PE soccer legend mourned
Death of former Swallows star ‘great loss to sporting community’
THE northern areas community is mourning the loss of former Swallows AFC star and PE Sports Legends Trust (PESLT) hall of fame member Sydney Prince, who died on Sunday. A former star for Swallows, he collapsed on his return from church.
“This is a great loss to our sporting community,” former teammate Godfrey de Kock said.
“Sydney was an encouragement and pioneer in our communities, not just from a sporting perspective,” he said.
Prince, 69, born and raised in South End, later moved to West End and before his death worked as manager of the South End Museum, near his original neighbourhood.
PESLT trustee Graeme Sauls said: “Sydney was part of a footballing era that put Port Elizabeth on the map.
“The 1968 team he was a part of took PE to a whole new level and it hasn’t come down since.”
Prince’s soccer career took off when he joined Swallows AFC in 1963.
Upon joining the club at the age of 16, Prince was selected to represent the EP men’s senior side, making him the youngest player ever to achieve that milestone.
Five years later, in 1968, Prince, alongside lifetime friend and then team captain George Potgieter and former goalkeeper De Kock, was part of the Swallows side that won the Kajee Cup.
“As a player, he was outstanding,” De Kock said. “We played together at various tournaments in Cape Town.
“He would give it his all on the field as a true leader and excellent defender.”
A stellar performance by Prince was good enough to see him earn the award of player of the tournament.
Sauls said: “The team was known as The Invincibles, the team that made the community believe in better days, especially with all the strikes and riots taking place then.
“Our people suddenly looked to them as heroes and it eventually came as no surprise if you saw up to 10 000 people at a match.”
Prince was later selected as captain for Eastern Province and continued to lead EP until 1972, finally retiring from provincial football in 1973. His focus then shifted back to Swallows, where he would carry on playing for the club until 1980.
Prince then took up administrative positions serving as the EP men’s senior side manager in 1981.
He went on to join the executive committee of the then EP Soccer Board, known today as the Northern Areas Football Association (Nafa) for five years. Prince concluded his duty to football by serving as Nafa vice-president for six years.
Funeral and memorial service arrangements for Prince are yet to be made public.