Rayon Sports Football Club is a professional football club from Nyanza, Southern province, Rwanda. It iscurrently based in Kigali. They compete in the Rwanda National Football League, and play home games at the Kigali Pele Stadium. The Amahoro Stadium is used for selected matches. For some years, its offices were located in the southern province in Nyanza District. They've won 9 league titles, 9 league cups, 2 CECAFA Kagame Cups, 9 Peace Cups, 3 Agaciro Cups, 2 Intwali Cups, 1 Kigali 100 Years' Cup and 1 Father Fraipont Memorial Tournament. The club is nicknamed Gikundiro. It boasts the largest fanbase in the country, with more than 80% of Rwandans, over 8 million people supporting Rayon Sports.
History The club was founded in May 1968 in Nyanza, but moved to the nation's capital, Kigali, in 1986, before moving back in 2012, following an agreement with the Nyanza District authorities. Gikundiro spent few months in Nyanza and returned to Kigali where it is based currently. In 2012, the club also absorbed Nyanza Football Club, which was relegated from the National Football League after the 2011–12 season.
Honours Domestic competitions Rwanda National Football League: 9 1975, 1981, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2012–13, 2016–17, 2018–19
Rwandan Cup: 11 1976, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1989, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2005, 2016, 2023
Rwandan Super Cup: 3 2017, 2019, 2023
International CECAFA Clubs Cup: 2 1998, 2026
Performance in CAF competitions CAF Champions League / African Cup of Champions Clubs : 9 appearances 1982 – Preliminary Round 1998 – First Round 1999 – Second Round 2001 – Preliminary Round 2003 – First Round 2005 – Preliminary Round 2014 – Preliminary Round 2018 – First Round 2020 – Preliminary Round
CAF Confederation Cup: 4 appearances 2006 – First Round 2008 – First Round 2017 – Second Round 2018 – Quarter-finals
CAF Cup: 2 appearances 1993 – Preliminary Round 2002 – Quarter-finals
CAF Cup Winners' Cup: 4 appearances 1990 – First Round 1994 – Second Round 1996 – First Round 2000 – Second Round
Current squad=
Notable coaches Longin Rudasingwa (1995–2000) René Kalimunda (2007–2008) Raoul Shungu (2009) Tierry Hitimana Baptiste Kayiranga Fatikaramu Kanyankore Gilbert Youndé Didier Gomes Da Rosa (2012–2013) Jean Marie Ntagwabira Luc Eymael David Donadei Ivan Minnaert (2015-2016) Juma Masudi (2016–2017) Karekezi Olivier (2017–2018) Ivan Minnaert (2018) Roberto Oliveira Goncalves do Carmo (2018–) Javier Martinez Espinosa (September 2019 – December 2019) Casa Bungo André (December 2019 – May 2020) Guy Bukasa (May 2020 – 2022) Haringingo Francis (2022–2023)
References