Black Leopards Football Club, nicknamed ‘Lidoda Dhuvha’ holds the status of being one of the oldest teams in the South African football community.
Early Years
The club was founded in 1983 by businesspeople in the Vhembe Region (Venda area), in the province of Limpopo.
Years after the club’s establishment, and after many years of competing in the lower tiers of South African football, the club finally found some professional silverware, in 1996-97, when they won the Northern Stream of the National First Division (NFD).
The club changed ownership after the Thidiela family took over the side in the following year, in 1998 to be specific, the
Top Flight Football
After winning the Inland Stream of the First Division in 2000-01, Black Leopards earned promotion to the top tier (then the Premier Soccer League, PSL) for the 2001-02 season which saw them finish 8th in their debut season.
Spending seven straight seasons in the top flight from the 2001/02 season until the 2007/08 season, the club was relegated back to the NFD.
In the 2010/11 season, the club returned to the top flight after finishing as runners-up in the NFD Inland Stream and succeeding in the promotion playoffs.
Subsequent years saw instability as they were again relegated two seasons after the 2012/13 season.
Recent History
In recent years Lidodaduvha faced further relegation and league-status challenges after they were relegated from the top tier in the 2020/21 season.
The football club faced financial and structural difficulties culminating in further relegation from the second tier, Motsepe Foundation Championship, to the ABC Motsepe league after the 2022-23 season.
However, the club shortly bought the status of All Stars to retain their NFD status. As of the 2025/26 season, Black Leopards Football Club play in the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
