Ethiopian Coffee S.C.
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| Full name | Ethiopian Coffee Sport Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) |
Buna Gebeya (Coffee Market) Buna (Coffee) | ||
| Short name | Ethiopian Buna | ||
| Founded | 1983 | ||
| Ground | Addis Ababa Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 35,000 | ||
| Chairman |
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| Manager |
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| League | Ethiopian Premier League | ||
| 2018–19 | 3rd | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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Ethiopian Coffee Sport Club (Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ቡና ስፖርት ክለብ, Ethiopian Buna Sports Club) is an Ethiopian football club based in Addis Ababa. They are a member of the Ethiopian Football Federation and play in the top division of Ethiopian Football, the Ethiopian Premier League. Their home stadium is Addis Ababa Stadium. They are number one in the country for the number of fans.
History
Ethiopian Coffee Sport Club was founded in 1983 (1976 E.C) as "Yebuna Gebeya Sport Club" and startyed playing fooball in the AEWA Factory workers third division. The club amassed an impressive four trophies and one fair play award during the next its first 6 years.
In 1983, the club officially changed its name to Ethiopian Coffee Sports Club under the management of the National Coffee Trading Corporation, then a government enterprise. In 1995 the club was restructured and since then it has been financially supported by the Ethiopian coffee exporters and by its steadily growing supporters.
In 1998 one of the club's most notable players, Aseged Tesfaye, became the first player to score five goals in a single CAF Champions League match, when he did it against St. Michel United FC (Seychelles) in a 8-2 win in the preliminary round. Tesfaye's record still holds to date.
"Though until recently considered arch rival to the nation’s oldest, richest and most popular club, Saint George," noted a writer for the Addis Ababa Capital, "Coffee in the past couple of years faced high financial constraints hardly able to sign big name players. The result has been a decade existence never winning the premier league." In December, 2008 The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) bought Coffee, and Meta Abo Brewery signed a three-year sponsorship contract, both of which were expected to help the struggling football club.[1] In 2010, Ethiopian Coffee FC won their first ever Premier league title beating St. George and Defence Forces Fc. In the same year, Ethiopian Coffee FC signed a worth sponsorship deal with Habesha Beer, their third ever sponsorship deal following worbek and meta Abo Beer.
At the start of the 2017-18 Season the team hired Serbian manager Kostadin Papic to a two year contract. One month into his stay as manager, the club and Papic decided to mutually part ways after it was determined that his health condition wouldn't allow him to cope with the demands of the job.[2] In December 2017 the club hired Frenchman Didier Gomes Da Rosa as their new manager, replacing Papic.[3]
Finances
In 2018 the team along with the club's official fan club announced the creation of a digital platform called "Tifozo" developed in collaboration with Elebat Solutions (a Technology led solutions provider in Ethiopia).[4] The platform will allow for members registration, members contribution collection, and digital stadium ticketing among other things.[5]
Fans
Ethiopian Coffee has a large fan base of fans which are known for their large displays of flags during matches. The team's official fan club has 18,000 registered member and according to studies conducted by the fan club there is an estimated 6 million Ethiopian Buna (Coffee) fans throughout the country and in the Ethiopian diaspora.[4] In recent years their numbers have grown to match the fans of their biggest rivals St. George S.C. However, as a result clashes between these two sets of supporters, usually ultras, are very common especially when the two teams go head to head in the "Sheger Derby".
Colors
The Ethiopian Coffee logo has gone through some changes since the club's inception in the mid 70's. While the emphasis on the traditional coffee pot present in previous logos, the vibrant maroon and gold colors in the current logo are what give the club its identity. The club's utlras are known to wave large strips of maroon and gold flags at matches.
Grounds
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| Full name | Yidnekachew Tessema Stadium |
|---|---|
| Former names | Haile Selassie Stadium |
| Location | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
| Capacity | 35,000 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1940 |
| Renovated | 1960, 1999 |
| Tenants | |
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Ethiopia national football team Saint George FC Ethiopian Coffee FC Defence FC | |
Ethiopian Coffee play their home games at Yidnekachew Tessema Stadium, also generally known as Addis Ababa Stadium, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The ground is shared with other clubs based in Addis Ababa including Defense FC and Ethiopian Coffee's bitter rivals St. George S.C.
As a result the ground has witness many occasions of violence in recent years between different sets of supporters including that of Ethiopian Coffee. Consequently, the Ethiopian Football Federation has handed down hefty monetary punishments and on some occasions banned supporters from stadiums for a certain amount of matches.
The board of governors of the club have previously announced their intention to build their own grounds in Addis Ababa.
Honors
National Competitions
1997, 2011
1988, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2008
1997, 2000, 2008, 2010
2004, 2012
- Ethiopian Run Away League: 1
2007
African Competitions
- CAF Champions League: 2 appearances
- CAF Confederations Cup: 1 appearance
2004 – Preliminary Round
- CAF Cup Winners' Cup: 3 appearances
- 1999 – First Round
- 2000 – Second Round
- 2001 – Second round
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Club Officials
Coaching Staff
- Manager:
- First Assistant Coach:
- Second Assistant Coach:
- First-team goalkeeping coach:
Notable Former Players
Former Managers
Notes
- ↑ "Meta Abo Beer gives Coffee life line, retains board chair", Capital website (accessed 21 May 2009)
- ↑ Tolesa, Dawit (11 November 2017). "Ethiopia Coffee appoint new coach". The Reporter Ethiopia.
- ↑ "Ethiopia Coffee to announce Didier Gomes as head coach". EthioSports. December 16, 2018.
- 1 2 Legesse, Mikael (August 30, 2018). "ኢትዮጵያ ቡና እና ዕልባት 'ቲፎዞ' የተሰኘውን ዘመናዊ ቴክኖሎጂ ዛሬ አስተዋወቁ". Soccer Ethiopia.
- ↑ "Press Release on the launching of Ethiopia Bunna FC fans association – Elebat Solution Digital member management & payment Initiatives". Elebat Solution. March 29, 2018.
