Life Fighters F.C.

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]

Life Fighters F.C.
Full nameLife Fighters Football Club
Nickname(s)Okahirona
Founded1964 (1964)
GroundMokati Stadium, Otjiwarongo
Capacity1,000
ChairmanAnton Kake
LeagueNamibia Premier Football League
2018–195th

History

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]

Domestic history
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

Notable players

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.

  • Namibia Charlie Aoseb
  • Namibia Isaskar Gurirab
  • Namibia Steve Mbemukenga
  • Namibia Chris Nauseb
  • Namibia Milton Nauseb
  • Namibia Oscar Tjikurunda

Managers
  • Namibia Eliah Tjazerua (early 2000s)[3]
  • Namibia Christy Guruseb (September 2017–January 2018)[1]
  • Namibia Turipamue Upi (January 2018–September 2018)[10]
  • Namibia Agnus Elemu (September 2018–)[9]

Notes
  1. Mainstay Cup; Namibia FA Cup not played until 1990
  2. Also reported with 21 points; 15th place team Hungry Lions were awarded two 0-5 losses against them and finished with 21 points.
  3. Novel Ford Cup; Namibia FA Cup not played until 1990
  4. Life Fighters refused to play in the promotion/relegation playoffs in protest of the league's decision to award them a 0-2 loss in Round 20 against United Africa Tigers for a "lack of security personnel." The playoff was postponed but ultimately continued without them while they appealed the decision. They were eventually relegated.

References
  1. "Life Fighters appoints Christy Guruseb". Kundana. 4 September 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  2. "The journey of Life Fighters FC, aka 'Okahirona' unzipped". New Era. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  3. "Former Life Fighters defender Eliah Tjazerua relives his football journey". New Era. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  4. "Namibia 2004/05". RSSSF. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  5. Ihuhua, Corry (22 June 2005). "Life Fighters get no arbitration". The Namibian. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  6. Kangueehi, Kuvee (14 October 2005). "Namibia: Life Fighters Determined in Their Boycott". Namibia. AllAfrica. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  7. "Life Fighters promoted to Premier League". The Namibian. 13 March 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  8. Schütz, Helge (3 March 2017). "Stars take on Life Fighters in Debmarine Cup". The Namibian. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  9. Schütz, Helge (8 March 2019). "Life Fighters, young pretenders to the throne". The Namibian. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  10. "Guruseb and Fighters part ways". New Era. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
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