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Help! – readers who loved Durban’s soccer in the sixties…
04 Dec 2006 by Rod Smith in Uncategorized / 74 Comments
Who among the soccer-loving readership, and who of course are old enough to remember, cannot long for the days when Durban City, Durban United, and Addington were the premier professional soccer teams in Natal?
My interest in Durban soccer peaked in the mid-sixties, when I spent many a Sunday cheering for Norman Elliot’s Durban City. They were my team and their paraphernalia adorned my every surrounding. The players were my heroes and on many occasions, at the end of a game, I jumped the small white fence around the field at Kingsmead in search of autographs.
I recall the crazy crowds under the spell of center forward Bobby Chalmers, who pounded goals with great ease through United’s goalkeeper George Ryder.
Who cannot recall, and not still be filled with wonder at the remarkable power Les Salton could pack behind a ball, or not wonder at the grace and ease of Henry Houser, the captain and power behind Addington?
But my personal heroes were first Bobby Chalmers, then Alan Varner, Keith Blackburn, John Rugg and George Wooten – all Durban City stars.
Any information about where these stars are now would be most welcome.
(I was overwhelmed with letters from readers about these days and these players).
About the Author: Rod Smith
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Verbal log-jam
When I was a boy I’d endlessly practice the fluent delivery of my name but it seldom flowed easily from my lips. As if it was new news to me, adults pointed out my stutter. Perhaps they thought I was beginning, at that precise moment, for the first time in my life to spit from the mouth, twist at the neck, jig my head back and forth trying to expel some inane statement log-jammed between my gut and my throat.
Idiots – always adults, children were surprisingly patient, – would make me repeat sentences as if a repeat performance of the humiliating uncoordinated gesticulations, my arms and legs flying in all directions, would make for an easier delivery the second time. That I’d just spent every ounce of energy trying to cough it up was lost on them. That I was already thoroughly humiliated was something to which they were blind.“Practice, practice,” they’d say as if stutterers simply didn’t speak enough. “Think before you speak. Now – try that again,” they would declare slowly and loudly as if I was stupid and deaf. These thoughtless people were ignorant of just how much stutterers do think. Too much – which is central to the issue!
If I’d known at twelve or thirteen that the day would come when I’d make a career of public speaking I might have strolled off a high-rise building.
Now it is quite easy to hide. I am very comfortable with crowds.
It’s asking driving directions or ordering food at a drive through where it gets tricky. Sitting in a cozy circle waiting for my turn to introduce myself sends my blood-pressure through the roof. The ticket attendant on the London underground can render me dumb after I’ve just spent days addressing a room full of graduate level adults about Family Systems Theory. I know. It sounds ridiculous.
I was almost immobilized the first time I saw Thulani put himself “on duty” in the event he needed to be my mouthpiece. He did it. No one asked him or appointed him. He just did it.
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Life in our beloved 122
If the inside of a house (outside, too, I suppose) is a metaphor of the lives of the people who live in it – which is something I once read somewhere – gosh, are we in trouble. Our house is a mess.
I consistently clean it room by room, thinking often of the legend that the Golden Gate Bridge that says there’s some guy constantly painting it. I feel for him. While I am sure the view is wonderful I must believe that the poor guy whose doing it daily from one end to the other must find the wind and the weather quite a challenge.
Our house is the same, but instead of painting from end to end and back again, I am the guy constantly cleaning, – and, it’s hard to tell.
Where I cleaned and swept and dusted and vacuumed and sponged and sterilized yesterday there are scooters and bicycles (boys), mail in piles (me), books (boys and me), newspapers (me), magazines (me), and socks (boys and Max, the Chihuahua).
Turn my back and the boys and Max are at it again – enjoying life as boys (and a dog) while I find being a cleaning lady quite an exhausting challenge.
There is a point of no return, I’ve noticed, or at least a point of the chaos where I feel compelled to let it all go for a while and I throw up my hands and join in the fun of trashing the place.
But when I clean I like to think I’m just like the guy painting the Bridge, which I can only imagine must be a slow and methodical task.
I do it room by room, starting at one end, the front, in the event that I soon lose interest – then, at least, the front room is somewhat in order. I push it (trash, magazines, books, socks, clothes) all back from the living room, through the piano room, then into the TV room until everything lands up in the kitchen.
Once it hits the kitchen I separate out what’s Max’s – he’s has his own set of toys with which he ruins the house – what’s Nate’s, what’s Thulani’s, and what can be recycled, dumped, restacked on bookshelves, placed in drawers, hung on a hanger, or filed in the “important documents” file I keep losing.
We moved into “122” (creatively named for its street number and which has had very few updates since it was built in 1886) when Thulani was about two – and I have been getting it in order ever since. Nate joined us in 2002. Max, in 2009. The house- attachment, at least for the boys and Max, is strong. When I talk of selling Thulani reminds me that Rhino, the husky that was on the run for nine months and returned to die within a few weeks after we reconnected, is buried in an Air France first class cabin blanket just outside of the kitchen door. Nate reminds me of where the fat goldfish is buried and Thulani ends the litany with his inability to think of living in a house without the large tree in the front yard where he has his brother (and Max) have “peed like boys” (and a dog) for the past several years.
So. I’ll go on painting and, before you send me letters about giving the boys chores and responsibilities and assigning daily tasks and getting on top of it before it gets on top of me let me advise that you are barking up the wrong tree (sorry, Max for the dog metaphor) because we do have all that in place and it does work here and there and off and on.
I know, I know. Consistency is the name of the game for parenting and let me tell you, the ONLY thing that is consistent here is the need to keep going room by room with or without the boys (and Max) to get this little bridge painted one stretch at a time so the world can see just how organized and decent our lives are here at our beloved “122.”
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Being a white South African can come with complications
Being a white South African reared under Apartheid is no simple matter. It permeated everything for me. While I do not pretend to have been a political activist, I was always cognizant that my privileges, simply a result of being born white, were unmerited, and most unfair especially when enjoyed at the expense of others who were not. I think this unsettling truth (for I took advantage of my station in life) was somewhat of a companion to me from the age of about six or seven.
I am regularly aware that:- I was discouraged from playing soccer in the “front” yard (in view of the neighbors) with the servant’s children. While this may seem insignificant in the light of other much more severe problems rising from racism, it was huge for me as a child on several fronts. I loved the children and I loved soccer even more. They were excellent soccer players.
- I did attend a segregated school as did almost all white South Africans while there did exist some church schools that were integrated even under Apartheid. I vividly recall my school principal scolding the entire student body (over a thousand white boys) because a domestic worker (a black adult man) was seen walking in the neighborhood wearing a school blazer.
- Although, by no means wealthy, I was waited on hand and foot by a full-time servant.
- In the late 80s I was warned not to pray publicly for Prisoner “Nelson” Mandela from my church pulpit.
- A member of my family did balk at my request that I bring black children to his home-swimming pool to swim.
- Even as late as 1987 I was embarrassed that a young black boy whom I’d “helped” in his squatter camp had shown up at my door unannounced. I recall wondering what the neighbors would think seeing a child arriving at the home for a social visit and not to work in the yard.While I am aware that these are piddly problems in the light of what millions faced under the Apartheid regime, I am also aware that these factors in my immediate environment “shaped” me into believing perverse things (like in my own superiority and in “their” inferiority) about persons of other race groups. More significantly, I am frequently reminded that my children and I could not have shared life as we now do if we were still living in the era of Apartheid.
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Location, location – remembering winter in August
We live very close to our school and church, so close we can hear the school bell from our kitchen and the church bells in my bedroom.
Sometimes we walk to both and we don’t see the car for days.
I like it. I like not having to get in and out of the car. I like not having to negotiate traffic, something as synonymous with life in the USA as Disney, Fast Food, and the Fourth of July.
That’s the upside.
We are a 10-hour-drive to the nearest coast – and, most of the east coast beaches are not worth the drive. The west coast, which has many wonderful beaches comparable to where I was reared, takes three full days of driving to reach.
Being landlocked is one thing but another is the weather. Indiana weather is erratic, neurotic, and downright psychotic.
Days ago I could’ve (but I didn’t) ice-skated across the street. Now, as I write, there’s a small lake in the street next to the sidewalk from last night’s rain. The weather is so brutal and extreme (it is as hot as blazes in the summers) that when we do drive anywhere (there are no grocery stores in walking distance) the streets are often full of potholes making some of America’s finest suburban streets resemble stretches of road you’d find in a rural stretch of South Africa’s Wild Coast. So, I am exaggerating but really not too much. Washington Boulevard is a challenge to drive right now, you have got to dodge potholes and loose pavement or, unless you drive a tank, you stand to severely damage your suspension.
But I do love living here. My neighbors are some of my best friends. My children are free and safe in the neighborhood and everyone knows everyone’s children. Even as I write Joseph (born a week or so before Thulani) from down the street has wondered into the house and it is quite likely he will eat with us, stay the night, and then wander down back down the street to his home sometime in the morning. His mom and I will talk sometime between now and nightfall unless he of course chooses to wonder off home and be gone just as quickly as he showed up.
Potholes and crazy weather won’t send us running, although we will drive to church in the morning – even though it is really close. I’m not sure I want to brave the elements which could be a snow-storm, an ice storm, the threat of a tornado – or a little or a lot of each. What else could you expect during March in Indiana?
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Ready to adopt?
If you wait until you are ready to adopt a child you never will because you will never be ready. The baby, and only the baby, will make you ready. Reading the right books will be helpful, but “ready” magically comes upon you when a real baby is sleeping in your arms or crying in the middle of the night. If you are not ready to change diapers – and I always am amused at the big deal about this non-issue – being unprepared will last only as long as a clean diaper. Of course you can go baby-stuff-shopping, get a room painted, stencil yellow ducks on the wall – if you know long enough in advance your child is coming. But painting a bedroom with ducks and rainbows and a pot of gold, and getting a truck load of stuff from your local one-stop baby emporium will only fill your home with a lot of weird and wonderful, and mostly unnecessary, equipment.
Children interrupt everything. It is the child who is really ready to teach you, whether you are or not. Once he arrives he will become the hub of all your scheduling. You will be fine with this because the child is not an interruption to your life but rather, from this point on, central to it.
The baby will make you ready and you can’t really prepare for the baby until he is breathing in the crib right next to your bed.
Life inside the Smith household
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74 Comments
Andre
I was one of thise kids watching on a Sunday.
Jim Scott, Budgie Byrne and Macedo the goalie……..
Andre
08 Dec 2006 11:12 pm
derek smethurst
I was one of those kids playing and now live in the USA – maybe one day safa will get its act together and let the pros get to work and fix the problems that exist – have a goood one
derek
durban city 66-68
chelsea fc 68-71
millwall fc 71-75
tampa bay rowdies 75-78
seattle sounders 78-81
16 Dec 2006 09:12 pm
Richard Bishop
Hi Derek was your father by any chance Peter Smethhurst from East London Eastern Cape SA
08 Nov 2010 09:11 am
Harry Bauskin
Hi Guys, I was also one of those kids running around looking for autographs every Sunday. I remember you, Derek, returning from England to SA for a few games, and scoring some great goals for Durban City against Highlands Park. Anybody feels like chatting about the good old days, give me a shout at harrybaby@rogers.com. I live in Toronto these days.
UP THE CITY!
20 Dec 2006 02:12 pm
Jeff
I always thought Ryder played for Durban City before he saw the light and moved to Joburg to join the greatest club side SA ever produced.
Oh, to be able to watch those players today.
Those who want a trip down memory lane should check out
http://www.highlandsparkfc.co.za
Admittedly it’s about Highlands – I think the very name is still enough to get City fans reaching for their voodoo dolls – but it has quite a few photographs and memories of sixties soccer in SA.
Does anyone know of comparable sites about other SA clubs from then?
16 Jan 2007 10:01 am
sid cunha
Hey..it wasn’t only Durban football…what about Maritzburg FC,who i used to support as a boy.Great times we had,great football,compared to the rubbish they dish up locally.Our amateur team Pirates FC,that i played for in the old days,would thrash any of these pro sides of today.
On alternate weekends ,we used to zip down to Durban to watch Durban City or United play.Talk of the best of worlds.It was so sad to see Kingsmead demolished for the world cup 2010.There were awesome memories and games.I still bump into the Siver Fox every now and again!My heroes were Alan Varner a,George Luke and Martin Cohen(both Highlands).Check the Highlands website.Awesome!www.highlandsparkfc.co.za
03 Feb 2007 03:02 am
Nathan
Hello,
George Luke is my uncle and really want to catch up on his football memories. Do u know where i can see any pictures/videos of him playing.
Please email me back soon please
26 Sep 2009 12:09 pm
Peter Raath
Hi Guys,
If you want to dig deeper into the golden era of Durban soccer, I suggest you get hold of my book “Soccer Through The Years 1862-2002″. ISBN 0-620-29805-7 Try Exclusive Books or contact me direct.
I can also supply you the whereabouts of many of those stars.
Regards
Peter Raath
Cape Town
petersoccerman2000@yahoo.co.uk
07 Feb 2007 12:02 am
stuart daniel
please can you email me contact details for Peter Raath - spoke to him some years ago and have lost contact details - thanks
30 Jul 2010 06:07 pm
Ness
Does anyone remember Errol Hopkins? He played for Durban City.
07 Feb 2007 07:02 am
Gerald
Hi, yes I remember Erroll Hopkins he was a std or two ahead of me at school. The last contact I had with him was when he was a senior buyer for A co called Sanachem in Verulam. He was one of a bunch of guys from St Agnes and Mansfield schools which included the Mann bros, Johnny St Claire, Les Hucker, the Maulin bros, Alistair McLean, Errol Hickman,Johnny Elborne and some younger guys whose names I can't recall right now.
26 Oct 2009 04:10 am
sid cunha
If you can send me a email address,i will send u some pics of Durban City and United players in a reunion match recently held at Westville club.Some of the guys are in their fifties and sixties
18 Jul 2007 11:07 am
Roy Potgieter
I played for Germiston Callies against all 3 Durban sides in the late sixties. I am trying to trace Henry Kruger who plyed for Umbilo, Durban City and the then Durban Spurs. We also played Currie cup against each other. He is a dear old friend that I wud love to see again.if someone knows him or his whereabouts please let me know. You can call 031 9163068 (Toti area)or 072 3573517. TKS SO MUCH
16 Jun 2009 03:06 am
andre
please send pics of City/United players
Thanks
30 Jun 2009 11:06 pm
Roy Hamilton
Hi Sid
Would love to see pics of the old united and city players. My Dad was Des Hamilton who was coach/ trainer with Addington then Durban United and then the Dbn Spurs 1969 league Champions. I remember so well like yesterday when United bought Bobby Chalmers from City for R20.000.00 remember going to the Stella training ground with Dad and standing in the change room next to the icon at his first team practise with United. He then scored a hatrick against City United won 3-2 in front of 33 thousand passionate fans. Dad was great friends with Peter Baker the Ex Tothot Spurs R Back Peter stayed with us in our house for 3 months while arragements where being made for his family to come out to SA I have some great picrures of the United and City sides back in the 60 and 70's
29 Dec 2009 04:12 pm
Abie Le Roux
Would be great to see these.
Definetly those were the days.Kingsmead packed to the hilt on Sunday match days!
28 Aug 2007 12:08 am
Tony Da Silva
Hey guys check this site out
07 Sep 2007 05:09 am
Tony Da Silva
http://www.durbancityfootballclub.com
07 Sep 2007 05:09 am
Dennis Meharchand
Up the United. The Kingsmeade darbys were the best. Very first match – night game and Howser scored for Addington – I beleive against Highland.
12 Oct 2007 09:10 pm
sid cunha
A sad day for the old NFL football in South Africa.Ronnie Mann,prolific striker for Durban Utd and Durban City has sadly passed away.
Nicnamed “Bang Bang” because of his hattrick in a cup final,he will be sorely missed.A great player and gentleman.
Thanks for the memories Ronnie.
Cheers…score a few goals in heaven!
15 Jan 2008 07:01 am
Rod E. Smith, MSMFT
Thanks, Sid — I trust you saw my column celebrating Ronnie? I ran it the day after I got the news from you…..
Rod Smith
30 Jan 2008 10:01 pm
Gillian Rugg
Hi Rod
What a nice surprise – I was googling my Dad’s name, John Rugg (ex Dbn City, Zim Coach etc) and found he was one of your favourites.
Felt great I can tell you.
As a family, we’re going thru hell; my Dad has Alzheimers and my Mom, Hazel, and Dad have just returned to Scotland after 43 years, as we are unable to source the care (& afford it) either here, in SA or Zim (where they’ve been resident since 1969).
Its a very sad situation and this brought me a moment of happiness – he’s also my hero!
I read your column in the Mercury ( you are the same man hey??) and draw inspiration always. Presently battling with the “loss” of my Dad as we know and love him, and so sad that they’re so far away and I can’t help them.
Hope to hear from you & do hope you’ve had a Blessed Easter.
Gill Rugg
24 Mar 2008 05:03 am
helen coventry
hi gillian.Its your cousin Helen here!I happened to google your dads name and found this and was hoping that I could reach you via this link. I was wanting to get in touch with you and don't have your email. it would be nice to keep in touch with you and the family.I do hope you are all well. hope to hear from you soon.lots of love xxx Helen
14 Jan 2010 06:01 pm
Peter Raath
Hi Gill,
Sorry to hear that your dad has Alzheimers - just to let you know that I'm aware of at least 25 ex-footballers in the same situation.
And they were mainly the men who headed balls!
Up to now I haven't found a goalkeeper with the illness.
Best wishes
Peter Raath
author of Soccer Through The Years.
22 Mar 2010 11:03 am
paul kruger
BEST PLAYERS/ What about GREG Farrell , durban spurs ;THE Filby brothers(filbeys) gosh i wish i learned to type instead of going to Hoy Park and walking on those 20 soccer fields to get to main ground Very good memories indeed UP HE TON ADDINGON
14 Apr 2008 03:04 pm
Rick Mendes
I notice that a Durban City – and pretty good one too – has sprouted up in the last year or so.
http://www.durbancityfootballclub.com
Then of course there is the Highlands one:
http://www.highlandsparkfc.co.za
And I see a Lusitano one is being worked on at the moment.
http://www.lusitanofc.co.za
24 Jul 2008 09:07 am
Basil du Plessis
I used to watch them all whenever I could. Lived in PMB and played for Pirates then Etceteras and finally Shamrocks. Frankie McGuigan with Maritxburg City had some great games as well. I remember Dereck Smethurst, Twiggy Exall, Greg Farrel, Bobby Chalmers et al
In Canada I watch mostly English football on TV.
25 Jul 2008 09:07 am
Michael Rosenberg
I was in Birkdale with Frankie Mcguigan and his son Douglas this past week. While speaking to Frankie who now lives in Scotland. He was asking me if i could get hold of any scrap book stuff on his playing career as he lost it all in a robbery. If anyone has anything for me to pass on to him please could you forward it onto my mail address or leave a message on this site. I will then contact you directly.
28 Jul 2008 07:07 am
mark smith
As an ex Durban City player, 1984-1986, I would like to add my comments as to how good the standard of football was in that time. I played most of my amateur football in Maritzburg for Shamrocks and Pirates and it would be great to make contact again with some old friends. I have lived in South Wales, UK for the last ten years. Looking at the comments above I would be particularily keen to make contact with Sid Cunha an old friend of mine from old. My contact email address is smith.gl@btinternet.com
01 Aug 2008 04:08 am
Simon Bloch
So cool to find this site. I do not wish to get side-tracked as all of you above seem to have the same great memories I do, so I will get to the point immediately.
My prayers to Gillian Rugg and her family. I know your pain as my mother is also suffering from the same dreaded disease.
John Rugg was one of my largest heroes.
As a “lighty” in the early 60′s, I attended a week-long July holiday soccer clinic at Kingsmead where John Rugg was my main coach.
In his strong Scottish accent, he patiently taught me about balance, my instep and the follow-through motion with the shooting leg. he would pull me by the shoulders towards my opposite number and say, “This is how you mark your man”.
He was a truly inspiring man with a generous smile and a big heart. That week’s clinic was one of the highlights of my “lighty” years. and I went on to play for the Westville Soccer Club, where the late great Jimmy Bellows and Leigh Cocks, Tim’s father, were my coaches.
On Saturdays I used to frequent Les Salton and Dan Le Roux’s soccer shop, listening to the chat, watching them pump air into clients leather soccer balls, all the while witnessing the clienteles’ hero worship.
I soon found John working as a salesman at Ian Vermaak’s shop on Hooper Lane, and as soon as I walked in, the gracious and always smiling John delivered a “Hellooo Simon, good to see you” in his broad accent. I was so stoked he remembered me from the clinic, I immediately tried on a new pair of Puma soccer boots.
From then on I was his loyal customer and he was like a teacher., many times sharing experiences from the his City games I so faithfully attended.
Up The City. Viva John Rugg.
09 Aug 2008 02:08 am
sid cunha
managed to contact Mark Smith via this site.To Basil du Plessis……fantastic to hear from an old Pirates boy.I also played soccer for Pirates for 25 years and then moved on to Shamrocks and Savages in my latter years.unfortunately,even the local football has taken a dive for the worst .The old Natal league and premier days were fantastic times.i can recall when at Rocks and playing Stella at Gladwin Park,there was at least 5000 spectators watching our top of the table clash.The local derby games between Pirates,Savages and Shamrocks also drew huge crowds.Unfortunately the Pirates senior club has now folded,Rocks have one team left and Savages are keeping the flag flying but for how long?The Natal and premier leagues were disbanded and that basically destroyed local football in Pmburg and Durban.The new 2010 stadium is taking great shape…such a pity they had to pull kingsmead down,but it was run down .If any old soccer players or friends wish to contact me they can do so on sidanfield@gmail.com
Up the Burg! Up the City!
14 Aug 2008 07:08 am
sid cunha
To Michael Rosenberg.Try getting hold of Peter Raath.His address is further up on this page.He wrote a fantastic book on SA soccer which i managed to get.
Regards Sid Cunha sidanfield@gmail.com
14 Aug 2008 07:08 am
Louise Holmes
Hi All,
Do any of you have any information or know of Topper Brown?
I believe he was a coach at Durban in the 60′s.
He is my partners grandfather.
They sadly never met, so it would be great to fill in some of the years that he missed out on.
Louise
louise_holmes7@hotmail.co.uk
17 Aug 2008 10:08 am
william Forrest
Had a look at the Durban city website,it sure brings back good memories. I was wondering if anyone knows if there is any websites that cover the old Natal premier league?
06 Oct 2008 03:10 am
Mrs Leneke Wiles
I would like to find out if anyone remembers Harry Wiles. He played more in the 50′s and early 60′s for Durban United
13 Feb 2009 02:02 am
Craig Simpkins
My Dad, Bruce “Pancho” Simpkins played for Durban United in the late 70s. He died in 1980 at the age of 28 when I was 10 and I would love to know if anyone has any memories of him
08 Apr 2009 10:04 am
Mickey Garbutt
To Roy Potgieter. I played with Hennie Kruger at Umbilo and for Natal in the Currie Cup which we won in 1970 beating Southern Transvall. I don’t know if Roy played in that game. Virtually the whole Natal side joined Durban Celtic after the Currie Cup win, Celtic then playing in the National Football League 2nd Division. Celtic was later promoted to the NFL 1st Division. Les salton was the manager and Peter balfour the coach.
I understand Hennie emigrated to Australia.
I would like to hear from anyone I played with or against in those days.
Mickey Garbutt
01 Oct 2009 05:10 am
Bill Williams
Hello Mickey
Bill Williams here - I was the English Player/Coach that came out and worked with the Celtic youngsters, along with Peter Balfour and Les Salton - went on to Manage Durban United and City - good days made a lot of friends and going out for a visit on the 5th November - hope that you and your family are well - can be contacted on w.williams3@btopenworld.com
11 Oct 2009 10:10 am
Mike Morgan
Hi
Played against Mark Smith in PMB as a kid growing up. Played my junior football for Savages and then in my matric year (1977) played for the Savages Natal League team. Can still remember some of the names from that team: Ian Arnold, Darryl Nipper, Ray Bowen, Dudley Flint, Ian Nortling, Dennis Varty. Remeber a cup game in 1977 when we beat Parkhill (then a premier league team)3-0 and headlines in the Sunday Tribune the next day were ” Parkhill Savaged”. Moved onto Stella FC (what a team) from 1978 until 1986 and played with some great footballers: Dave Kershaw, Craig Banfield, Paddy Blount, Johnny Foster, Mike Lunsman, Keith Searle, Louis Arde, Trevor Anley and so many more….. Majority of that team went on and played for Durban City. How time has flown. Do bump into Dave, Craig, Paddy and Trevor from time to time. How about a reunion from that era. Those were great days….. I would like to hear from anyone I played with over that time at Stella as well as Savages. Did have a scrap book with all the newspaper cuttings but have lost it…. maybe someone has still got some of these.
I can be contacted on speak2mike@mweb.co.za
Regards
Mike Morgan.
05 Oct 2009 08:10 am
gary gailey
soccer in these early days was my life. durban united fanatic.i liked city like a glasgow rangers supporter likes glasgow celtic. my faverouite player was kieth peterson.
twiggy exall . ronnie bang bang mann,arthur lightning,johnny grant.brian orritt. wonderfulldays . we rushed home after the game to listen to reg wrights spots report . loved it . gary gailey
14 Oct 2009 06:10 am
gary gailey
who remembers the turnwrights soccer lucky packets.with the players faces. i have still got mine. in the silly album .marked 15 c . i always had my dream team .lets see yours .
trevor gething
kieth peterson brian barrett
eric logan ken dennessyn joe frickelton
jorge santoro johnny grant
freddie kalk les salton bobby chalmers
reserves george ryder ronnie orford
malcom rufas billy higgins brian orritt
walter da silva jim scott vernon wentzell
14 Oct 2009 06:10 am
Eddie Knipe
Anyone willing to part with their Turnwrights football album for a cost, or even earlier football cards? I am a collector of items from the old NFL days. I do have an album with cards from the late Sixties/early Seventies, but with annoying gaps. Promised myself that I’d get these ‘filled’ some day. O know they are treasured by many, but should you want to part with your collection – more than willing to pay a reasonable fee.
16 Nov 2009 11:11 am
Tony Carpenter
Does anybody know the whereabouts of Robbie Price ( Chicken Price’s Bro )
Robbie was the trainer at Pinetown FC , around 1976 – 78 when pinetown got into the SA second divi
The guy was an inspireration to the younger guys in the under 16 set up, I remeber him pluckin me from the under 16 team and playing me in a curtain raiser at kingsmaed , one sunday afternoon against a DC reserve side and we beat them 4 – 1 , AWESOME. LITTLE ALWD Pinetown FC
Carpo – now living in Derby UK
18 Jan 2010 09:01 am
Tony Carpenter
Tony Carpenter Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
January 18, 2010 at 9:51 am
Does anybody know the whereabouts of Robbie Price ( Chicken Price’s Bro )
Robbie was the trainer at Pinetown FC , around 1976 – 78 when pinetown got into the SA second divi
The guy was an inspireration to the younger guys in the under 16 set up, I remeber him pluckin me from the under 16 team and playing me in a curtain raiser at kingsmaed , one sunday afternoon against a DC reserve side and we beat them 4 – 1 , AWESOME. LITTLE ALWD Pinetown FC
Carpo – now living in Derby UK
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18 Jan 2010 10:01 am
Glen Adams
Here is chicken prices email for you
adichick@mweb.co.za
25 Feb 2010 02:02 pm
Tony Carpenter
Does anybody know the whereabouts of Robbie Price ( Chicken Price’s Bro )
Robbie was the trainer at Pinetown FC , around 1976 – 78 when pinetown got into the SA second divi
The guy was an inspireration to the younger guys in the under 16 set up, I remeber him pluckin me from the under 16 team and playing me in a curtain raiser at kingsmaed , one sunday afternoon against a DC reserve side and we beat them 4 – 1 , AWESOME. LITTLE ALWD Pinetown FC
Carpo – now living in Derby UK
26 Jan 2010 10:01 am
Ian Gould
Hi all,anyone remember WALLY GOULD who played for 1 year at Durban United 1968-1969 who was bought from Brighton & Hove Albion in the Uk for an amazing price then of R15.000 ?He then went on to play for Hellenic until 1974 and then took the East London United managers job until 1977.He now lives in Southern Spain.
21 Feb 2010 07:02 am
Gavin Owen-Thomas
Of course - he was a great addition to East London United.
21 Jan 2012 09:01 pm (@Twitter)
Justin Farrell
Hey everyone.
It’s great to come across this site!
I grew up in the 80′s and remember watching my dad Trevor Farrell playing for Savages Natal League team (70′s & 80′s).
I also remember as a lightie traveling with him and some of the team to play clubs the likes of Stella, Shamrocks etc etc.
I do recognise a lot of names because I can remember my dad talking about them when I was younger.
I played for Howick Football club and a little while for Savages as a kid. Great memories! I’m looking for any old pics or newspaper clippings of my dad as well as of the team and chaps he would’ve played with. I’d like to surprise him with ol’ memories of his soccer heydays!
Thanks chaps!
Regards
Justin
24 Feb 2010 03:02 am
Glen Adams
If you want to find out more about Durban City.Check out the web site.durbancityfootballclub.com
25 Feb 2010 02:02 pm
Gavin Owen-Thomas
It’s wonderful to hear the old names….
I grew up in East London and was a huge support of East London Celtic and then United (after the name change). We I remember the wholesale trade we did with United, getting an aging Johnny Grant, Alec Hamilton, Wally Gould. Before that, before being promoted, we brought over Frankie McGuigan and big Jack McDowell. What a great time it was.
But East London had their own stars. Rodney Bush and Bevan Williams. I remember falling in love with the sport the minute I first saw a floodlit field (Jan Smuts Stadium) as an 11-year old when my parents were transferred from Dordrecht in the Eastern Cape to East London.
28 Feb 2010 11:02 pm
Vijan Maharaj
Hi,
Where can I get videos of these NFL complete games.
Durban United games.
Highlands Park games.
Thanks and Regards.
06 May 2010 05:05 am
Brandon Williams
I will be seeing Bevin Williams and Rodeney Bush in JHB on June 18th. USA Vs Slovenia. Bevin is my Dad and Rodney my Uncle. Great honest players of their time. Home grown, they would have been an absolute asset right now for the Bafana team. Someone who can score with the head.
13 Jun 2010 08:06 pm
Gavin Owen-Thomas
I never checked for a reply - what a pity! I was at the US vs. Slovenia game and would love to have seen Rodney. We grew up together in East London, but I've been in the States since 1979.
I still see Japie Hattingh every seven or eight years or so.
09 Aug 2010 12:08 am
Len
Hi
Was in SA in the 70s,my brother in law was John Donnelly who played for Addington,Durban United,Durban City.John passed away a few months ago here in Scotland .I have had some great times with Neil Duffy ,Stan Lapot,Alex Hamilton ,Tommy Lumsden,and Jimmy Kerr manager of Utd at that time.
Some great memories as when Addington won the league !!!
Len
16 Aug 2010 03:08 pm
derek pollock
Hi Len , I was searching for any info on my uncle when i came across your posting mentioning him. His name was Stan Lapot and he moved out to SA early in his career after playing for Preston North End. I was sure he played for one of the Durban teams at one time before going on to play for Arcadia Shepherds later on.
If you have any other info i would be delighted to hear from you.
14 Apr 2011 04:04 pm
mark robinson
I am trying to source some names of the lads who played with my step-dad, Claude Meyer in the 60′s, these guys were the Los Angeles United team that won everything in 1962, have the photo with names like Neville Arango, Bill paisley, Doug Paisley, Len Roberts (Cuddles), and Cyril Paisley…would like to see if I can get the rest of the names, have 2 seperate photo’s with managers and coaches. I am told that it was City that we used to watch formed from most of the boys who played for L.A.U
03 Oct 2010 01:10 am
brittonb@webstorm.co.za
I played for Germiston Callies Colts and Reserves in 1968 and 1969. Others in these team were Roy Potgieter, Stewart Shaw Taylor, Phil Venter, Plankie Naude, Joe Sequira, Alan Day, Koos Labuscagne, Bruce Corbett, Richard Fuller, Ronnie Boyce and others. Are any of these guys still around?
Bryan vd Westhuizen
27 Nov 2010 05:11 am
Jenny courtney
I was dating paddy blount from durban city, wher is he now? I live in Sydney Australia now, would love to know…
07 Dec 2010 08:12 am
Lauren
Hey Guys, I was just searching my dad on the internet and he was mentioned in this thread, his name is Les Hucker, played for Durban City and Durban United in the 70′s and is now living in Australia where he played for Marconi….I will get him on here as he loves to remember his old soccer days…
13 Jan 2011 08:01 pm
solly zas
i have pics of durban united 1963 and 1964 and a rangers one from 1964…really nostalgic…Especiall a young Clive Barker!! Email me your details if you want these pics. solly@firzt.co.za
30 Mar 2011 05:03 am
Beverley Webster
I am looking for information on a 1950s Durban team called Aces United which was owned by Crash Morgan. The only team members I am aware of are Coach Carlos DeConti from Italy, Segrin Naidoo who Captained the team, Henry Cele and David Khosa. I would like the rest of the teams names.
01 Apr 2011 05:04 am
Deena Naidu
Hi
I was just about 10 years old when I went to some of the matches in the 60's-Some the Aces players were: Excellent Mthembu.Gava Ellis,Georgie Francis,Dan Naidoo,Lionel Homiel,S.Lall,Strini Moodley.
Deena Naidu
25 May 2011 05:05 pm
Sean Powell
Just came upon this site this lazy sunday morning! How nostalgic. I played my amature football in Durban in the late 70′s and early 80′s. It was a great time, amature games were well supported and before i graduated to senior football my dad and i would go watch premier league games every week end. I had time at Ramblers, Umbilo, Juventus and Durban City. So many familiar names on these pages!
10 Apr 2011 01:04 am
Tanya Tiefenthaler
Hi there,
Does anybody know when Trevor Gething died? I need the information for a novel I am writing, he was the father of a close friend of mine Che Gething. I know it was round about 1985-86? any info would be appreciated.
09 May 2011 08:05 am
Don Jarman
Hi Tanya. Don’t know if this will help you? Just trawling through the net and came upon this, with the address: http://kredicell.co.za/contents/contact.html
Phone us 0861 111 346
Landline: + 27 (012) 365 2910
Fax: +27 (012) 361 0301
Physical address: C/o Jacqueline & Trevor Gething
Garsfontein, Pretoria.
Postal address: PO Box 35202, Menlo Park 0102
Email:infokredicell@kredicell.co.za
Might be a son? I for some reason always thought Trevor Gething had died tragically, but that’s all I was led to believe. Other well-known footballers of the 70s who died tragically in SA were Robbie Hume (Highlands Park) Percy Owen and Hylton Grainger (Rangers) Best wishes. Don Jarman.
10 May 2011 05:05 pm
Gerald Grove
Hi Lauren, dont forget to let your dad know that his old school Mansfield is having their 100th aniversery in November. This school produced hordes of great footballers over the years. Get him to come over for a holiday.
20 Jun 2011 08:06 am
Harold Fry
Stumbled upon this site, as a Mansfield old boy and soccer fan, from that era, reading all comments,seeing all the names certainly brought back very happy memories.
Thanks to all of you guys.
Does any one out there have info.on Roy Malcolmson ex Dbn.City and Reg Parkins Umbilo
Regards
18 Aug 2011 03:08 am (@Twitter)
Mickey Garbutt
To Lauren,
I remenber Les well playing with him at Queens Park under 14. He and his friend Johnny Ramsden, who was tragically killed in a motor accident in the prime of his life, used to travel to Saturday games with Johnny’s dad.
Give Les my best regards.
Mickey Garbutt
26 Oct 2011 09:10 am (@Twitter)
Gordon Parker
I have on many occasion watched the E-TV programme on Tuesday and Werdnesday nights when broadcasting UEFA games. Richard Gomes and Sergio dos Santos are on the Panel. Richard Gomes always states he played for CHELSEA but NEVER states for Durban City, what a shame. Sergio states he was the Kaizer Chiefs Coach but never states he played for Bloemfontein City.Are these stalwarts of SA Soccer ashamed??
16 Nov 2011 03:11 am (@Twitter)
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