HOUT Bay United Football Community (HBUFC) has made their intentions pretty clear that they are gunning for the ABC Motsepe League title this season.
This is evident after the coastal side roped in a high-profile coach in the experienced Michael Loftman (pictured) – a former technical member of ex-Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokoena – to take charge of matters in Hout Bay where he’ll be assisted by former Ajax Cape Town striker Nathan Paulse.
The club’s management is also fully aware that it is a mere shadow of itself of late hence the capture of the highly rated Loftman.
HBUFC are drawn in Stream A which consists mostly of formidable CT sides like the defending champion FN Rangers, Grassy Park United, Vasco da Gama and Junction Rovers amongst others.
The 35-year-old Loftman has played his hand and shown that he is not about the mess around as No Bones with Jones can confirm that Loftman lured some serious talent from Joburg in former Orlando Pirates Diski player Hloni Mofokeng (24) who played with Lyle Foster a couple of seasons ago in the Pirates’ Diski side, as well as Donnell Mncube (21), a former a TS Galaxy Diski player.
The former Ajax Cape Town product Obakhe Tshaya (21) and Logan Brown (23) are also in the midst. The big question is will they make the cut and be ready when the season starts on 27 September.
It will be interesting to see how Loftman, a UEFA A-Licensed Coach with a Master’s Degree in Sports Science, will fare given the big disparity between the pro-ranks where he previously coached, in relation to the present in the amateur structures.
But Loftman, born to a Jamaican father and a British mother, comes highly recommended and respected following stints with Egypt and part of Carlos Queiroz’s technical team.
He was also one of the youngest head coaches at 25-years old when he was contracted by Lusaka Dynamos in Zambia and followed it up as head coach at the First Division side Venda Football Academy.
Prior to his stint at Sundowns, Loftman worked at Orlando Pirates between 2018 and 2020 as head coach of the Diski Challenge side and first-team performance analyst.
Loftman must bear in mind he’ll come against seasoned campaigners like Bradley August and his two assistants Goodwin Lewis and Peter Kirsten at Crystal Palace who bought Ikapa Sporting’s Second Division status.
Not forgetting FN Rangers’s Arreshaat Daniels and that of Junction Rover’s Chrissando de Weber, keeping in mind that Andrew Pequeno and his Vasco da Gama outfit are also in the mix.
For what it’s worth the quality will definitely improve all-round in the second division as clubs are making serious efforts to gain promotion.
The two streams are as follows:
