On Cape Town Spurs' Promotion To The Topflight
I'm happy and kind of relieved that another Cape Town team has been promoted to the DStv Premiership. It's my former team and I'm excited about it. They are one of the few teams in the country with great facilities and well-structured youth development, so it's good to have that kind of a club back in (the) topflight and of course, being my old club, I want them to succeed and do well.
On His Memories Playing For The Club
My association with Cape Town Spurs started in the mid '90s when I joined them from Fish Hoek. I got scouted at the Bayhill tournament, a very prestigious youth tournament in Cape Town, at the age of 17 when Mitch D'Avray was the head coach. Cape Town Spurs had just missed out on winning the league to Orlando Pirates in 1994 and the following year, in 1995, they won the league and cup double. So, it was a very talented Cape Town Spurs team with the likes of Michael Jacobs, Ronnie Zondi, the late Francis Shonhai at centreback. It was a classy team and, as a youngster, I was very grateful to be training with those types of players. And then of course, in 1996, when those players were sold and the ownership changed from David Rodwell to John Comitis, we as youngsters got thrown into the deep end. We played in that inaugural Coca-Cola Challenge which preceded the formation of the PSL. We played most of our games at Athlone Stadium in front of a very sparse crowd and, as a youngster, I was always quite shocked playing in front of a full crowd whenever Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates were in town, but it was something that I learnt to deal with early on. I had very good years as a youth player training with quality national team players. It was a good upbringing. There was not too much money back then, but I was not too concerned about that – it was probably just enough to cover my train fare to and from Fish Hoek to Parow. It was hard, you know. It was not easy, but I had to persevere. I was determined to make it and I had good young players around me, David Kannemeyer being one of them, who followed me through the ranks. It was a challenge. It was a team that was run on a shoestring budget, especially when John Comitis took over as the owner. The previous owner, David Rodwell, was quite expansive in his spending and that is why he was able to get such a good team. When there was a change of ownership, John Comitis, as the new owner, had to be cautious and it was not a life of luxury. But we cut our teeth in that environment, which set us up nicely going forward. We always did pretty well against the bigger teams in Cape Town and one of the most entertaining matches I have ever played was Cape Town Spurs against Kaizer Chiefs that we lost 4-3 at Athlone Stadium. Some of the goals that were scored in that game were quiet incredible, but the 4-3 result was very entertaining to watch.
On The Merger With Seven Stars
When Cape Town Spurs merged with Seven Stars to form Ajax Cape Town in 1999, Ajax Cape Town did not want me. They went with other, different players and I was deemed surplus to requirements and that is when I went the legal route to get my clearance instead of being offloaded to the Mother City franchise. After I got my clearance, I moved to Mamelodi Sundowns. And now, 24 years later, Cape Town Spurs are back in top flight football and that means a lot. Everyone raves about the structure and talent in Cape Town. There are good, strong well-established amateur teams that are well-run on the basis of voluntarism – it's not about money – and that has produced a healthy talent pool and it's very evident when other teams from provinces come to play against Cape Town teams. The kids in Cape Town have got to have a clear path to success, they've got to have examples and teams that are playing at the highest level to make them aware of what they need to aim for. The fact that Cape Town Spurs has joined Cape Town City and Stellenbosch FC in the DStv Premiership is great and it will give more kids an opportunity to play professional football at the highest level. Whether the team will bring in new players next season to reinforce the squad will depend on many elements. It will also be down to Shaun Bartlett and how much faith he has on senior players. Wholesale changes are not going to be healthy and that will also disrespect the foundation made by the players who played in the Motsepe Foundation Championship. Cape Town Spurs has the quality needed to hold its ground in the PSL, but some clever buys in different departments won't do them any harm.
On Bafana Bafana's Win Over Morocco
Bafana Bafana beat World Cup semi-finalists Morocco over the past weekend and if they have good preparation leading up to Afcon, they can perform well at the tournament. If Hugo Broos can keep the core of this team – obviously a few changes will be made here and there – I can see us doing pretty well at the Africa Cup of Nations. If there is an interference leading up to the tournament… and we all know what interference I'm talking about… then that's another story. Leading up to big tournaments, changes are always made and this has got to stop. Just let the coach do his work. I was critical of Broos earlier on with his outspokenness and from a selection point of view, not everyone is going to agree with him – it's obvious and given. And what is appealing is that they have beaten a world-class Morocco team at home in front of a fairly large crowd. South Africans love winners and if we continue getting results, we will be going to the Africa Cup of Nations tournament with a lot of momentum behind us and we haven't seen that in a long time.
