Some names refuse to stay buried. Durban City vanished from South African football in 1988. Thirty-six years later the name came back, worn by a club that had packed up its life in Pietermaritzburg and moved to the coast. Two years on, the Citizens hold the Nedbank Cup and are waiting for their first CAF group stage draw. This is the Durban City FC history worth knowing: where the name came from, how the modern club found it, who fills Chatsworth on a matchday, and why a club this young is already carrying South Africa’s flag in Africa.
Quick facts
| Club | Durban City FC, the Citizens |
| Home ground | Chatsworth Stadium, Durban |
| Name since | August 2024 (formerly Maritzburg United) |
| Chairman | Farook Kadodia |
| Head coach | Eric Tinkler (as at 27 October 2026) |
| League | Betway Premiership, promoted as 2024/25 Motsepe Foundation Championship champions |
| Major honour | Nedbank Cup 2025/26 |
| In Africa | CAF Confederation Cup 2026/27, group stage |
| Club line | Our City, Our Team |
Durban City FC history: the first club to carry the name
The original Durban City were founded in 1959 and are remembered as Norman Elliott’s club, according to a 2022 reunion feature in the Independent on Saturday. They played at Kingsmead, and the paper described Durban City as possibly the only team registered in all three professional leagues of the apartheid years: the whites-only NFL, the non-racial FPL and the NPSL.
Goalkeeper Doug Coetzee told the paper the club signed players of colour in defiance of apartheid laws, and that its biggest crowds, sometimes 40,000, came mostly from Durban’s Indian community.
The peak came in 1982. Coached by Clive Barker, who in 1996 became the only coach to lead Bafana Bafana to Africa Cup of Nations glory, Durban City won the NPSL title on 49 points, one clear of Wits University, as Mark Gleeson’s history of Barker and the RSSSF season record show. Kaizer Chiefs finished third that year. Orlando Pirates were fifth.
It did not last. The club was sold to a group of Durban business people and closed its doors in 1988, a few months after the takeover, the Independent on Saturday’s reunion feature recorded.
From Maritzburg to the coast
The club wearing the name today started life as Maritzburg United. FARPost’s profile of chairman Farook Kadodia traces the project to 2005, when a new board bought the status of Tembisa Classic to revive the Pietermaritzburg club. Relegated in their second season, Maritzburg won promotion back to the Premiership in 2008 and stayed up until 2023. Their best season was 2017/18: fourth in the league and a Nedbank Cup final, lost 1-0 to Free State Stars.
Relegation in 2023 left the club without a home. Royal AM secured Harry Gwala Stadium, and Maritzburg’s second-tier home games moved to Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Durban. In August 2024 the PSL approved a permanent move and a new name, FARPost reported: after about 21 years in Pietermaritzburg, the club became Durban City and settled at Chatsworth Stadium. Kadodia’s stated aim, in FARPost’s telling, was to revive the old Durban City.
The first season under the new name went about as well as it could. Durban City won the 2024/25 Motsepe Foundation Championship, and the title stood in June 2025 after an arbitrator dismissed an appeal over a player’s registration, as iDiski Times reported.
Identity and fan culture
The players are the Citizens, and the club’s line is short: Our City, Our Team. The club’s About page asks for a family-friendly matchday, strong community ties, local young players coming through, and a Chatsworth Stadium that becomes a home fortress.
The name speaks to a city with a long football memory. Writing in The Mercury after the cup final, Myron Naicker recalled his father taking the bus from Verulam to Curries Fountain for Federation Professional League matches, the non-racial game. The new club is building its own support from Chatsworth outwards.
For the biggest nights, the club moves to Moses Mabhida Stadium. Both of its home legs in the CAF Confederation Cup were played there.
Rivalries
Durban City are too young for an old feud, but KwaZulu-Natal has supplied a derby quickly. AmaZulu are the natural rival, in what local papers call the Durban derby, and Usuthu have had the better of it. They won the first Premiership meeting 1-0 at Moses Mabhida Stadium in October 2025, the Daily News recorded, and won 2-1 at Chatsworth on 13 October 2026, five days after Tinkler was appointed, AfricaSoccer reported. Golden Arrows and Richards Bay, the province’s other Premiership clubs, complete the local picture.
There is a personal edge elsewhere: Gavin Hunt, a former Durban City coach, now runs Stellenbosch, who visit on Wednesday.
Why Durban City matter
Start with the trophy. When Durban City beat TS Galaxy in May, they became the first KwaZulu-Natal club to win the Nedbank Cup, the competition’s own report records. They also ended a 17-year wait for a major trophy in the province, going back to Golden Arrows’ MTN8 win in 2009, TimesLIVE noted.
Then look at the past week. Kaizer Chiefs went out of the Confederation Cup on penalties to Red Arrows on 23 October, The Citizen reported, and Mamelodi Sundowns, the reigning African champions, were knocked out of the Champions League by Wiliete of Angola. The Final Whistle has that weekend in full. South Africa now has two clubs in the CAF group stages: the league champions, and a club that has carried its name for just over two years.
Durban City now: as at 27 October 2026
Everything in this section was checked on the morning of Tuesday 27 October 2026 and is refreshed as things change.
The Nedbank Cup that opened the door
Durban City won the Nedbank Cup on Saturday 2 May 2026 at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, coming from a goal down at half-time to beat TS Galaxy 2-1, the PSL and the Nedbank Cup both reported. It was the club’s first major trophy, under interim coach Pitso Dladla, and it carried a bigger prize: a first season in Africa.
Two rounds, nine goals: the road to the group stage
| Round | Opponent | Home leg | Away leg | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First preliminary round | Rukinzo (Burundi) | 1-0 | 2-1 | 3-1 |
| Second preliminary round | AS Port Louis 2000 (Mauritius) | 3-1 (18 October) | 3-0 (25 October) | 6-1 |
That is nine goals scored and two conceded in four games, in the club’s first CAF campaign. Against Port Louis, Haashim Domingo and Gaston Sirino scored in both legs, Tashreeq Morris added a penalty deep in added time in Durban, and Ethan Brooks scored his first goal for the club in Mauritius, according to CAF and the club. Our report from Mauritius has the detail of Sunday’s 3-0. The club says this is the first group stage place in its history.
Who coaches Durban City?
Eric Tinkler. The club’s own reports call him Durban City FC head coach, as on 19 October, and after Mauritius he described the result as a very important achievement for the club. Durban City announced his appointment on 8 October, AfricaSoccer and Briefly News reported, after parting ways with Khalil Ben Youssef in late September. Ben Youssef had taken the team through the first round against Rukinzo.
What comes next
CAF makes the Confederation Cup group stage draw on Wednesday 28 October at 13:00 SAST (14:00 Cairo time, 11:00 GMT) in Cairo, at the home of Egypt’s football federation. Sixteen qualified clubs go into the draw and come out as four groups of four, and the matches begin in November, CAF confirms. The Champions League draw, with Orlando Pirates in it, follows at 14:00 SAST.
Six hours after their draw, Durban City host Stellenbosch at Chatsworth Stadium at 19:00 in the knockout cup last 16, the PSL fixture list confirms. Our last 16 preview has the team news.
Beyond the Score
Most clubs inherit their history. Durban City borrowed theirs, and that is worth being honest about. The 1982 title and Barker’s champions belong to a different club that closed in 1988. The modern Durban City is Maritzburg United’s story too: two decades in Pietermaritzburg, a relegation and a move forced by the loss of a home ground.
Our view: borrowing a name is the easy part. Earning it is the job, and this club has started faster than anyone could have expected. A second-tier title, a first major trophy and a CAF group stage, all since August 2024, all after relegation and the loss of their home ground in 2023. The old Durban City crossed the lines apartheid drew around the game. The new one has a simpler brief: give a big football city a team of its own. On Wednesday, that city finds out who its team will play in Africa.
Frequently asked questions
What is the history of Durban City FC?
The name belongs to a club founded in 1959 that won the NPSL title in 1982 and folded in 1988. Today’s Durban City is the former Maritzburg United, renamed in August 2024, which has since won the Motsepe Foundation Championship and the Nedbank Cup.
Was Durban City FC previously Maritzburg United?
Yes. The PSL approved Maritzburg United’s move to Durban and its new name in August 2024, after the club lost access to Harry Gwala Stadium following relegation in 2023.
Who is the Durban City coach?
Eric Tinkler is head coach, in the club’s own words, as at 27 October 2026. Durban City announced his appointment on 8 October 2026 after parting ways with Khalil Ben Youssef.
Where do Durban City play their home games?
Chatsworth Stadium in Durban is the club’s home ground. Both of its CAF Confederation Cup home legs in 2026/27 were played at Moses Mabhida Stadium.
When is the CAF Confederation Cup group stage draw?
The draw is on Wednesday 28 October 2026 at 13:00 SAST in Cairo, CAF says. Durban City are one of the 16 clubs going in, and CAF says the first group matches are played in November.