Hailing a soccer season of unlikely local stars

THE 2016-17 soccer season finally came to an end yesterday. It may not have been a scintillating one throughout for the Premier Soccer League — what with the many intervals that were forced upon the local soccer community by a combination of international commitments and bad planning.

However, there were more positives than negatives during the season.

One of the most uplifting stories was the amazing rise of Cape Town City Football Club, a team that did not even exist a year ago.

Cape Town tycoon John Comitis bought the Mpumalanga Black Aces franchise at the end of last season and transformed it into a Cape Town team that went on to win one major cup and finish among the league’s top three teams. Although they did not win the league, they gave the eventual winners a run for their money while providing the country with an entertaining brand of soccer — all without any recognised soccer stars.

During the past season, Mamelodi Sundowns proved it was possible for a local team to do well at continental level without compromising their status in the league. For too many years South African teams have invested few resources in the continental game, claiming that it was impossible to compete successfully both at home and beyond our borders. Sundowns not only won this year’s CAF Champions League, but went on to challenge the eventual winners — Bidvest Wits — to the very end.

As we round up the season, all praise must go to Wits coach Gavin Hunt. For four seasons they have tried to win the league without success, but they never gave up. The management believed in the coach and resisted the urge to fire him despite the poor results. Hunt displayed rare maturity by sticking with his mostly young and inexperienced players — instead of raiding the market in search of big-name stars.

Now that Wits has won the league, it is time the club emulated Sundowns by going all the way at continental level.