Soccer legends from Santos Football Club in Athlone were in action against UWC Soccer Legends on Saturday 24 September as part of their UWC Soccer Legends Alumni reunion.
This was the first reunion celebration of soccer on the UWC campus.
Although the Santos players were big names in the 80s and 90s, the skills were still there but time caught up with their speed.
“The match at UWC was very enjoyable and meeting some of my old teammates was absolutely amazing. I met up with Rodney Reiners, Desmond Crowie and others after many years. It was great and the banter among the players is definitely something that I missed. The cherry on top was the presence of Tyrone Pretorius, Rector and Vice-chancellor of UWC, and Dr Danny Jordaan, President of SAFA,” says Edries Burton, retired defender for Santos, Cape Town Spurs and Amazulu.
According to Donnie Ronnie, some of the Santos players also studied at UWC and Duncan Crowie, a former Santos player and now Head of Youth at Cape Town Spurs in Parow, set the UWC Alumni up with Ronnie to play a Five-a-Side game the Saturday morning.
Duncan was a striker for Santos and has one cap for Bafana Bafana. Before he joined Santos in 1987 until 2000 he represented Glendene United from 1982 until 1986.
He was not in action on the day but his brother Desmond, is a former head coach of Stellenbosch FC, now coached by Steve Barker.
“From the Santos side, formerly known as Lightbody Santos, it was great as ex teammates to get together again and reminisce about our careers. Some critics will say that between the two teams in action we were probably 1 000 years old. Players really enjoyed the runaround, albeit a bit slower, lots of laughs and banter,” Ronnie chuckled.
The game was also a celebration of football in general and the contribution that Santos FC made to professional football.
During their playing days, derbies were between Santos and Ajax Cape Town, now known as Cape Town Spurs, and supporters would flock to Athlone Stadium to see their heroes in action.
Since UWC was established there was always a soccer code on campus, starting from the mid-60s until present.
The UWC soccer teams played in annual inter-varsities, inter-hostel tournaments, a mini World Cup tournament and played in the LFA Central Football Union in Elsies River with games being played on Elsbury Park in Matroosfontein.
The UWC Soccer Legends Reunion was established in March 2020 by players who donned the UWC colours between 10 and 30 years ago.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic caught up on the celebration and the reunion was planned the Thursday before Heritage Day weekend.
