Founded in the 1970s, the team plays its home games at the Loftus Versfeld stadium. Sundowns was founded in the early 1960s by a group of young people who lived in and around Marabastad, in Pretoria (Tshwane). The Mamelodi Sundowns football club originated in Marabastad, a cosmopolitan area northwest of the financial district of Pretoria. The Marabastad Sundowns were officially founded in 1970 by Itsweng and Sebotsane, both from one of the largest municipalities in Pretoria, Mamelodi.
Mamelodi Sundowns players celebrate a goal that helped them beat Zamalek 3-1 to win the African Champions League. Zola Mahobe is said to have spent around 2 million rands to boost the Sundowns in his first two years as club owner. Patrice's first-born son, Tlhopane, now runs Masandawana and has been tasked with ensuring that the club maintains its dominance in South African football, after winning the last four PSL titles. It came after the Sundowns advanced to the final of the CAF Champions League in 2001 and lost to Egyptian football giant Al-Ahly.
The Mamelodi Sundowns won the CAF Super Cup in their first attempt on Saturday by defeating TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of the Congo 1-0 in Pretoria. Under this three-year contract, four JCFD coaches work at the Mamelodi Sundowns Youth Academy, in Pretoria, to train the club's local youth coaches and players in Johan Cruyff's soccer philosophy. The mining magnate, nephew of one of the founders of the Sundowns club, Frank 'ABC' Motsepe, renounced all powers of the club according to the Caf statutes after being elected president of the governing body of African football earlier this year. The newly created team was named Marabastad Sundowns in honor of a fan club called Sundowns, which existed in the 1940s, which was also formed in Marabastad.
In 1984, South African football was the first sport to stop being racial and the National Football League was created, which incorporated the best clubs in the country. The Brazilians are one of the most historic soccer clubs in South African football and have built a dynasty of successes. The duo changed the name of the club to Mamelodi Sundowns and joined the Federation's Professional Football League three years later, and went on to campaign in the National Professional Football League. The flamboyant Zola Mahobe bought the Sundowns in 1985 and immediately used his charm to inspire the club to the second division league and get promoted to the first division.
In addition, the Club undertook the biggest football development project in the entire African continent when it announced a partnership with Johan Cruyff Football Development (JCFD). In 1985, Zola Mahobe, a businessman from South Africa's largest municipality, Soweto, bought the Itsweng and Sebotsane Sundowns and transformed the Pretoria team into one of the most glamorous club teams in the country.
