History:
Founded in 1936 after breaking away from another big club in Tanzania, Yanga.
It was initially known as the Queens in honor of her Majesty the Queen of England. It was not until 1971, that the club took up the name Simba which means Lion in Swahili after dropping the name Eagles.
Homeground:
Simba play their home matches at the 60,000 capacity Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.
Honors:
Local – Won the Tanzania league title 21 times and Five Domestic Cup titles.
Regional – Won the CECAFA Club championships six times.
Continental – 11 CAF Champions League Appearances from 2002 when they exited from the first round.
In 2003, they made history by becoming the first team in East Africa to qualify to the group stage featuring eight teams after they edged out Egyptian giants Zamalek.
They have also done well in the 2018-19 and 2020-21 season when they reached the quarter-finals. Confederations Cup-they have made played six times here with their best performance in 1993 when they finished runners-up.
They made three appearances at the defunct CAF Cup Winners Cup where they eliminated in the second round on all three occasions.
Social media presence: The club had the fastest growing instrgram account among football clubs jumping 89% in 2022 compared to the previous year to stand at 1.9million followers.
Budget: It is the richest club in East Africa with a budget of $5.3m for the 2019/2020 season.
Head Coach: The team is handled by 62 year old Brazilian national, Roberto Oliveira Gonçalves do Carmo also known as Robertinho.
Dar es Salaam
Home City
Nicknamed ‘Dar’, it is the largest city in East Africa and the financial hub for Tanzania.
With a population of 6.4million people, Dar is the seventh biggest city in Africa. It is a historical city that was established in 1866 by the first Sultan of Zanzibar.
The Tanzanian coastal city enjoys tropical climatic conditions and is mostly hot and humid through-out the year.
While in Dar, these are some of the three interesting things once can do.
- Visit Mikumi National Park-One can go on a private safari tour to this park and is expected to see all the big five animals. There are multiple game drives through-out the day to maximize the likelihood of spotting animals.
- One can also take a private tour of this jam-packed city and see the War cemetery, interact with the Tanzanian culture at the national museum, explore the city’s churches and other interesting sites.
- For those with a taste of the night life, Dar has a variety of international night clubs that will cater for all tastes.
