Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club originated from Marabastad, a cosmopolitan area North West of the Pretoria CBD.
The club was originally formed in the early 1960s by a group of youngsters, among whom were Reginald Hartze, Joey Lawrence and Bernard Hartze, and it became an official football club in 1970.
The club was affiliated to the Federation Professional Football League in 1973 and in the same year reached the finals of the Coca-Cola Cup, where they played against Berea United and lost 5–3.
In 1978, the Federation Professional Football League threw their weight behind the then National Professional Football League. This meant the end of the Federation Professional Football League and the subsequent relegation of Sundowns to the second division.
For five years 'Downs battled to gain promotion and during that period the Sundowns' management resolved to disband the club, but instead the club relocated to Mamelodi in the early 1980s.
In 1985 South African football was the first sport to become non-racial and the National Soccer League was formed incorporating the top clubs in the country.
Sundowns earned promotion to the NPSL in 1983 but in their first season in top-flight football, they found the going difficult until Zola Mahobe came on board in 1985 and appointed Ben Segale as their coach.
In 1988, the ownership of the club fell into the hands of Standard Bank, which repossessed the club from Zola Mahobe. The club went into liquidation and the football family Angelo and Natasha Tsichlas spoke to the bank and saved the club. They then formed a company with Abe Krok and bought 100% of the club. Under the Tsichlas/Krok leadership Sundowns became the best team in South Africa. They won the first NSL League Trophy with Angelo Tsichlas as coach
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