Kaizer Chiefs celebrate 52 years of existence, Motaung speaks!

Kaizer Chiefs are celebrating 52 years of existence TODAY, 7 January 2022 after having been formed on this day in 1970.

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Amakhosi chairman Kaizer Motaung took upon himself with the help of his peers in 1969, to establish a team known as Kaizer XI.

The majority of the players recruited by Motaung were from Orlando Pirates – at the time, Motaung was still a footballer in the USA.

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He renamed the club Kaizer Chiefs a year later, and to this day, Motaung has been one of the most successful club bosses on the African continent.

KAIZER CHIEFS WERE BORN TO BRING EXCITEMENT

Motaung said the birthday of Amakhosi remains one of the greatest moments in his sporting life.

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“This is a day that will be remembered long after we have left. It is a great day indeed, the day this baby was born to bring some excitement to the entire football community. To me it is one of the greatest days ever in my sporting life, when we started this beautiful organisation called Kaizer Chiefs.”

Kaizer Motaung to the Chiefs website.

KAIZER CHIEFS HAD A LOT OF SCEPTICS

Motaung revealed that a lot of people doubted him when he started Kaizer Chiefs, thinking that he was just fooling around.

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And looking back 52 years on, Motaung said he feels vindicated but admits the success Chiefs have enjoyed came with a lot of hard work.

“When we started, we had a lot of sceptics who thought we were maybe not serious and that we were just taking a chance. Little did they know that some of us had this burning desire to actually be part of a great thing. Great in the sense that we wanted it to be something South African people could be proud of.

I must say I’m feeling very vindicated. There were those who said we wouldn’t even last one season. The reason we succeeded is because we understood this was an enormous challenge and that it required our 110 percent commitment, which meant we had to invest our whole lives on this beautiful brand, which we did.”

Kaizer Motaung