You’ll be excused if you have mistaken Saxon Rovers’ Third Division side for that of Vasco da Gama – as it’s almost a carbon copy of the Vasco LFA outfit that recently won Safa Cape Town’s promotional playoffs to the very same league.
Apart from the technical team, which includes Robert Pretorius, Elton Swartz and Lee Roderiques, there are no fewer than seven players, such as the captain Nathan Gertze, Phillip-Dee Johnson, and the goalie Gershin Kock, to name a few, who have migrated to Saxons for this RTD season.
However, the roles are slightly reversed at Saxons, with Pretorius calling the shots while Swartz and Roderiques assisting him.
Truth be told, these coaches have a fantastic rapport and understanding and work together with respect to the benefit of the players and the game, and for that, you have to commend them.
And look, they are probably seeing it as helping out a fellow Cape Town Tygerberg club, which makes their union a stronger one – rivalry will always be there, but as long as football is the winner at the end of the day. Clubs at other LFA’s can definitely take a leaf out of their books.
This is perhaps what Saxon’s chairman Allan Roman deduced, hence Roman wasted no time to rope in this successful crop of coaches and players to boost his side. Roman will also be the first to admit that Saxons has been blowing hot and cold in recent seasons since they won promotion in 2021 under coach Bradley Valentine.
Needless to say, Saxons subsequently had issues with coaches and stability was a problem – they were also the punching bags at one stage. Alas! It is clear they have shaken off this mediocrity and rectified matters.
Furthermore, Roman deserves some credit for thinking on his feet and not resting on his laurels, as he merely wants to protect their investment, especially given the fact that five teams will be relegated instead of the usual two.
Saxons have also shown how progressive they can be off the field with a newly-built state-of-the-art clubhouse, which, for now, puts their neighbours, FN Rangers and Norway Parks, to shame.
So, now, it’s a matter of getting the football side up to scratch so that they too can bark louder on the field and be considered as a powerhouse again!
