History of Soccer In South Africa

We’ve loved the beautiful game of football forever, so how come not everyone knows that?

The British Are Coming

Soccer first arrived in South Africa in the late 19th century, having been brought over by the British Colonialists. As such it’s technically their fault that Vuvuzela’s exist.

Although evidence has been found of ancient hunter-gatherer tribes kicking ostrich eggs around long before the British came. These tribes were also reportedly in the habit of lying on the ground faking serious ankle pain whenever kicked in the shins; a trend which the colonialists brought back with them to Britain, in an effort to gain unfair sympathy during matches.

One day, lacking any means of visual division, South Africans decided to separate into teams according to race, which unfortunately lead to a divide that stuck until 1992.

Sore at losing to the black team all the time, the Afrikaners formed the all-white Football Association of South Africa (FASA) in 1892. The South African Indian Football Association (SAIFA), the South African Bantu Football Association (SABFA) and the South African Coloured Football Association (SACFA) were founded in 1903, 1933 and 1936 respectively.

Red Carded

The division according to race led to other countries essentially boycotting our country regarding the beautiful game; despite our burgeoning and absolute passion for footie - on 26 September 1961 at the annual FIFA conference, the South African association was formally suspended from FIFA.

Due to our own prejudice we were left separated from the international facets of the game, and inarguably suffered for it – though the drive and enjoyment of the game was still there, we were not granted all the resources necessary to truly fill our potential.

Diski

Our games continued away from the world stage however, as did the passion – which led to our own distinctive Diski (Township) influenced style, soccer having captured our hearts in an immovable grasp. Eventually the horrific era of Apartheid came to a long awaited end, and it was during the first years of its end that we were finally inducted back into FIFA.

Within a month from re-entering FIFA, the country hosted their first international match. In September 1992, South Africa played their first junior international against Botswana at U-16 level, and to date we’ve entered a team in each of FIFA's and the CAF's competitions, from U-17 to senior level and also for the women's team.

In the short space of 16 years, South Africa has made remarkable progress in the sport, indicative of our love of soccer. We achieved remarkable success with qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals in France - the title of African champions at the 1996 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, and the runners-up in Burkina Faso two years later.  

And of course – in 2010 we will be hosting the FIFA World Cup, our greatest achievement in the sport to date. The match results remain to be seen, but the world will finally be able to see us truly display our enthusiasm, prowess and spirit - the way they should have been seen ages ago.

By John Scharges

For deeper look into our Township Soccer History, invest some time in Camissa’s Social Soccer.

 And to see what develops, keep a sharp eye on CapeTownMagazine.com for every update on the 2010 FIFA World Cup.