Jomo Cosmos are a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

that plays in the

National First Division The National First Division (NFD), officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African club football after the South African Premier Division. Both the NFD and South Afr ...

. The club is owned and coached by South African football legend

Jomo Sono Ephraim Matsilele Sono OIS (born Madoda Walletjies Mkulwana, 17 July 1955), better known as Jomo Sono, is a South African football club owner, coach and former professional footballer. He has been variously nicknamed the "Black Prince of South ...

. In the 2021-2022 National First Division season the club was relegated to the Third Division stream of professional football in South Africa.

History

The club was founded on 29 January 1983, upon the remnants of the previously well-known and successful club Highlands Park, which Sono opted to buy when he ended his playing career in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The club was named Dion Cosmos in its initial 1983 season, with the first part of the name representing the previous sponsor of ''Highlands Park'' and the second part being the fingerprint of Jomo Sono, who decided to name his newly bought club after his former NASL club, the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...

. Since 1984, the name of the club has been Jomo Cosmos. Sono's policy for development has always been to recognise and build upon raw talent. Sono's team accentuated and developed a strong youth policy and through the years has gained a reputation for discovering and developing some of the finest talent to have played in the league, for the South Africa national team and abroad. Under Sono's ownership, the club went on to achieve several successes: winning the

South African Premier Division The South African Premier Division, officially referred to as the DStv Premiership for sponsorship purposes, is the premier men's professional football/soccer league and the highest division in the league system of South Africa, organized sinc ...

title in 1987, the Bob Save Super Bowl in 1990, the Coca-Cola Cup in 2002 and 2005, and the SAA Supa 8 in 2003. In 2008, Jomo Cosmos were relegated from top-flight football for the first time since 1993. After one season in the

, they returned to the PSL for the 2009–10 season, having won the Inland Stream and the promotion play-off against Carara Kicks. They were immediately relegated again, leading several to question Sono's future as the club's manager. Sono stayed, and led the club to the 2010–11 National First Division title and promotion. They were yet again relegated in their first season back, finishing in last place. They would stay in the second tier for three seasons, before winning promotion through the 2014-15 PSL play-off tournament. Cosmos were relegated again in their first season back, after losing 3–1 to Maritzburg United on the final day, ending the season in last place.

Honours

*Telkom Knockout: 3 ::2002, 2003, 2005 *Nedbank Cup: 1 ::1990 *NSL: 1 ::1987 *Second Division: 1 ::1994

Club records

*Most starts: Andrew Rabutla 229 *Most goals: Manuel Bucuane 88 *Most capped player: Manuel Bucuane *Most starts in a season: Webster Lichaba (1986),

Helman Mkhalele Helman Nkosiyethu Mkhalele (born 20 October 1969) is a South African former soccer player who played as a midfielder. He was the part of the Orlando Pirates squad that won the 1994 National Soccer League and 1995 African Cup of Champions Club ...

(1993) both 46 *Most goals in a season:

Philemon Masinga Philemon Raul Masinga (28 June 1969 – 13 January 2019) was a South African professional footballer and manager who played as a striker from 1990 to 2002. He played in the English Premier League for Leeds United, and Italian Serie A for Saler ...

27 (1991) *Record victory: 6–0 vs Grand All Stars (31 August 1985), (Mainstay Cup); vs Mabopane United Brothers (30 August 1986), (Mainstay Cup);
vs

Umtata Bush Bucks Bush Bucks is a South African association football club. The club was founded in 1957 and originally based in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. In 2001, the team moved to East London. It was nicknamed ''Imbabala (The Bucks)''. History The club was fo ...

(28 March 1992), (NSL); vs Denver Sundowns (21 February 1993), (African Cup Winners Cup) *Record defeat: 0–5 vs Kaizer Chiefs (24 December 2001), (Coca-Cola Cup)

Historical League results

*1983 (NPSL) – 9th *1984 (NPSL) – 9th * 1985 (NSL) – 4th * 1986 (NSL) – 12th * 1987 (NSL) – 1st * 1988 (NSL) – 2nd * 1989 (NSL) – 4th * 1990 (NSL) – 5th * 1991 (NSL) – 7th * 1992 (NSL) – 5th * 1993 (NSL) – 18th *Rel *1994 (OKL) – 2nd *Pro * 1995 (NSL) – 10th *1996 (League phase) – 7th * 1996–97 (PSL) – 7th * 1997–98 (PSL) – 7th * 1998–99 (PSL) – 10th * 1999–00 (PSL) – 7th * 2000–01 (PSL) – 4th * 2001–02 (PSL) – 4th * 2002–03 (PSL) – 8th * 2003–04 (PSL) – 13th * 2004–05 (PSL) – 13th * 2005–06 (PSL) – 9th * 2006–07 (PSL) – 7th * 2007–08 (PSL) – 16th *Rel * 2008–09 (NFD) – 1st *Pro * 2009–10 (PSL) – 16th *Rel * 2010–11 (NFD) – 1st *Pro * 2011–12 (PSL) – 16th *Rel * 2012–13 (NFD) – 14th * 2013–14 (NFD) – 6th * 2014–15 (NFD) – 2nd *Pro * 2015–16 (PSL) – 16th *Rel * 2016–17 (NFD) – 10th * 2017-18 (NFD) – 3rd * 2018-19 (NFD) – 13th * 2019-20 (NFD) - 13th

Club officials/Technical team

*Owner/Chairman:

*Football manager: Bamuza Sono *Coach: Jomo Sono *Assistant coaches: Siza Dlamini & Gerald Mtshali *Goalkeeping coaches: Mpangi Merikani & Avril Phali

First team squad

''2019-20 season''

Shirt sponsor and kit manufacturer

*Shirt sponsor: N/A *Kit manufacturer: N/A

References

External links

*
Premier Soccer League
{{National First Division Association football clubs established in 1983 Premier Soccer League clubs Soccer clubs in Johannesburg National First Division clubs 1983 establishments in South Africa