Francis wants to keep the ‘Weels’ turning at Matroos

Matroosfontein FC under-18 coach Edgar Francis has revealed that he wants to follow in the footsteps of his role model, Patrick Weels.

Francis is on the verge of repeating Weels’ Coke Cup success which the latter achieved in 2010 when Matroos’ under-18 achieved the unexpected by beating the  Ajax Cape Town by 1-0 at the Metropolitan Sports Field in Bonteheuwel.

Gershwin van der Poel was the difference in 2010 when he scored the winner.

Weels was subsequently poached by Ajax for his achievement where he spent seven seasons at Ikamva.

Similarly, Francis intends to write his name in the history books should they overcome Cape Town Spurs in the Coke Cup final for boys under-18 (13:00) at the Athlone Stadium on Saturday.

There are also striking comparatives that can be drawn between Weels’ side in 2010 and Francis’ current squad – predominantly home-grown talent who had cut their teeth at the Northerns LFA club.

Just as Weels had walked the road and nurtured his players from a young age through the various age categories to win the Coke title 13 years ago, so too did Francis follow suit to develop his players from a tender age and is now on the brink of success.

“I would say he (Weels) was actually my role model back then when we grew up and played most of the time in the same team,” Francis told No Bones with Jones.

“I took his way of doing things and I just added a bit of my things, we worked with the same system and we both grew with the guys. We were also at the Bayhill and the Engen.

“He (Patrick) said to me one day: ‘Listen, do it like that and try to grow with the players.’ That is what I am doing now,” Francis added.

Meanwhile, Weels commended Francis for his journey with the current crop of local talent coming through the ranks.

“It is a mixture of boys that started very very early from six, seven years old already,” said Weels. “They are also a team that did very well and managed to qualify for the Bayhill and 50 percent of them is currently playing in the Third Division team.

“It is a good mix of boys and something that we build at the club and this was always steered by Mr Francis. Edgar is a coach who also played for Avendale and he also represented the club (Matroosfontein) at provincial level. I have full confidence in him and wish them all of the best for the final,” Weels concluded.