Dangerous Darkies/Mpumalanga Black Aces FC (South Africa)
The
Dangerous Darkies were founded in 1991 and were based in Nelspruit, a city in
north-eastern South Africa. The city of Nelspruit is now known as Mbombela and
was one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The club competed in the
National Soccer League (NSL) which at the time was South Africa’s top football league, until it merged with the
NPSL, an organisation that from 1973-1977 had only been a league for black
players in the country. That was until they merged with the National Football
League (NFL) which had previously only had white players compete in it. When
the two leagues merged (NPSL) there were clubs that were known as white teams
and clubs known as black teams. The white teams were allowed have only three
black players play for them at the time. There was then another split as clubs formed
their own league and this was to be known as the National Soccer League. The
Dangerous Darkies in that name only played in the league for two years and
weren’t that successful. In their first year, in 1991,
they came 19th out of 24, winning just eight games all season,
drawing eight and losing eighteen. They only managed to score twenty-eight
goals in total, conceding 62. But they did avoid relegation to the second tier
and that was their main objective in their debut season. The winners of the
league that year were the Kaiser Chiefs.
They
were to become champions again in 1992, in a season that saw the Dangerous
Darkies finish bottom, 22nd out of the 22 teams that competed. They
only won one game out of 42, drawing five and losing 36. They only scored 27
and conceded an amazing 122 goals that season. That was it in regards
top-flight football for the Dangerous Darkies and they merged with another club
in Mpumalanga, Witbank Aces. The merger saw the renaming of the club to
Mpumalanga Black Aces FC. This is their complicated story. They were originally
formed back in 1937, by dairy workers. They were a relatively unsuccessful club
with very few honours to showcase. They had won minor trophies such as the BP
Top Eight Cup in 1980, the Bob Save Super Bowl in 1993, and the Premier Soccer
League (PSL) Promotion/Relegation play-offs in both 2008-09 and the 2012-13
seasons. They only ever competed in the PSL for four seasons. The 1996-97
season, (Known as the Witbank Aces)m coming last, 18th out 18,
winning just four games all season, drawing seven and losing twenty-three. This
saw them relegated to the National First Division.
It
wouldn’t be until the 2009-2010 season that the
club, now known as the Mpumalanga Black Aces, would be playing in the PSL
again. They just barely stayed up, finishing 15th out 16 clubs,
winning just five games, drawing eleven and losing fourteen. It meant they had
to play in a Promotion/Relegation play-off, which they won and stayed off
another relegation. Their top goal scorer that season was Zambian
international, Clifford Mulenga, who scored seven goals that season.
The
following season was full of drama for ll the wrong reasons for the Black Aces.
On the 20th September the club sacked their manager, Aiki Ayoimamtis,
after a poor run of results. Neil Tovey was brought in to try and get the club
to avoid relegation. He didn’t do any better and he was sacked on the
24th of December, Christmas Eve. Paul Dolezar was brought in as the
third manager that season for the Black Aces. The Serbian failed to turn it
around and he was also sacked on the 22nd of February. The club
never recovered and finished bottom of the pile in 16th place,
winning only four games, drawing three and losing twenty-three, scoring only
nineteen goals all season and conceding 53. This saw them relegated to the
National First Division once again.
The
Black Aces didn’t exactly set the National First
Division alight, finishing 13th out of sixteen clubs, winning just
seven games that season, drawing twelve and losing eleven. They would have
finished even lower had Carara Kicks not had an eighteen-point deduction that
season for fielding an ineligible player, getting relegated in the process. But
the 2012-13 saw a huge improvement from the Black Aces and they finished in 3rd
place earning them a shot at promotion via the play-off tournament, winning
thirteen, drawing nine and five. The Black Aces won the play-off tournament and
returned to the South African Premier League once again. But that season was
covered in yet more controversy as a number of games were boycotted by various
clubs at the start of the season, leaving some clubs playing more than others.
The Black Aces didn’t care in the end though as they had
achieved what the set out to do, and that was return to the top tier of South
African football.
The
club didn’t disappoint in the 2013-14 season on
their return to the South African Premier League, finishing a respectable 7th
place out 16, winning twelve games, drawing seven and losing eleven. They just
missed out on a CAF Confederation Cup qualification spot by only three points.
The next season saw another decent finish, with the club coming 10th
out of 16, winning seven, drawing thirteen and losing ten. However, the 2015-16
season proved to be one of their best, finishing 4th place and joint
on points with Platinum Stars who finished 3rd and in the CAF
Confederation Cup qualification spot. Both teams were level on goal difference
as well as points and so it went down to goals scored and unfortunately for the
Black Aces they had scored four fewer goals than their rivals. (Black Aces scored
37, whilst Platinum Stars scored 43). Interestingly Platinium Stars had one
point deducted that season for playing an ineligible player, Siyabonga Zulu.
Had it been a harsher penalty given out, things would have panned out
differently. The other highlight of that seasons for the Black Aces was Collins
Mbesuma becoming the top goalscorer for the season for the Black Aces, scoring
fourteen goals that season.
That
was to be the end of the Black Aces, or at least that name as the club were
bought by Cape Town City, who was owned by John Comitis and relocated from
Mbombela Stadium to Cape Town Stadium. Cape Town City themselves had been
originally founded back in 1962 but went bust a few years back and this was his
attempt to resurrect them. It has since proven to have worked as Cape Town City
are still an established South African Premier Division side or a DSTV
Premiership side if you want to be entirely correct.
I
spoke to Hugo who
runs the African Insider Twitter account and he was able to tell me a little
bit about the Black Aces, more about their story and gave me an insight to how
South African football is run.
First, thank you for taking the time out to answer my questions.
Tell me, what is it about African football that you love so much?
Hugo:
African Football is an expression of pure
passion, channelled into one medium. Unlike Europe, Asia or the Americas, there
isn't much money in it. The support is genuine, and the players & staff are
approachable.
The Dangerous Darkies, or The Black Aces were a strange club to
cover in that they never really won anything other than a few promotions. I
tried researching it but couldn’t find any fan base or even a blog about them. Did they have a fan
base at all?
Hugo:
The Black Aces had a dedicated fanbase, being
one of the oldest teams in the country. The team folded many times, most
notably in 2002, contemporarily during the advent & propagation of the
internet in South African circles. You won't find many blogs for a dead club.
In my research, point deductions, player ineligibility and clubs
boycotting games seemed to happen a lot. Is this just a feature in South Africa
or is it widespread in all of the African league?
Hugo: It's common everywhere, even in Europe. It's
inversely proportional to team’s funds. When money is on the line for players
who need it, clubs will take whatever measures necessary, professional, or not.
Amongst the rich, fully professional clubs, the mindset exists but it is seldom
seen in the top African leagues, minus Linafoot (which itself has a disparity
issue).
The Black Aces are now known as Cape town City and still play in
the South African League. Have they improved on what they once were?
Hugo:
As a brand, 100%. They're also producing a
lot of youth thanks to collaborations with Manchester City, who have been
touted to add them to their CFG soon. However, they face staunch competition
with Stellenbosch, local rivals owned by one of the world's richest men.
Can you give the readers any interesting facts on South African
football that they may never have heard of before?
Hugo:
Honestly, I wouldn't know what's considered
interesting or not! How about this: Vincent Julius was the first black player
to play in the South African NFL. Other teams protested, but it was eventually
permitted to avoid further economic and sporting sanctions on the country.
Africa is such a big continent, with so many nations and so many
national leagues. In your opinion what leagues are the best for quality,
entertainment, and just outright madness?
Hugo: For median quality, the Botola is there. Top
class coaches, stadia & players. Egypt a close second but too many fanless
company teams spoil the broth. One for disport would be Ghana's PL. The Premier
Soccer League is also of high standard.
Finally, there are so many clubs I could have picked from the
continent of Africa to cover regarding them being a ‘Forgotten Club’, and I do cover one more
club from Africa in the book. But in your opinion, why is there so many ‘Forgotten Clubs’ in Africa? Is it purely a
financial thing or are there other reasons?
Hugo:
Finances & Colonialism form the
antecedent for forgotten clubs. If a club doesn't have enough money, they fold.
If a second division club has money but has an impatient owner, they buy
another club's league place. If a benefactor is bored, he will stop funding a
club and it dies. Same with colonialism. Once a specialised population goes
(such as the King's Army Rifles in East Africa, Rhodesians, Pied-Noires,
Lusophone settlers), the clubs created that serve their disparate communities
just cease to function.
After
doing my research on South African football and its national league history, it
was clear to me that they encountered more problems than most countries. The
racial divide in South Africa is one that we all know about, but it was quite
obvious it had an impact in how football was played in the country. Not only
that, but in my research, there was a lot of point deductions for clubs for
playing ineligible players and other clubs boycotting games for various
reasons. An interesting fact that I did pick up was a game between Kaiser
Chiefs and the Orlando pirates attracted an 88,000 attendance, in which the
Orlando pirates won 2-0. This was made interesting because of the fact that the
average attendance in the league that season was just over 6k, which is a huge
difference. I would also assume the average was pushed up by the 88,000 match.
The Black Aces themselves were a weird story to cover, in that they never
really made any noise as a football club and when they seemed to be getting
somewhere in their final season as the Black Aces, they were taken over. It
felt that they were, at that time, building momentum and may have challenged
the likes of Kaiser Chiefs and the Orlando Pirates in regards titles. But I
guess we will never know? Will they be back again, doubtful, although stranger
things have happened in football, and they have been resurrected before. But if
they do, I would imagine it will be under another name. Maybe The Black King of
Spades? Maybe not.