Top Ambassadors to honour Gavin Manuel Memorial School’s Legacy Cup at launch

The esteemed guest list of ‘ambassadors’ that will be in attendance at the launch of the Gavin Manuel Memorial Legacy School Cup is clearly an indication of the impact and the role the late Manuel had on the local and national football landscape back in the day.

The launch will take place on Wednesday 20th September 2023 at Mondale High School in Mitchells Plain.

The tournament, which runs over two days from October 2nd to October 3rd, will be played at the Rocklands High Sport field, Mitchells Plain. Kick-off starts from at 08:30 to 14:30. 

No Bones with Jones has been informed that former footballing icons, such as Duncan Crowie, Gerald Stober, Edries Burton, Kamaal Sait and Jerome Damons amongst others, will be the ambassadors for the annual school tournament hosted by Manuel’s nephew Sean Campbell.

The late Manuel or “Goofy” as he was affectionately known (for his laugh and sense of humour) played an integral part in the careers of these former football stars laying the platform for them to become household names in Cape Town and the broader South Africa.

Needless to say, he created many opportunities for WPSSSU soccer players at Santos, Hellenic and even the Soweto giants, Orlando Pirates.

A classic example is the former Bafana Bafana player Duncan Crowie – whom Manuel selected for Western Province Senior Schools Sports Union (WPSSSU) soccer and Athletics in 1980. These two rekindled their affair when Manuel was a referee whilst Duncan plied his trade for Glendene and Santos in FPL a few years later.

It is also no surprise that Manuel also had a huge hand in the career of another Bafana Bafana star, Edries Burton. Burtie, as he is affectionately known, played under Manual for the WPSSSU soccer in 1986. Ironically it was Manuel who was also the starter that disqualified him at the 100m Champs of Champs.

Another national player in Stober is also no exception as he played in the same team as Burton for WPSSSU soccer. Stober was also one of the first local boys to move to Soweto Giants Orlando Pirates and Manuel was once again instrumental in his development.

Not forgetting the versatile Kamal Sait who participated at the same tournament but in the under-15 squad with Nigel Crowie. Manuel was a big believer of: If you are good enough then surely you are old enough. Manuel showed his confidence in Sait when he promoted him to the under-19 team.

The former Bafana Bafana defender Nasief Morris attended a trial spell at Santos for their Bayhill Team. Nigel Crowie, brother of Duncan, selected Morris for the under-16 team and did not think it was a good idea for Morris to play on a higher age group – but Manuel thought otherwise and showed his faith by promoting Sait to the under-19 squad.

Morris, who played for high-profile clubs in Europe as Panathinaikos, played for a couple of years for Santos when they dominated the Bayhill before Manuel convinced the club’s chairman, Goolam Allie, to sign him for the pro team.

Campbell, who has for the previous six years been hustling and bustling for funding and sponsors to ensure that his uncle’s legacy is kept alive, says it is time to dig deep.

“This certainly is not a profit-making venture but to ensure that we can make it more attractive for the players and participants,” said Campbell.

“It was a dream of mine, so it is more personal than anything else. It is what my uncle would have wanted because that is what he did and stood for,” Cambpell concluded.