Bloemfontein Celtic
The people of the Free State have lost a historic institution with the sale and demise of Bloemfontein Celtic.
South African football has lost one of its most famous institutions following the sale and unceremonious demise of Bloemfontein Celtic. In a remarkable sequence of events, the Free Statebased outfit’s PSL status was sold to Royal AM on the eve of the 202122 DStv Premiership campaign, leaving the club’s famous supporters and more than 50 years of footballing heritage in the dust. KICK OFF’s Liam Bekker caught up with former players Mark Mayambela, David Modise and Lebogang Mothibantwa, who count themselves among the thousands who have been left reeling by Phunya Sele Sele’s tragic end.
In August, Bloemfontein Celtic ceased to exist after the Premier Soccer League (PSL) formally ratified the sale of the club’s playing status to Royal AM in a transaction worth a reported R50 million. Celtic’s well-documented financial struggles since Max Tshabalala’s acquisition of the club in 2014 meant a change in ownership had always seemed inevitable but few would have predicted the complete dissolution of one of South Africa’s most famous sporting entities.
That is ultimately what transpired, however, as just hours after the completion of the deal, it was announced that the 52-year-old club had been relocated to KwaZulu-Natal in the form of Royal AM; a team which had failed to secure promotion from the GladAfrica Championship via the conventional route the season before.
For former player Mark Mayambela, who started his professional career in the club’s famous green and white hoops, the announcement came as a massive shock, and he believes the abrupt uprooting of Celtic will have a far-reaching impact on the city and the Free State province as a whole.
“With the financial strain that the club had been experiencing, it was stressful for the players and all the people who were working there but selling the club and taking it away from Bloemfontein, without the name, Bloemfontein Celtic, is something that I had never imagined,” he says.
“I always believed that someone would come along and buy the club and it would remain in Bloemfontein. When I first learned of the news, the only thing that came to my mind was the people of Bloemfontein, the people who love the club and who gave their all for the club.
“It’s very sad that 50 years of history, 50 years of heritage and 50 years of culture has gone down the drain. Bloemfontein Celtic is a great part of South African football and a great part of the PSL, and having to see a club with such history and culture, and with the kind of supporters that they have not being around anymore is tragic.
“It has been robbed from us, not only for us as footballers who played for the club, but also for the people of Bloemfontein. For the young generation who was looking forward to going to stadiums and watching their favourite club play, for the young boys who had dreams of playing for this club. It has taken away a lot, including that opportunity for young kids to play for Celtic.”
Indeed, the next generation of youngsters won’t be able to follow in the footsteps of famous figures such as Mayambela, Mothibantwa and Modise, the latter of whom was part of the team which helped usher the club into the professional era.
“I will never forget the day I signed for Celtic,” the former midfield maestro says. “I remember it like yesterday, it was a big, big honour for me to play for the club … but now for players who played for this team, their history is no longer there. We can’t talk about the team anymore, but that’s how it is in modern-day football.”
Modise trails off for a second before adding, “There are still some who believe that Celtic will come back. They are still wearing that green and white with pride, thinking that our team is going to come back, because it was the only thing they had in Bloemfontein. There’s nothing else in Bloemfontein unless you are a Celtic supporter.”
A fanbase like no other
Throughout the conversations with Mayambela, Mothibantwa and Modise, Celtic’s famous supporter group, the Siwelele, emerge as a central talking point and as key role players within the players’ respective careers.
“I cannot compare Celtic to any other club I’ve played for,” Mayambela shares. “It’s where I got my first nickname [ The Professor] as a professional player, I bought my first car while playing there, I bought my first house … so they hold a sentimental value in my heart and it’s a bond that no-one can break.
“Even when I moved outside of
Bloemfontein, when I came back to play there with Ajax Cape Town, Cape Town City or Chippa United, they still showed me love after the games. It also shows the kind of respect they had for me and for what I had done for the club, and I believe I am part of the history of the club. I’ve played for many teams, but they don’t come close to those people and how they love their team.”
Ultimately, the sadness associated with the club’s demise sits heaviest with the team’s supporters, who were among the most famous and fanatical that South African football had to offer.
“On a Friday before the match, if you go to any shop in Bloemfontein, 90% percent of the people in the shops would be wearing their Celtic jerseys,” Modise, who later coached the team for a brief period, recalls.
“They would always be supportive of every player who came to play for the team, and they were always supportive towards me, who they saw as something of a home boy. Everybody took care of me, everyone had respect for me, even after I retired, they still showed that respect, which is something that doesn’t just happen.”
Mayambela shares a similar memory: “When we used to play our home games on Sundays, from the moment you wake up early in the morning you will find people wearing their Bloemfontein Celtic shirts.
“Everyone in the city would be wearing them, even in the hotels where we slept, we found the staff wearing their Celtic shirts. Then, on your way to the stadium, it’s the
“I’VE PLAYED FOR MANY TEAMS, BUT THEY DON’T COME CLOSE TO THOSE PEOPLE AND HOW THEY LOVE THEIR TEAM.”
only thing you see. Some of them were going to work, some of them were coming from work, some were going to the stadium, it just showed the kind of unity the city had and what the club brought to the city.
“Everyone was united behind Celtic. Now a big part of the city has been lost and it’s really sad to see, but I am grateful that I was part of this club, that I got the opportunity to play for Siwelele and make so many memories. The club will remain in my heart forever, and I am forever indebted to them for the opportunity.”
Mothibantwa, who went on to become a Bafana Bafana international after his spell in the Free State, shares this sentiment and credits the club’s fans for steering him on the path to become one of the country’s best midfielders at the time.
“Celtic supporters made me who I am,” the current Munaka FC manager says. “The supporters showed us love, they showed us that we could achieve anything, especially when the going gets tough. Celtic supporters were always singing and supporting us on and off the field, so for me, at that time, it was a great feeling.
“I felt that this was a team I wanted to play for, and that this was a team that would push me, a 12th man that would push me to become one of the household names in South Africa.”
“IT’S SOMETHING THAT IS BECOMING A PROBLEM IN SOUTH AFRICA.”
Rules relating to club sales should be revised
Sadly, Bloemfontein Celtic’s demise is not a unique occurrence in South African football but rather the latest instance of a once-great club being relegated to the history books.
The current regulations within the National Soccer League handbook have created an environment in which the statuses of PSL clubs can be bought and sold on a whim, with supporters and the league itself holding very little power to prevent such private transactions from taking place.
In 2020, just one year before Bidvest Wits’ 100-year anniversary, the 2016/17 league winners were sold to newcomers Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila ( TTM) and the club was relocated to Thohoyandou.
The same team’s place in the top-flight was then assumed by Marumo Gallants for the present season while TTM have reemerged in the second division by acquiring the status previously held by Royal AM, who of course purchased Celtic, thereby completing a farcical cycle that has done nothing but harm the standard and reputation of the league.
“It’s not right,” Mothibantwa says. “At the end of the day, you can’t buy history. So many great players came out of those teams, and the supporters got used to those teams. It’s something that is becoming a problem in South Africa, even with smaller teams. Such clubs and such brands going down has affected our football industry, and it’s not a good thing.”
Modise adds: “I don’t think it is something that is supposed to be allowed. The team bears the history of the city, wherever the team is. To take the team away from where it belongs and change the name, you’re taking away that history. I don’t think it is acceptable anywhere in football.”
Meanwhile, in the case of Mayambela, his own curriculum vitae highlights the constant chopping and changing of teams in the PSL, with five of his former clubs, namely Celtic, Mpumalanga Black Aces, Royal Eagles, Ajax Cape Town and Cape Umoya United all no longer existing in their original forms.
“We need to mirror what some of the other leagues are doing,” he says. “If you look at the Premier League in England, when the Arab investors [the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan-backed City Football Group] came and bought Manchester City, they didn’t change the club.
“When West Ham United was bought, the new owners never changed the club or relocated it. It won’t make sense if someone could buy Arsenal and take it to Manchester. It shows the kind of respect they have for the culture of these clubs and the heritage and history behind them.
“I believe it is something the PSL can also look into, especially for clubs like Celtic. Imagine if someone buys Kaizer Chiefs and they bring it to Cape Town, it doesn’t make sense and it won’t make sense.
“There is no amount of money that can buy such history, heritage and culture, so I believe the PSL can look into that and intervene in some way. I don’t know the answer, and this is an emotional opinion, but I think there is more that the league can do in such cases in the future, and I hope things will change.”
“IMAGINE IF SOMEONE BUYS KAIZER CHIEFS AND THEY BRING IT TO CAPE TOWN.”