Black Leopards have announced that the club will once again compete in the Motsepe Foundation Championship (MFC) after successfully buying the status of All Stars FC.
Lidoda Duvha as they are affectionately known, were relegated to the ABC Motsepe League after finishing bottom on the MFC log standings, at the end of the 2022-23 season alongside Tshakuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) FC.
Following their drop from the MFC Lidoda Duvha would’ve played outside the professional ranks for the first time in the PSL era.
During a press conference held on Friday, Leopards confirmed that the transaction has gone through, and everything has been approved by the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
“Black Leopards have unfortunately been relegated after finishing last in the Motsepe Foundation Championship,” chairman Tshifhiwa Thidiela said.
“The question was do we find someone that can carry on with the legacy or do we as a family continue, and as a family decided to continue and found another status to continue in professional football.
“We can confirm we will have Black Leopards participating in the Motsepe Foundation Championship, and it will be participating as Black Leopards.
“It is the Thidiela sons, who went and purchased a new status of Cape Town All Stars. We’ve also managed to get permission to change the name to Black Leopards – obviously we had to negotiate with the ‘old Black Leopards’ to get permission to get the rights to use their names and emblems.
“The process was only completed on Tuesday when we got authorisation from the Premier Soccer League”.
The club will remain in Limpopo and will be based in Polokwane however still play their home games at the Thohoyandou Stadium.
During the press conference they also announced changes to their management structure.
Club owner David Thidiela is now Leopards’ president while his son Tshifhiwa ‘Chief’ Thidiela will assume the role of chairman.
Peter Mponda has also been confirmed as the new assistant coach while they pursue a new head coach.
