinum Stars in the South African Premier Soccer League and Namibia.He has also captained the national team....