TALKING POINT THE BIDVEST WITS LEGACY

BY DYLAN BETTENCOURT

With Bidvest Wits set to miss out on their 100th year anniversary in 2021, we run through their landmarks as a football club.

A media statement released by Bidvest Wits confirmed they had reached an agreement with Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) for the sale of their top-flight status, meaning the Johannesburg based outfit could cease to exist following the 2019/20 season.

“Bidvest and TTM have reached an agreement for next season subject to PSL Exco approval

THE BIDVEST WITS LEGACY

regarding the sale of Bidvest Wits Football Club,” the statement read.

“The sale is a result of our shareholder’s, Bidvest, decision to review their sports-related sponsorships and bring to an end a 15-year-long partnership. Our people are important to us and we will treat them with respect and fairness in these challenging times.”

“The sale of the club will not affect the players’ contracts in any way. With regard to the

sale of the club and the manner in which it was announced to the public, I would like to reiterate that at the time of the announcement, the deal had not yet been signed. Pen has now been put to paper between the new purchaser and Bidvest.”

Starting at the very beginning, the Clever Boys were formed in 1921 by the Witwatersrand University’s Student Representative Council. Following a succession of tournaments and competing in several divisions, the club won promotion to the National Football League in 1975. The following year they found themselves playing in the top-flight of South African football.

In 1930, almost a decade after the formation of the club, the team played their first game on grass. The same year also saw the club form an under/20 side, the beginning of their youth policy which the club prides itself on. Wits University FC as it was known in 1943, saw the side win the Southern Transvaal First Division Title. The success in intervarsity leagues and tournaments saw Wits making the National Football League’s second division in 1961.

The 1970s proved to be a successful period for Bidvest Wits. They produced some of the leagues’ finest exports in goalkeeper Gary Bailey who went on to play for Manchester United and England. Another impressive export was defender Richard Gough who later saw himself playing for the likes of Dundee United, Rangers, Everton and Scotland.

The club also won their first major honour in 1978 by overcoming the mighty Kaizer Chiefs to claim the Mainstay Cup (now known as the Nedbank Cup).

The 1990s however proved to be a mixed bag for the Clever Boys, winning two trophies in the BP Top 8 (now known as the MTN8) and the Coca-Cola Cup (now known as the Telkom Knockout) in 1995. The following year saw fans biting their nails as the club dropped close to relegation in the newly formed Premier Soccer League (PSL), a win on the final matchday of the season ultimately keeping them up. The

1999-00 season saw the club finish in sixth, their best finish to date. This was helped largely by the spectacular form of Peter Gordon who is the club’s top goal scorer (55) and has the most starts for the club (415).

The following decade provided IN 1930, ALMOST A many ups-and-downs for Bidvest Wits. With Roger De Sa at the DECADE AFTER THE helm, the club managed to secure FORMATION OF THE consecutive third place finishes

CLUB, THE TEAM in the PSL in 2003 and 2004. However, the following season PLAYED THEIR FIRST saw fans’ worst nightmare come

GAME ON GRASS. true as the club finished bottom of the table, only managing to score 24 goals throughout the season. The club bounced straight back into the league and three years later in 2010, Wits secured the Nedbank Cup trophy after defeating AmaZulu in the final.

Bidvest Wits hired current manager Gavin Hunt in 2013, under whose guidance the club has tasted huge success, finishing in the top three in four of the five seasons before the 2018/19 season. Fans of the club will have a difficult time forgetting the 2016/17 season as the Clever Boys lifted their first PSL title, claiming top honours by a margin of three points in a fiercely contested season. Wits also claimed the MTN8 cup in 2016 and the Telkom Cup in 2017 in what proved to be the club’s most successful season.

The 99-year legacy of the Braamfontein-based side will sorely be missed in South African football. Bidvest Wits have proven to be a force to be reckoned with in the past decade and have become a household name as a club competing with the likes of Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. Saying farewell to one of South Africa’s oldest football clubs will surely be a tough pill to swallow. Ù