Kick Off

It’s hard to imagine that when we celebrated KICK OFF magazine’s 28th birthday in February this year, it would be our last one as a print publication. KICK OFF magazine was launched in February 1994 as a magazine that was going to give a voice to South African players at the dawn of democracy. And due to popular demand, in September 1996 we changed our print frequency from monthly to fortnightly, which was followed by the launch of our website, kickoff.com, in 1999. As the popularity of the local game grew in the new millennium, so did we, and our greatest achievement was by far the 2010 FIFA World Cup where we were official partners. But unfortunately, with rising inflation, increasing fuel and paper prices, along with a decline in…

Club legends deserve respect I don’t blame senior players who go elsewhere to seek greener pastures to advance their careers when time allows them. But my scepticism is how principal clubs treat them, it seems like they aren’t making enough effort to prevent them from departing. We are talking about club legends that spent over decade in one club to play crucial roles in these clubs and some rewarded with captaincy for dedication, commitment and discipline have preserves throughout their careers within the club. These legends deserve the best and I understand it’s not easy for clubs to lose such diamonds but at least they must make an effort to keep them to share their experience within the club. Look at Happy Jele, he spent over 16 years in Bucs…

All hail Queen Desiree! After five unsuccessful WAFCON finals, Banyana Banyana have finally brought the cup home under the guidance of three-time times African Women’s Coach of the Year, Desiree Ellis. Our girls played a very well and some interesting football from day one of the tournament in defeating their bitter rivals, the Super Falcons of Nigeria. They showed commitment and dedication in every game they’ve played in the tournament and it’s not surprising to see them lifting the trophy after six wins, no draws, no losses, scoring six goals and conceding only two. They’ve been fighting for years to finally become continental champions, they flew the South African flag high in Morocco and represented us very well. Congratulations to the coach, technical team and the girls for making us…

GOOD MONTH FOR … BANYANA BANYANA Not only were they crowned champions of Africa for the first time, but the team also qualified for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, a second successive visit to the global showpiece. BAD MONTH FOR … HAPPY JELE Told he was no longer wanted as a player at Orlando Pirates, the club he served for 16 years, Jele turned down the chance to become part of thew backroom staff in order to prolong his playing career. ALSO LAST MONTH… AmaZulu complete the signing of former Kaizer Chiefs defender Ramahlwe Mphahlele. Luvuyo Memela makes the move to newly-promoted Richards Bay ahead of the new season, He was surprisingly let go by AmaZulu at the end of the last campaign. Mamelodi Sundowns sign goalkeeper Ronwen Williams…

The clock has already started counting in the new campaign as season number eight since Kaizer Chiefs last won a trophy. Such has been the length of agony since May 2015 that the memories of that DStv Premiership title celebration have become a faded thought, considering how many coaches have come and failed to win trophies. It started with Steve Komphela, who was followed by Giovanni Solinas and Ernst Middendorp, with Gavin Hunt and Stuart Baxter also joining the queue. Komphela adopted a winning squad that had only lost Tefu Mashamaite and Mandla Masango when he took over but couldn’t keep up with Mamelodi Sundowns’incredible pace, while also ending as a runner-up in both two Cup finals that he reached. It then went all south until he was sacked just…

Orlando Pirates fans may have been expecting a so-called ‘big-name’to take charge of the side for the 2022/23 season with the likes of Pitso Mosimane, Gavin Hunt and Benni McCarthy all free agents as they desperately seek to close the gap on Mamelodi Sundowns. The club had decided to replace the co-coaching duo of Mandla Ncikazi and Fadlu Davids at the end of a 2021/22 season that included a place in the final of the CAF Confederation Cup, but was characterised by poor domestic form. It was then not surprising that Davids left, seemingly of his own accord, and while Ncikazi has stayed, he will be assistant to the new man at the helm of The Buccaneers, Spanish coach Jose Riveiro. It is probably fair to say that any coaching…