Former Bafana Bafana coach Clive Barker died at the age of 78 on Saturday.
Barker coached South Africa when it won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1996, South Africa’s only international success.
Under Barker Bafana Bafana qualified for its very first World Cup appearance in France two years later.
Barker was the first white person to coach a club in the then black-only National Professional Soccer League, the forerunner to today’s Premier Soccer League.
Barker mentored teams such as AmaZulu, Manning Rangers, Durban City, Durban Bush Bucks, Santos Cape Town, Wits and, his last assignment was with Maritzburg United, which ended in 2016.
Barker led Durban City to two back-to-back league titles in 1982 and 1983, and the Durban Bush Bucks in 1985. He had cup success with AmaZulu and Santos in an almost 40-year coaching career.
But he will be best remembered for that infectious enthusiasm.
Barker had been a 16-year-old left-footed prodigy at Durban City but had to give up his playing career by 24 because of persistent knee problems.
Barker coached Lamontville Golden Arrows in the mid-1970s and, as a white man without a permit to be in the townships, he would be forced to sleep in the car while his players camped overnight in a hotel on the eve of a big match.
Barker hated the fact that, to a lot of people, his best quality as a coach was motivation. ‘I’d like to think it’s a lot more. I think it’s a mixture of motivating the players at the right time, but I honestly believe the truth is the consistency of coaching to make it interesting for the players and to try to get the maximum out of them every time they train’, Barker added.
[Photo: BackpagePix]