SHAUN OLIVER
Born and bred in Athlone, it was actually at Avendale Athletico that Shaun Oliver’s career took off. Thereafter, he was roped into the Seven Stars youth structures, and just as he was about to make it into the senior team, the side merged with Cape Town S
Hola, “Jiks”! How’s the coaching going? Everything is fine. We are working with a lot of youngsters to make them better players and we’re working in a very difficult environment because we compete against big clubs that pay big money and we are not a money-paying team. I’m talking about teams like Glendene (United), Hout Bay, Ikapa (Sporting), all of them, the ones who have been in the ABC Motsepe League for a long time.
So, how are you able to motivate, or even keep, your players when they aren’t getting paid?
It’s very difficult, but me and coach “Shakes” (Arreshaat Daniels) have a good understanding with the guys. Nowadays in football, you don’t get loyalty anymore, you know, but we have a lot of young ones. Like last year, we had 16 U21s in the squad and nine over-aged players. We are a very young squad.
Is this the route you’ve always wanted to take post retirement?
If I can be honest with you, I never thought I could be a coach. I never even told myself that I’m gonna be a coach, but in most of the teams I played for, I was a leader in the team. Most of the teams I was captaining. Even at Free State Stars, I was the captain as well. That made me a true leader. And also, there was a time when my friend had a Castle League team. Before then, I was playing for Tygerberg. I was injured and then coach Marco Abelgas told me I must be the coach of the team that day. It was in the Vodacom League (now ABC Motsepe League) and we were playing Glendene. I had never coached in my life before. He told me, “Take the team. Here, put your line-up, the one you want. I’m not gonna tell you nothing.” I won’t lie to you, that was the most difficult day in my life, to put the team together. And you know as a footballer, you want to make everyone happy, and along the way I was learning and I learnt a lot. Now I’m coaching. I’m not one of the best, I’m still learning, but I have a lot of knowledge about it and I’ve learnt a lot.
Now to your playing career. The early days must have been exciting times…
Yeah, the late Mr Ian Towers scouted me from Avendale Athletico. I was the only coloured boy playing for Seven Stars. In the beginning, it was difficult, but you know, because I was playing in the middle and everything went through me, it was fine. I had the same problem at Free State Stars also, but it wasn’t a problem because I know Sesotho. I was there (at Seven Stars) for, I think, two years. I was 16 and I was training with the first team. I was still playing U17, but I was training in the first team with the likes of Bennet Gama and all of them. The late Jeff Butler was the coach. When I made my debut at Ajax Cape Town, I was 17 years old. It was nice, yho… we won the Rothmans Cup, we were in the final of the BP Top 8. At the age of 18, playing in the final at FNB Stadium in front of 100 000 people, yho, it’s massive! You know back then at Seven Stars, they were well-organised, so we were still in school. I was in Grade 11 and then I quit. They put me at Damelin and then I was there for only a month. But even today I can tell you, I was supposed to finish schooling because, you know, life after football… I’m not saying I’m struggling, I’m not struggling, but I wanted a better future, you undera stand? I was supposed to get better job. I have a job at the moment, but I was supposed to get a better job.
We hear you. Then you moved Ajax following the merger between Stars and Cape Town Spurs.
over to Seve
Yes, and we had a very, very young team in 2000. I can recall that we also went to Amsterdam to play in an U20 tournament that year. I think that was one of my best teams to play in. We were playing the Ajax system. I can tell you the team…. It was Moeneeb Josephs in goal, Ashley OpDominic perman was at right back, Isaacs was playing as a centre-back, Brett Evans was playing as a left back, Sibusiso Mzizi was playing number four, I was playing number six, Gareth Ncaca was playing number eight, Steven Pienaar other clubs played for as Manning Rangers, Free State Stars (also two spells) and African Warriors. “However, my mother got sick and I terminated my contract and came to Cape Town to look after her. This was in 2012.” Back home, he represented lower league sides such as Ikapa Sporting, Tygerberg FC and FN Rangers, and he is currently at the latter as assistant coach. was playing number 10, Shaun Potgieter was playing number 11, Sean Permall was playing number nine and Carlo Scott was playing number seven. I think we lost in the semi-finals against PSV. That was exactly 22 years ago! When we were there, we went to Amsterdam Arena, we went to where Ajax Amsterdam play their home games. Yho, it’s a marvellous thing to be in Europe and when you saw those things, you told yourself that, ‘I want to play in Europe also.’ That’s why the guys who went to Europe achieved a lot because football in Europe is on another level. After that tournament, Ajax Amsterdam took Pienaar.
Who were you particularly close to in the team?
My best friend, even until now, is Dominic Isaacs. We are very close. He was a very, very good player. Very humble person. Very soft-spoken person. Very down-toheart. Very good person, but also a very good motivator. He’s been a true friend to me for years now. Actually, I called him one day when I was getting married and I told him I wanted him to be my best man. He was in Durban and he flew from Durban just to be with me for that special day.
In
his Still In Touch, he told us you were a “crazy, crazy guy”.
Ja, me and him, yho, there’s no dull moment when we are together! Even when we call each other, it’s the same. We always talk about our memories, man, like my memories at Free State Stars and his memories at (Bloemfontein) Celtic and there at (Kaizer) Chiefs. Then we end up laughing when we think about the things that happened.
Apparently you met in a bus on the way to playing in a provincial tournament in another province, and you connected from Yes, we were going to Pietermaritzburg. I think that was in 1996. It was an U16 tournament in Pietermaritzburg. I was playing right wing and Dominic was playing left wing. We had great players… like, in the middle we had Thobela Bikwani and Ncaca. We had a very good team and then they picked the U17 national team and we just missed out because we are 81s (born in 1981). All the scouts came to us to ask what year we are. And most of the good players were there – Pienaar was playing for Southern Transvaal, Potgieter was playing for Natal Midlands, (Gabriel) “Ninja” Mofokeng was the captain of Southern Transvaal. Then they picked the U17 national team and most of us, like me and Mabhuti (Ncaca), we were all 1981s and they were picking the team from 1982s. But luckily, we got another chance to play for the national U20 team when Augusto Palacios was the coach. That was my first time to see 14 Ajax players in the national team! (We had) Nasief Morris from Santos, Gareth Devine from Wits, Justice Sithole from Kaizer Chiefs, (Benedict) “Tso” Vilakazi, Lesley Manyathela, Joseph Makhanya from Orlando Pirates and 14 Ajax players! There was an agreement (for us to be released to the national team), and then we (Ajax) had to go to play African Wanderers in Durban. All of us were in camp, and then Ajax wanted the players. Palacios then locked us up in the kitchen. The police was looking for us, ha, ha, ha. Then the next morning, at 06h00, we went to Durban and we ended up playing. After that, he said he’s not going to call us up again, because of Ajax.
the word go.
Ha, ha, ha, this is crazy and bizarre! Ja, he locked all of us up in the kitchen. The police was looking for us.
So, what were you doing all this time in the kitchen?
Because now we are in the national team mos, we must obey. Now the people from Ajax are calling us because they are looking for us. We must play tomorrow… it was a Wednesday afternoon game in Durban, and that was a Tuesday night. They said no, they are going to call the police, they are going to come fetch us. Then they came to an agreement and then the next morning, at 06h00, we flew to Durban from Jo’burg. Palacios then said he’s not going to pick Ajax players again.
Did he live up to his word?
Yes, he never picked Ajax players again.