Matroosfontein FC coach Patrick Weels has emphasized that he is definitely not the superstitious type.
However, Weels highlighted to No Bones with Jones that the Northern LFA outfit has developed a pattern of note in recent years that cannot be ignored.
Matroos pushed Young Pirates all the way for the league title during the 2018/’19 campaign, losing out by a mere point to end as Runners-up.
The following season (2019/’20) was a shocker when they performed dismally and finished in the last position. The Soccer Gods were definitely smiling on them when the Covid19 pandemic saved them from relegation.
This was indeed a wake-up call for Matroosfontein FC. So much so, that they went all the way to actually win the league title for the 2020/’21 season when the league was split into two streams.
Matroos went on to beat Silver Spurs (2-1), the other stream winners, to progress to the playoffs at Erica Park where they fell short to the eventual winners, Maties FC.
In the subsequent season (2021/’22) Matroos disappointed big time, ending in the 15th position and narrowly missing relegation.
Last season they showed slight improvement but were rather average when they ended a position higher in 14th place.
According to Weels, if the trend persists, their fans can expect that the 2023/’24 campaign could be the season where they could peak and attain success again.
“Look, to answer your question, I am not a superstitious person by nature,” Weels acknowledged. “I am just a person that believes in doing what you have to do and that is basically the person that I am. Do what you have to do, and the rest will follow. It is imperative that one needs to plan accordingly – you cannot just go on trivial things.
“You have to put in the hard work and it will pay off in the end. That said, our trend shows that it’s time that we should come good again as we have underperformed the previous two seasons, so, this could be the season we push again,” he said.
Weels are also under no illusion of the mammoth task that lies ahead given the format of the 18-team league.
The former Ajax Cape Town academy youth coach admitted that he would have preferred for the league structure to be split up into two streams.
The powers have however kept the status quo intact with the 18 teams – just as in previous seasons, despite the calls from certain coaches to have two streams.
“This obviously means more games for us to play, and more travelling involved, and this will add to the expenses,” Weels added further. “To a certain extent, one has an advantage as there will be more home games, but sometimes the home games can also ‘kill’ you, you know.
“So, it is also not easy to play in an 18-team league, but it is something that we will have to get used to because I think no other league in the country has an 18-team league. It is really tough as you have so many doubleheaders. It is a real challenge, and one must have the right players and enough players.
“The players must stay motivated, there’s also the challenge with your ‘unders’ (under 23 players). So yeah, it’s going to be a challenge…an 18-team league is a challenge, but I guess one gets used to it,” he further stated.
Matroosfontein will open their 2023/’24 campaign in the Nedbank Cup quarter-final at home against FC Hout Bay on october 29th.
Weels is hoping that they could be flying out of the blocks to build up early momentum.
“It is always a challenge as it is the beginning of the season and lots of players aren’t available yet,” Weels added further.
“At the same time, it is good as one can see how the young players perform. But yeah, I’m looking forward to the season,” he concluded.
Weels has some exciting prospects in his squad, especially the so-called ‘unders’ that have another year of experience under their belt. This, after Weels threw them in the deep end last season to grow their game.
On top of this, the youngsters performed admirably during the Bayhill qualifiers last season and also progressed to the finals in Belhar.
This future generation of Matroos players has also booked their place in the quarters of the Coke Cup. So the pressure is on both Weels to back Matroosfontein’s trend, not his superstition.
