Cape Town Spurs were formed on 11 January 1970, competing in the
Federation Professional League from 1971 until 1984, winning the league seven times, and the
National Soccer League from 1985 to 1995, winning the championship in the
final season, before the establishment of the
South African Premiership in 1996. The club also won league and the Cup in 1995, then known as the
Bob Save Super Bowl.
Ajax Cape Town era In 1999 Ajax Cape Town was formed via the amalgamation of two Cape Town-based teams,
Seven Stars and Cape Town Spurs, as
AFC Ajax expanded their worldwide talent-feeder network to South Africa, with the club adopting the club crest of the Amsterdam-based club. Ajax Cape Town was originally founded by John Comitis and Rob Moore in 1999. John Comitis, the honouree life chairman of Ajax Cape Town, later sold his shares in the club after 14 years at the helm and is now the chairman of
Cape Town City. Ajax, nicknamed Urban Warriors, played their first official game against
Kaizer Chiefs in the
Iwisa Charity Spectacular on 17 July 1999. Ajax caused an upset when they beat Chiefs 1–0 with
Sam Pam, the Ajax Cape Town captain, scoring the winning goal. Former South Africa national team coach
Gordon Igesund, the country's most successful club coach, who won league titles with
Manning Rangers,
Orlando Pirates,
Santos and
Sundowns, coached the club from 2002 until 2006. Ajax's highest league finish was runners-up in 2003–04, 2007–08 and 2010–11. Ajax won the Rothmans Cup in 2000, the
Nedbank Cup in 2007, the
Telkom Knockout in 2008 and the MTN8 in 2015. In January 2007 Ajax CT managed to beat AFC Ajax 3–1 in a friendly game held in Cape Town. The next friendly, played in
Amsterdam, ended in a 3–2 win for AFC Ajax in July 2009. Over the years several Ajax CT players have made the step to the mother club, among them
Steven Pienaar in 2002,
Daylon Claasen in 2009,
Eyong Enoh in 2008 and
Thulani Serero in 2011. In July 2013, it was announced that the Comitis brothers, longtime partners and shareholders with the Efstathiou brothers, had sold their Cape Town Stars shares, (19.6% of Ajax Cape Town), to the Efstathiou family. Ari Efstathiou was announced as the new chairman, and
Muhsin Ertuğral was reinstated as manager of the club, following an interim managerial period after originally being hired as the club's new technical director. In September 2015, Ajax won the 2015 MTN8 tournament edging Kaizer Chiefs 1–0 in the final. Ajax CT were relegated to the
National First Division after finishing bottom in the
2017–18 season due to having points deducted. Ajax CT were deducted points for fielding Thendai Ndoro, who, according to the governing
Premier Soccer League, was an illegible player. Ajax CT had previously been given the green light by the league and had officially registered the player with them as they were in possession of his player card. The team, therefore would have not been relegated had the points not been deducted and had the league not overturned their original decision that Ndoro was eligible to play. Ajax CT finished in 4th place, outside of the playoff positions, in the
2018–19 National First Division, and again failed to achieve promotion
the following season after losing in the
playoffs to
Black Leopards. Shortly thereafter, Ajax Amsterdam sold their 51% share in Ajax Cape Town.
2020 to 2025 Cape Town Spurs finished 2nd in the
2022–23 National First Division, earning promotion through the playoffs. However, the club followed this up with back-to-back relegations. Following their relegation from the
2024–25 National First Division into the amateur
SAFA Second Division, the club attempted to purchase the NFD status of
Pretoria Callies for R6 million. After relegation from the professional divisions of South African football, Spurs have been embroiled in consequential court cases with former players
Asanele Velebayi,
Liam Bern and Luke Baartman who were deemed free agents as a result. These decisions have been heavily criticized by the club owners. The financial strain of consecutive relegations and the loss of valuable players for free have put the future of the club in jeopardy.
Amateur era (2025 - present) The Urban Warriors currently play in the third division of South African football, the ABC Motsepe League Western Cape Stream A, alongside former PSL-outfits Vasco da Gama and Santos. Home games have moved from Athlone Stadium to the club's training ground, Ikamva. The transition to the amateur ranks has not been easy and consistency on the field has been hard to find with the club sitting mid-table as of early February 2026. However, the future looks bright. Cape Town Spurs have announced strategic and brand partnerships with ETA College and Kappa South Africa that will hopefully yield success in the future. During the transformational year of 2025, the club’s direction was steered by an unwavering commitment to its core values of resilience, integrity, and community. On Wednesday 5th November 2025 Cape Town Spurs Football Club announced a significant long-term technical partnership with global sportswear giant, Kappa. The agreement sees Kappa become the official technical partner for the club, providing high-quality performance apparel for the club’s senior teams and the newly launched Urban Warrior Schools. == Rivalries ==