Cape Town Spurs from the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
From L to R: Stan Mini, Hassien Ryclief, Arthur Botha, Yusuf Davids and Frank Adams
I was privileged to be in the company of some of the greats of Cape Town football last Saturday night. The five footballers (pictured above) were guests at the Opening Night of “Soccer Cinema” in Cape Town. “Maradona” by Emir Kusturica topped the bill.
A Serbian Jazz Quartet made intimate interviews almost impossible, though I did get Stan Mini to share the moment Apartheid ended football for him (see below). I won’t be upoading the interview I conducted with the legendary Arthur Botha. You can’t hear the man. I had asked Arthur if had ever played with anyone as flamboyant and masterful as Maradona. Arthur shook his head. “No, no. No one like that in our day”, he said. Then one of the other players interjected, asking Arthur about Basil D’Oliveira. The crimes and passions of football from back in the day suddenly splashed all over Arthur’s face. “Ah, yes, Dolly“, said Arthur. Dolly was Diego material, though he choose to take Cricket to that higher level, and did so in the teeth of apartheid and against apologists of the time. “I played with him, you know, and against him, too”, said Arthur. He went on, “Dolly and I grew up together. We’re great friends.”
Hassien Ryclief shared with me his chopping methods for dealing with Albert Johansson. Yusuf Davids said he “proud” of today’s Bafana Bafana, but will miss Benni McCarthy. Stan Mini agreed, but the twinkle in his eye suggested he was looking forward to seeing younger players get their chance. The stalwart of the Cape Town Spurs back line, Frank Adams, believes Alberto Parreira has Bafana Bafana primed and ready.
Later I watched the men watch the younger generation dance to more of that Serbian Jazz. It was the wee small hours, deep into injury time of Cape Town’s Indian Summer. No substitutes were needed.