Who are some of the best footballers produced by Cape Town? By Mogamad Allie.
Comparing footballers from different eras is largely considered a futile and subjective exercise that is clearly a matter of opinion.
The evolution of the game includes vast improvements to the playing fields, the quality of the ball, the equipment and the continually increasing involvement of science makes it difficult to compare players who played as late as the 1990’s with those plying their trade in the modern game, let alone those who played in earlier years on muddy pitches with laced balls that became considerably heavy when wet.
Still, there are players who are a cut above the rest and will always be ranked among the greats, irrespective of the era during which they played. In this edition of SoccerClub we look at some of the best players to come out of Cape Town.
HELD BACK BY APARTHEID
The Mother City also produced several other top players who may also have gone on to bigger and better in Europe had it not been for this country’s sporting isolation during the Apartheid era.
Those who come to mind include former Bafana goalkeeper André Arendse, who won five league titles and was a key member of Bafana’s 1996 Africa Cup of Nations winning team and former Santos striker Duncan Crowie who finished top scorer in the Federation Professional League in three seasons.
Keith America and Calvin Petersen, who formed a magical attacking duo for Cape Town Spurs in the late 1970s, Hellenic’s David Byrne and Carlos das Neves, who were high quality midfielders, and Neville ‘Athlone Ghost’ Londt who had an incredible eye for goal when playing in the colours of Glenville and Cape Town Spurs in the early 1970s.
EDDIE FIRMANI
Firmani started out with Cape Town amateur side Clyde Pinelands and was one of several South African footballers recruited by Charlton Athletic manager, Jimmy Seed in the 1940s and 50s.
After netting 50 goals in exactly 100 first division games for the Addicks, Firmani moved to Sampdoria for a then British record fee of £35 000.
He continued his rich vein of form in Italy scoring 52 goals in 63 games during his three seasons with the Genoa-based side and another 38 in 82 games with Inter Milan.
He scored on his debut for Italy in a 1–1 away draw against Switzerland on 11 November 1956 but only played two further internationals for the Azzurri.
BENNI MCCARTHY
By virtue of his achievements, records and silverware he’s won, McCarthy has to rank as arguably the best player to have been produced by the Mother City.
It’s now nearly 16 years since McCarthy netted his record-extending 31st goal for Bafana Bafana, when he scored in a 2–1 friendly win over Ghana in Bloemfontein on 15 October 2008.
That’s a record that’s set to be cast in stone as Percy Tau (15) and Themba Zwane (12) are the closest to the mark among those still playing. The Hanover Park-born striker remains the only South African to have won a Champions League winner’s medal when he was part of José Mourinho’s Porto side that won club football’s most coveted prize in 2004.
He’s also been a league winner in the Netherlands and Portugal, Golden Boot winner at the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations when he famously netted four goals in Bafana’s opening group game against Namibia.
In addition, McCarthy, then with Blackburn Rovers, finished runner-up to the legendary Didier Drogba in the race for the 2006–07 Premier League’s Golden Boot award.
BRIAN STEIN
Stein left South Africa at the age of 11 with his father, Isaiah, a political activist who fled the country in 1968 after being hounded by the Apartheid government’s notorious security police.
Stein made his name with Luton Town where he is regarded as one of the club’s favourite sons and as one of their best finishers as manifested by his fourth-placing in the list of the club’s all-time goal scorers.
The Cape Town-born striker played a total of 496 games for the club scoring 154 goals, including 130 in 427 league appearances.
He won a single England cap in February 1984 when selected by manager Bobby Robson to partner Luton teammate Paul Walsh in a friendly against France which they lost 2–0. He played alongside legends like John Barnes, Bryan Robson, Glenn Hoddle and Peter Shilton in that England side.
ANELE NGCONGCA
Probably better known and more respected in Europe than in South Africa, Ngcongca made a name for himself with Belgian side Genk with whom he spent nine seasons.
The former right-back was adored by the club’s fans and had a decorated stay at the Cegeka Arena, winning the 2010–11 Jupiler Pro League, lifting the Belgian Cup in 2009 and the Belgian Super Cup in 2011.
The love affair between him and Genk not only brought silverware, it also made him a fan favourite.
The Gugulethu-born defender moved to Belgium from Cape Town National First Division side FC Fortune as a 19-year-old in 2007.
Ngcongca, who won 53 caps for Bafana Bafana, made his return to South Africa to play for Mamelodi Sundowns in 2016, and was on loan to AmaZulu at the time of his untimely death in a car accident in November 2020 at the age of 33.
QUINTON FORTUNE
Fortune left South Africa as a 14-year-old in 1991 to join the Tottenham Hotspur academy.
The Kewtown-born midfielder, who didn’t play a single game of senior club football in South Africa, moved to Spain to join Mallorca in 1995 but soon switched to Atlético Madrid with whom he spent three seasons.
He secured a dream move to Manchester United in 1999 following a successful trial. Fortune spent seven seasons at Old Trafford being used as a left back and left-sided midfielder by Sir Alex Ferguson during the club’s era of supremacy in English football.
Despite playing in three title-winning seasons, Fortune never made the required 10 appearances needed to earn a winner’s medal.
However, he was awarded a Premier League winner’s medal by special dispensation following United’s title success in 2003 during which he had appeared nine times in the league that season. He also made 46 appearances for Bafana Bafana and played at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups.
SHAUN BARTLETT
Bartlett began his professional career with Cape Town Spurs, winning the league and cup double in 1995.
A few months later the striker was a key member of Clive Barker’s team that won the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil in February 1996.
This was followed by a move to Colorado Rapids in the inaugural season of the US Major League Soccer. A two-season spell with Swiss side FC Zürich was followed by a move to Premier League side Charlton Athletic for whom he made 139 appearances across six seasons.
His 26 goals for the Addicks include a thumping volley against Leicester City that won the BBC’s Match of the Day Goal of the Season award for the 2000–01 campaign.
There were also two special goals in his home debut in December 2000 which came against a Manchester United side that won the treble the previous year. Bartlett is Bafana’s second all-time leading scorer with 28 goals in 74 appearances.
