Platinum Stars

Platinum Stars is a football club founded in 1998 in Phokeng, South Africa.

The club embarked on their way to professional football as a third-division side but won a promotion to the second tier already after their debut 1998/99 season. In the 2002/03 season, the team topped the National First Division and broke into the top-flight Premier Soccer League. It is currently the only club from the North West region that competes in the top league.

The club’s historic campaign was the 2006/07 season when they climbed up to the second-place PSL finish, thus booking a place in the CAF Champions League, and claimed their first honor – the inaugural Telkom Knockout Cup – beating Ajax Cape Town 3-1 in the final match. During their sole run in the African Champions League, Platinum Stars set up a record as the first South African team to break down the Egyptian giants Al Ahly.

The team are often nicknamed the Crocodiles or the Stars. They play their home matches at Royal Bafokeng Stadium which can hold up to 42,000 people. The stadium was used by England during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It’s a tidbit that Platinum Stars had a remarkable friendly match with the England national team ahead of their World Cup opener on 7 June 2010.