Morning ladies and gents. It's the #BlackFriday version of #KnowYourOwner and today we explore @CapeTownCityFC

Who is Jean Michel Comitis
Early football days
Money and family feuds
Who is Michel Comitis
A bold new direction
Philanthropy

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As usual, I'll re-post my disclaimer. I'm not an auditor, accountant or statistician nor am I a sports journalist. I'm merely a fan who likes to read up on the business side of sport and this is all publicly available information.

Let us begin

The youngest club in the PSL was formed just four years ago in 2016 but they've already made a big mark on the local football scene by doing things differently. It's owned by the Comitis family headed up by Jean Michel Comitis or John as he is commonly known.

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Comitis has a long and quite fascinating history in football and I will touch on that before going into his current role as chairman of the Citizens, Cape Town City. John was born in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo ion the 16th April 1962

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At age 12 he was sent to boarding school at St Johns College in Johannesburg and matriculated in 1980. He then went to Wits University where he graduated with a BSC in Mechanical Engineering. He was an excellent footballer while studying at Wits and played professionally.

John played in the NPSL for Wits and was in the BP Top 8 Side in 1984, had a season at Cosmos and played two seasons in the Greek Second Division turning out for Korinthos before returning to South Africa in 1988 to pursue business interests while still playing for Hellenic

He also played for #CapeTownSpurs and #VascoDaGama before hanging up his boots.

The earlier mentioned business was a first for the Western Cape and arguably, the reason why the Steers brand is as big as it is today. Strap in for this truly fascinating tale in the story.

In 1988 John opened up the first ever Steers in the Western Cape with Ari Efstathiou which was a wild success. When they exited the business, they had grown their empire to roughly 120 locations with rights to the Steers/Debonairs/Blockbuster Video/Wimpy franchises

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They sold their shares back back to Steers Holdings who changed their name to Famous Brands and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 1994 and now have over 1,723 franchised restaurants with a market cap of over R4.4 billion. I could not verify the value of that sale.

Away from football, the then friends would also get involved in property with one of their biggest property ventures being the purchase of Brackenfell Mall in 2001 which they renovated for R30 million and renamed Fairbridge Mall in 2004.

That venture would fall victim to a bitter feud between the Comitis and Efstathiou families which culminated in a 2013 Western Cape High court battle and the Comitis family leaving the business in 2015.

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The love for football had never gone away for John and he along with Ari decided to buy Cape Town Spurs in 1998 which later became @ajaxcapetownfc before family feuds resulted in the Comitis family exiting the club in 2013. During that time, John was appointed to the leagues NEC

#JohnComitis returned to football in 2016, buying #MpumalangaBlackAces, relocated them to Cape Town and renaming the club @CapeTownCityFC. The Citizens quickly established a reputation as a club that does things differently, focusing on inclusivity and digital media

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Focusing on inclusivity and using digital media to great effect the club has arguably got the best digital content and some of the most diverse fans. City has been incredible in their marketing efforts and that is driven by their other director, Michel ( @MichelComitis)

Michel is the 27 year old son of John Comitis and serves as the clubs commercial director since 2017. He too was a footballer at school where he attended #Bishops College and was later taken up by the Ajax Cape Town academy and before stints with @ChippaUnitedFC and #Hellenic

He also turned out for his university team, Brown University where he studied and graduated with a degree in economics before working in New York for a little while.

Onto how he has made @CapeTownCityFC one of the best marketed sports clubs in the country.

As commercial director, he was part of the team that caused an uproar form the league when Cape Town City took up a sponsorship from betting company SportPesa without permission from the league. City stood firm under pressure, threats of possible points deductions or relegation

In an interview Hidden Football, Michel speaks to his vision for the club by saying, "I’d say that the league is a commercial success, but a cultural failure, and that’s what CTCFC are trying to change. We’re allowing people to fall in love with the game again"

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' @CapeTownCityFC success has been felt on and off the pitch with their innovative, people-first approach to bringing the Cape Province together.

They've done that is by giving back to the community through football such as this million rand donation https://twitter.com/CapeTownCityFC/status/908325724767096833?s=20

Its clear that the Comitis family will likely be in football forever and if their last four years are anything to go by, we should all quickly learn to expect the unexpected.

With that, I conclude my ownership and financial review of @CapeTownCityFC .

Cheers