Wolkite City F.C.

Wolkite City F.C. (Amharic: ወልቂጤ ከተማ, Wolkite Ketema) is a professional football club based in Wolkite, Ethiopia. They play in the Ethiopian Premier League, the top division of football in Ethiopia.^[1]

Wolkite City

Full name	Wolkite City Football Club
Nickname(s)	ሠራተኞቹ (The Workers) ክትፎዎቹ (Kitfochu)
Short name	Wolkite Ketema
Founded	2010; 15 years ago (2010)
Ground	Wolkite Stadium
Capacity	1,500
Manager	Mulugeta Mihret
League	Ethiopian Premier League
2023–24	Ethiopian Premier League, 14th of 16 (relegated)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

History

Wolkite Ketema was founded in 2010.^[2] The club last played in the second division, Ethiopian Higher League, during the 2018–2019 season.^[3] That season Wolkite earned a promotion to the Ethiopian Premier League by finishing top of their respective group.^[4] To strengthen their team for their first season in the top flight, they signed a Ghanaian international Kweku Andoh, who most recently played for Ethiopian champions Mekelle 70 Enderta.^[5]

Wolkite officially signed a two-year kit deal with Singapore-based apparel maker Mafro Sports in September 2019.^[4]

Support

Wolkite City enjoys a strong fan base with supporters often traveling with the team during away matches.

Stadium

The club plays its home matches at Wolkite Stadium.^[6] The pitch at the stadium was renovated in 2019 as a result of the Ethiopian Premier League's governing body deeming it unfit to host premier league matches.^[7]

Ownership

The club has been owned by the Wolkite city administration since its founding in 2010. In February 2021, the club board announced that 51% of the club would be sold as shares to the public with 49% staying under the city administration.^[8]

Departments

The club has a team competing in the U20 Ethiopian Premier League.^[9]

Active departments

• Football team (U20)
• Basketball team

Players

First-team squad

As of 18 August 2023^[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ETH Jemal Tassew 3 MF  ETH Ephrem Zekarias 4 DF  ETH Mohammed Shafi 6 MF  ETH Asari Al-Mehadi 7 FW  ETH Ame Mohammed 8 MF  ETH Asrat Megersa 10 FW  ETH Ahmed Hussein 11 MF  ETH Abubeker Sunni 12 DF  ETH Tesfaye Negash 13 MF  ETH Firew Solomon 14 MF  ETH Abdulkerim Worku 15 DF  ETH Tesfaye Melaku 16 DF  ETH Yibeltal Shibabaw

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 DF  ETH Adane Belayneh 18 MF  ETH Behailu Teshager 19 DF  ETH Dagim Nigussie 20 MF  ETH Yared Tadesse 21 MF  ETH Habtamu Shewalem 22 GK  ETH George Desta 23 DF  ETH Yibeltale Shebabaw 25 MF  ETH Mulugeta Woldegiorgis 26 FW  ETH Henok Ayele 27 MF  ETH Muhajir Meki 28 MF  ETH Fuad Abdella 30 DF  ETH Tomas Simretu 99 GK  ETH Yohannes Bezabeh

Club officials

Vice-president: Abebaw Solomon

Coaching staff

As of 2 March 2021

Team leader: Kamel Jemal

Manager/head coach: Degarege Yigzaw^[2][10]

First assistant coach: Abdulali Tessema

First-team goalkeeper coach: Belete Wedajo

Team doctor: Mohammed Sied

Former players

• Abdulrahman Mubarek
• Abdulkerim Worku
• Ramadan Yusef
• Tomas Simretu
• Jemal Tasew
• Mohamed Awal^[11]

References

1. "Wolkite City vs. Mekelle 70 Enderta". Soccer Ethiopia. January 12, 2020. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
2. "Wolkite Ketema". Soccer Ethiopia. Archived from the original on 2022-03-27.
3. "Ethiopia 2017–18". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
4. Tsehaye, Dawit (September 14, 2019). "Mafro Sport to kit wolkite for the coming two years". Soccer Ethiopia. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
5. "Ethiopian side Wolkite City sign former Hearts defender Kweku Andoh". 1 August 2019. Archived from the original on 26 February 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
6. Takele, Tewodros (February 29, 2020). "የወልቂጤ ሜዳ በድጋሚ ሊገመገም ነው". Soccer Ethiopia. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
7. Tesfaye, Ameha (December 18, 2019). "ወልቂጤ ከተማ ዐቢይ ኮሚቴው ላይ ቅሬታ አሰማ". Soccer Ethiopia. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
8. Tesfay, Ameha (February 27, 2021). "ወልቂጤ ከተማን በአዲስ መልክ ለማዋቀር ተወስኗል". Soccer Ethiopia. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
9. Mesfin, Daniel (February 24, 2021). "ለወልቂጤ የተስፋ ቡድን የገንዘብ እና የትጥቅ ድጋፍ ተደረገላቸው". Soccer Ethiopia. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
10. Yoftahe, Kidus (March 8, 2021). "ክትፎዎቹ አጥቂ ለማስፈረም ተስማሙ !". Hatrick Sport. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
11. Thoyakkat, Harigovind (15 October 2020). "Gokulam Kerala sign former Ghana int'l Mohamed Awal on one-year deal". khelnow.com. Khel Now. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2022.