Historical Background

Founded in the 1930’s by former pupils of various government schools, the club were first known as Old Boys and then Sunderland. They became representatives of the educated white collar workerS, with sponsorship from the Arab community. As one of the few open clubs, as opposed to firm or government teams, they enjoyed the pick of players and won the Dar es Salaam league in 1944 and 1946 as well as winning various trophy tournaments. Their club house became an important social centre, a place where a young player might look for work, seek advise or even approach the elder members to help find them a wife. In 1946 the city’s first stadium was built at Ilala and Simba no longer had to use the private gymkhana ground or school pitches.

Sunderland won the first two mainland league championships in 1965 and 1966 but these were relatively minor competitions, only attracting a handful of teams. The government were encouraging teams to drop their old colonial names and Sunderland switched to Simba –Swahili for Lion - a nickname they had been known by since the 1940’s anyway. They are also often referred to as ‘The Msimbazi Street Boys’ after the address of their club house.

1960 – 1990

Simba competed in African football for the first time in 1974 and made an impressive start, claiming Hearts of Oak as one of their victims as they reached the semi-finals of the Champions Cup. The same year they won the inaugural East African Championship and looked to be on the verge of becoming one of Africa’s top clubs.

In 1975 several of the club’s long serving officials broke away to form Red Star.  On the surface this was a simple dispute over mismanagement and the handling of club funds but it also reflected tensions between the traditional elders and new arrivals in a rapidly expanding city. The split might have been disastrous for Simba, but shortly afterwards Young Africans suffered a similar dispute that was to prove even more disruptive. The league title slipped away from both clubs in 1975 but with the Young African dispute dragging on Simba were able to record five consecutive titles between 1976 and 1980.

This was a bad time for the Tanzanian economy, with clubs struggling to find hard currency to meet their African commitments but Simba were involved in an extraordinary Champions’ Cup match in 1979, when they lost 0-4 at home to Zambian side Mululira, then won the away leg 5-0.  In 1982 their new Brazilin coach Silva took the team for a training trip to Brazil – an unprecedented move for those days - but too much was expected of them on their return and results continued to be disappointing.

Striker Zamoyoni Mogella was one player during this period who might have made the grade abroad, while future national team coach Abdallah Kibaden had a spell in charge of the club. One of Simba’s most distinguished fans was Zairian exile Laurent Kabila. When he later became President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo he decreed that ‘Simba’ should become the new name of the Congo national team.

1990 - 2000

With the Tanzanian economy slowly improving Simba won back-to-back East African Championships in 1991 and 1992 and in 1993 became the first Tanzanian side to reach the final of an African competition, playing Stella in the new CAF Cup. They returned from the Ivory Coast with a 0-0 draw but lost the return 0-2 after disputes over bonuses dampened the team’s morale.  Despite sponsorship deals that promised a new start the nineties ended disappointedly and there was a growing challenge from government or firm sponsored teams, most notably Mtibwa Sugar.  

2000 -

The new century saw Simba and Young Africans tighten their grip on domestic soccer. The creation of the Tusker Cup, a tournament for teams from Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, proved popular and Simba won the first four editions.  

In 2003 they beat Santos of South Africa and Egyptian giants Zamalek, both edged out on penalties, to reach the group stage of the Champions League. Here they acquitted themselves respectably, with home wins over ASEC and Enyimba. Stars of the side included midfield veteran Yusuf Macho and international Boniface Pwasa.

Simba do not own their own ground and for many years played home games in the Uhuru National Stadium, designed in the early sixties. The completion of a 60 0000 National Stadium gave another option for big matches, but construction work meant that for the first half of the 2007-08 season Simba had to base themselves in Morogoro, nearly 200 kilometres from the Dar es Salaam. It turned out to be a dismal season, with the club losing points for playing suspended players and at one point fans staged a riotous protest outside the house of the club chairman.

However the Tanzanian economy was doing well and Simba were able to recruit several foreign coaches, including Trott Moloto, who had been in charge of the South African national team and Zambian Patrick Phiri. They also strengthened their side with players from around the region - Uganda and Kenya being the favourite recruiting pools - and in 2010 Simba won their first league title since 2004, going undefeated in 22 games and finishing 13 points clear of Young Africans.