Coach: The life and times of Clive Barker
This is the second extract from the book Coach – The life and soccer times of Clive Barker, published by Jacana Media. It is available at book stores countrywide.
“We set a standard in the NPSL; some of the players had never had that kind of discipline, but they soon got the message about the professionalism we were instilling in the
club.” – Butch Webster
By the time that Norman Elliott, chairman of Durban City, asked me to take on the coaching role in 1980, I already had some experience of the club.
I had played for the Blue and Whites between 1959 and 1961 and City had since moved from the popular Federation League to join the sleeping giant, the National Professional Soccer League, which was to ultimately become today’s Premier Soccer League.
This was the time when the sport was beginning to breach the race barrier between white and black, signalling the start of many changes that would be made to the League structure.
At the end of the 1977 season the white National Football League was disbanded and the teams from the ‘white’ league were invited to join the National Professional Soccer League, which boasted those giants of Soweto: Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Moroka Swallows.
Durban City refused on the basis of our sizeable and fanatical support among the Indian population, which had helped drive our success and who may not support us against the Soweto sides – as did Hellenic, Dynamos and Cape Town City – and, instead, joined the Federation League, including the likes of Manning Rangers and Santos.
Durban City went on to win the Federation League in 1978 and it appeared that they would be lost to the new, unified league, but the NPSL administrators knew that for football to be unified, all the top former white clubs had to be included and, in the end, sanity prevailed; in the 1979 season, Durban City, Hellenic, Dynamos and Cape Town City were included in a 16-team league, which was won by Kaizer Chiefs.
The following year Highlands Park won the League, and the unification process was finally complete – a former NFL team had won the ‘unified league’. In that 1979 season, City finished a respectable sixth on the table but found the going tough, finishing tenth in 1980.
As the league became more and more professional, Durban City, run on limited resources, was always going to struggle against the well-financed likes of Chiefs, Pirates, Wits and Highlands. They struggled for most of the season and looked to be fighting a relegation battle, when the phone call came from Norman, inviting me to join Durban City.
I saw it as a golden opportunity to finally coach a mixedraced team that was competing at the highest level of the game in South Africa. I was intrigued to merge the two styles of football into one unit.
Norman Elliott and I had worked together with the petroleum giant Mobil Oil to devise a coaching programme for them, so I wasn’t stepping into completely new territory. This was still very much a time of segregation; although here was a lot of positive stuff happening, particularly in the football world, times were still very tough for black players, who would be ferried to the old Kingsmead football stadium by bus before we put them through an introductory training session. The players then returned home to the townships.
When I arrived at Durban City’s training ground for the first time, I discovered to my consternation that fewer than 12 players had pitched up. I asked Norman Elliott if this was the best he had – in the entire group of players, there were no more than four or five decent talents – and, if that was so, he was in trouble because Durban City were down to play Wits University away that Saturday. As the game drew nearer, more and more City players began to withdraw and I feared that we wouldn’t even be able to field a full team.
So it was that I phoned Butch Webster and begged him to play. He was at Florida Albion at the time and City had pipped them twice so I couldn’t be sure Butch could even be coaxed to join the enemy. Butch was one of the players I enjoyed riling up because he was a hothead on the field and I doubt he felt too much love for me.
I’d never had an opposition coach swear me out as much as Clive did, so when I received his phone call, his voice was the last I expected to hear.
Clive always made sure his team got me going. One of the first instances I remember was a match being played at Florida Albion when he sent on a player to target me, get me going and get me sent off.
When the guy came on, he spat at me, but the first time he received the ball, I launched an attack on him, tackled him hard and put him back on the bench.
But in my heart, I’d always loved Durban although I lived in Johannesburg, and the next thing Clive called me and said he wanted me to come down to the coast. My circumstances then meant that the timing wasn’t really right, although I was honoured that Clive had thought of me in that way.
I had to make a decision, but because I lived in Johannesburg, I ended up signing for Wits University with Eddie Lewis. The season continued for about six months before Clive called me again and said to me, “I need someone to come down here – would you be interested?”
I spoke to Eddie Lewis and he was really nice about it, telling me he would never stand in my way. I wanted to take a chance, so I accepted his offer. I flew to Durban and met Clive and Graham Wilson at the Blue Waters Hotel where we discussed the deal. Wits were okay with me leaving and I came to play for Clive. – Butch Webster
I now had Butch, and was quick to secure Stephen Jarrett, who had just finished his military duty, and he and Alan Wasserman joined the team for the big match that weekend. I stayed behind in Durban with Juventus, but scores were relayed back to me, and at halftime the score was 0–0.
As Alan Watt, the City goalkeeper, ran past the Wits technical team for the start of the second half, he heard one of the staff mutter, “This must be one of the worst Durban City teams I’ve ever seen,” to which Alan retorted,
“I think we’re doing pretty well seeing as we only have 10 players in our squad and some of them didn’t even pitch up for the game.”
Right at the end of the match, Wits scored to win 1–0, but what an effort from the Durban City boys. Butch had played with a heavily strapped knee and earned a bust lip, Stephen cramped up badly and Alan was playing in his first match for the team.
Things were about to change. With the introduction of Marco Minetti, City could boast a talented striker in their line-up. Marco was able to turn on a tickey. He was quick as lightning, brave, great in the air and had the ability to hit the ball with both feet. He was City’s go-to man. And to top it all off, he was very good looking and of the modern era, not unlike the incomparable Ronaldo.
At a prize-giving one year, Marco was presented with a Datsun Pulsar for his goal-scoring exploits and the whole of the Durban City team escorted him to the function to honour the winners.
Dennis Wicks, our spokesman, then suggested we all meet at Slippers Boogie Palace to celebrate, but one of the players reminded us that no blacks, Indians or coloureds would be allowed inside. So, together, the team decided to break the law and we made our way to the Los Angeles Hotel in Musgrave.
Dennis put a pretty convincing case forward and the nightclub manager eventually allowed us in.
It was astonishing that the authorities would allow black and white to unite on a football field, but as soon as the match or training was over, apartheid laws would be enforced and we would have to go our separate ways.
Marco was always going to attract attention and he was duly scouted and offered trials with two overseas clubs. With his sublime ability to turn off both feet and being too quick for his own good, I always thought he would pick up injuries – and he eventually suffered a knee injury before returning to South Africa to play for Juventus under Mike Makaab. Sadly, he was a shadow of his former self.