PSL and Cape Town City star Manyama bares all
FOOTBALL in the Mother City always gets the Cinderella treatment. It toils away in obscurity and hardly ever receives the recognition it deserves. But, on Monday night, at the annual PSL awards ceremony, the entire country had to sit up and applaud as Cape football took its place as the belle of the ball.
The majority of the winners had a connection to the Cape, a tribute to the continuing influence this city has on developing and grooming the country’s football talent.
The big winner was Lebogang Manyama – and there couldn’t have been a more deserved top dog on the night. In short, the Cape Town City skipper stood head and shoulders above the rest in terms of consistency and excellence.
We live in a world where, often, it’s the loud, egotistical noise-makers who are ignorantly feted. The accomplished and deserved prefer to go about their business quietly, in humility, secure in the knowledge that their contribution is important to the building and the success of the whole. Sometimes, though, this contribution, even from the most self-effacing, is just impossible to ignore. Manyama’s extraordinary clean sweep is such a case: Footballer of the Season, Players’ Player of the Season and the Top Goal-scorer award.
Throughout the season, game in and game out, Manyama has been a beacon of excellence. And yet, in word and body language, he has always fobbed off any personal praise, preferring to lionise his teammates and the team as a whole. Good things, without doubt, happen to good guys: It may be an old, hoary cliché, but it’s a gospel that many a PSL footballer would do well to take to heart.
It all started on August 23, 2016, with City’s very first official game in the PSL, and just three months after being established as a top-flight club. Manyama, at the time, was making his way back from injury. He had hardly had a pre-season. He entered proceedings in the 56th minute as a substitute for Australian James Brown, put himself about with energy and enthusiasm, and changed the course of the game. City won 2-0 – and Manyama has never looked back. Goals, assists, leadership, inspiration, it has all been there, in spades. Take a bow, young man – you deserve every award, every accolade, and every compliment and congratulation.
In addition to Manyama’s achievements, just to emphasise the Cape association, City winger Aubrey Ngoma walked off with the Telkom Knockout Player of the Tournament and the Midfielder of the Season. Mitchell’s Plain’s Abbubaker Mobara, now at Orlando Pirates, was named the Nedbank Cup Player of the Tournament, while the Goalkeeper of the Season was Bothasig’s Darren Keet, who played an influential role in Wits’ charge to the PSL title.
Another Cape connection was Gavin Hunt, the Coach of the Season. Originally from Simonstown, Hunt went on to play with distinction for Rygersdal and Hellenic before his success as a coach. His triumph at Wits is his fourth PSL title – and Monday’s win is the fifth time he’s taken the coaching award.And, just for good measure, let’s claim the Defender of the Season Thulani Hlatshwayo as well. He’s from Soweto, but it was at the Ajax Cape Town academy where he honed his craft, and it was as a PSL player for the Cape club that he matured his game. Today, without doubt, Hlatshwayo is one of the best footballers in the PSL.
I’ve had the privilege of tracking, monitoring and watching Hlatshwayo grow from a raw but talented young kid in the academy, to his sensational elevation to the PSL squad, and now the fearless, inspirational leader at the heart of the Wits defence.I have nothing but respect for the genial, gentle giant we call “Tyson”. But, as well as he performed this season, it’s safe to say there was only one player who could edge Hlatshwayo: Manyama. And that alone is a testament to just how brilliant the City captain was.
But, also, spare a thought for Ajax’s Grant Margeman… Just last year the Bonteheuwel teenager was in matric at Modderdam High School, this year he took the PSL by storm and he was brilliant for the SA U20s at the World Cup in South Korea. The fact that he was not even nominated for Young Player of the Season is a travesty of justice.