 | |||
| Full name | Life Fighters Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Okahirona | ||
| Founded | 1964 | ||
| Ground | Mokati Stadium, Otjiwarongo | ||
| Capacity | 1,000 | ||
| Chairman | Anton Kake | ||
| League | Namibia Premiership | ||
| 2018–19 | 5th | ||
Life Fighters F.C. is a Namibian professional football team based in Otjiwarongo. Nicknamed Okahirona, it competes in the Namibia Premier Football League and is one of the oldest teams in the country. [1]
The club was founded in 1964, the same year as Black Africa and Eleven Arrows, by a young group led by local grocery store owner Emil Kuhanga. [2] It organized exhibitions in the absence of a league structure and hosted the Ovaherero knockout tournament for the Herero-speaking teams of the region, [2] and developed a fierce rivalry with African Stars. [3] It played its first season in the new Namibia Premier League in 1987 but were relegated after only a few seasons. [2]
After returning to the top tier, the Life Fighters played in the finals of the Namibia FA Cup in 2000 and 2004, losing each time. Still, it was a great achievement for the team managed by former player Eliah Tjazerua. [3] The 2004–05 Premier League season saw them finish 15th out of 16 teams. The league had earlier made the decision to award them a 0–2 loss in Round 20 against United Africa Tigers for a "lack of security personnel," [4] and their appeal for arbitration was dismissed by the Namibia Football Association Appeals Committee. [5] After months of deliberation the league announced that the 12th through 16th placed teams were to play in a qualifying playoff to determine who would play in the actual promotion/relegation playoff. [4] Nevertheless, they refused to participate and were automatically relegated after the games were played without them. [4] [6]
The Life Fighters spent the following decade in the second and third tiers of the national league system, but diehard supporter Anton Kake took over as chairman and invested his own money to save his childhood club. [2] Under his leadership they eventually secured promotion to the top tier at the end of the 2015–16 season with four matches left. [2] [7] There was no season held the next year, although they did play in the 2017 FA Cup. [8] The team made its long-awaited return to the Premier League in 2017–18, finishing in tenth place. At the midway point the following season, they stood in third place with only three losses, and 21-year-old striker Isaskar Gurirab earned a call-up to the Namibia national team by manager Ricardo Mannetti. [9]
| Season | Div. | Pos. | Pl. | W | D | L | GS | GA | P | Domestic Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 1st | 1/8 finals [n 1] | ||||||||
| 1988 | 1st | 14 | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 29 | 56 | 23 [n 2] | 1/16 finals [n 3] |
| 1989 | 1st | 11 | ||||||||
| 1990 | 1st | 1/16 finals | ||||||||
| 1991/92 | ? | |||||||||
| 1993 | 2nd | 8 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 33 | 37 | 14 | |
| 1994 | 2nd | 1/16 finals | ||||||||
| 1995 | 1st | |||||||||
| 1996 | 1st | |||||||||
| 1997–98 | 1st | 8 | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 32 | 35 | 28 | |
| 2000 | 1st | 10 | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 40 | 43 | 34 | Runner-up |
| 2001–02 | 1st | |||||||||
| 2002–03 | 1st | |||||||||
| 2003–04 | 1st | 14 | 30 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 50 | 71 | 29 | Runner-up |
| 2004–05 | 1st | 15 [n 4] | 30 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 35 | 55 | 26 | 1/8 finals |
| 2005–06 | 2nd | 1/16 finals | ||||||||
| 2006–07 | 2nd | |||||||||
| 2007–08 | 2nd | 11 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 13 | |||
| 2008–09 | 2nd | 1/16 finals | ||||||||
| 2009–10 | 3rd | |||||||||
| 2010/14 | ? | |||||||||
| 2014–15 | 2nd | 6 | 29 | 1/8 finals | ||||||
| 2015–16 | 2nd | |||||||||
| 2016–17 | 1st | not held | 1/8 finals | |||||||
| 2017–18 | 1st | 10 | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 28 | 39 | 37 | 1/16 finals |
| 2018–19 | 1st | 5 | 28 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 45 | 43 | 41 | |
| 2019–20 | 1st | not held |
Below are the notable former players who have represented Life Fighters in the Namibia Premier League and international competition since the club's foundation in 1964. To appear in the section below, a player must have represented his country's national team either while playing for Life Fighters or after departing the club.
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