Early history (1932–1973) One of the oldest clubs in South Africa, AmaZulu was formed by Zulu migrant workers in 1932 and originally named Zulu Royal Conquerors. The club was then introduced to Zulu king
Solomon, who changed the team's name to Zulu Royals and their colours to royal blue and white, and also added the shield to their logo. Initially, Prince Bayisikili was placed as the team guardian at eMsizini and later replaced by Prince Sithela and the team's headquarter was at the Royal Kraal by then the team colours had changed to bottle green and white. On the day of King Bhekizulu's funeral in the year 1968, the team went to play a Cup game against SAPPI Homestars at eMandeni, which they lost 4–2. On the day of the funeral the club was supposed to escort the King's coffin but Mr. Shezi, Mr. Nsele, Mr. Magwaza ended up escorting the King wearing the team's uniform. After purchasing their Premiership status, the team finished 7th in the 2017–18 season, however they were stripped of the Top 8 finish when Ajax Cape Town fielded Tendai Ndoro in matches against Platinum Stars, Polokwane City & Supersport United. This resulted in Ajax Cape Town losing all three matches 3–0 & fined R50 000 on each offence, and AmaZulu dropping to 9th position in the 2017–18 season. On 28 September 2018 it was announced by the PSL that AmaZulu would be docked 6 points for failure to comply with a ruling made by the
Court of Arbitration for Sport in September 2017. The matter surrounded the illegal termination of the contract of a former player, Phinheas Nambandi, in 2014 Nambandi took the club to FIFA to contest the termination of his contract, with FIFA ruling that the termination was illegal and that the club were to pay an amount of R1‚086,000.00. AmaZulu appealed the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, however, the decision was upheld. A year later the club had still failed to pay the outstanding figure to Phinheas Nambandi, this resulted in FIFA's Disciplinary Committee ruling that should the club not settle the debt with the player by 16 September 2018, 6 points would be deducted. The club had a turbulent 2019–20 season, with two coaches being fired and the club's Premiership status secured by the coaching combination of Ayanda Dlamini and Moeneeb Josephs. AmaZulu started the season poorly under Cavin Johnson and his assistant Alan Clark, with the team sitting on 2 points after 5 games. The decision was made by club management to fire the coaching duo, with Jozef Vukusic coming in as the club's new head coach. The team seemed to have turned a corner under Vukusic's mentorship, however, they started the second half of the season poorly and it was decided that change was needed in order to save the club from relegation. Vukusic was suspended, with assistant coach Ayanda Dlamini being given the role as interim head coach, and Moeneeb Josephs being installed as his assistant. Dlamini managed to save the club from relegation, with the team finishing 13th, and going undefeated in his 5 home games in charge. What made this achievement even more impressive is that the AmaZulu ownership had implemented salary cuts on all their staff, which they cited as being associated with the COVID-19 pandemic – this despite the fact that the club continued to receive its full monthly grant from the PSL. The club received backlash for the manner in which the salary cuts were handled from the SA Football Players' Union.
The Zungu era (2020–present) On 2 October 2020, it was announced that businessman
Sandile Zungu had purchased AmaZulu from Patrick Sokhela. From the outset, the new ownership laid out a 12-year plan that would see the club climb in stock and standing within South African football. As part of achieving this plan, Zungu brought in
Benni McCarthy as Head Coach, with Siyabonga Nomvethe and McCarthy's former assistant from Cape Town City, Vasili Manousakis joining the club as assistant coaches – this saw the redeployment of Ayanda Dlamini to the club youth structures and the mutual termination of Allan Freese's contract. Further to this, Moeneeb Josephs was brought in as the new first team goalkeeper coach, replacing long term employee Davies Phiri; and, Justin Hamburger was brought in to join the Performance Analysis department alongside Pilela Maposa. In his maiden season as the owner of AmaZulu, Sandile Zungu saw his team finish 2nd behind Mamelodi Sundowns and subsequently qualify for the 1st preliminary round of the CAF Champions League. The team beat Nyasa Big Bullets in the preliminary round with a 3-2 aggregate. AmaZulu progressed to the 2nd preliminary round facing African giants, TP Mazembe, with AmaZulu qualifying for the group stages of the competition after a 1-1 aggregate, going through on away goals. AmaZulu are the seventh team from South Africa to progress beyond the preliminary stages of Africa's showpiece club competition. The club introduced a new logo in October 2025. ==Facilities==