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Boebie Solomons – A legendary player and coach

by Luqmaan Rawat

Johannesburg – In the world of football there are many great players who became coaches. However, we seldom see them also become great coaches. Those who do become legends in two worlds and stand higher than the rest.

Boebie Solomons, former Santos FC and South Africa under 23 head coach, is a prime example of a footballer who was not only great on the pitch but also off it. He started his professional career in 1973 at the young age of seventeen with Cape Town Spurs. In his first year he won the league with Cape Town Spurs which was quickly followed by more league titles in the following years.

Solomons was a cut above the rest, and this was proven when Dynamos signed him. To secure his signature Dynamos, who were from Johannesburg, had to agree to fly Solomons to every game as he was an apprentice electrician and would not leave Cape Town to settle in Johannesburg. 

“Five of us were approached by the manager at Dynamos at that time. I said that I am an apprentice electrician. That I won’t be able to leave Cape Town. The only way I’ll play for you is if they fly me up every game. Lo and behold they did that. For two years I flew up for every game. During the 70s flying was a luxury.” 

The legendary nickname

Eventually Solomons returned to Cape Town Spurs where he started his career. It is at the club that he earned the nickname “Asem” meaning breath due to his ability to run for the whole game, which was vital as he was a midfielder.

“The fact that I could play as a 17-year-old. That showed that I had the mentality of an adult, and I had the fitness of an adult. My fitness was at a very high level. I could run for the whole game even if there was another 40 minutes after that. That is how I got my nickname ‘Asem’ because they said I never got tired.” 

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Becoming a coach

Solomons started his coaching career at Cape Town Spurs. He was a player manager. He eventually joined the coaching staff at Santos in the later 1980’s before being appointed as the South African under-20 coach in 1998. 

His most impressive stint came with Santos when he joined them in 1999. He started off with the youth team before joining the senior coaching staff in 2000 and becoming an assistant coach to Clive Barker.

“That was a very exciting career for me. I went on to become assistant to Clive Barker. We won the Bob Save Super Bowl. Then I coached the team a week or so before the season started. We got Gordon Igesund. We won the league as a club and then Gordon left. I took over as the coach and won The BP Top 8 competition and at the end of the following season we won the ABSA Cup with me as the head coach playing against Ajax also.” 

His stint at Santos was even more impressive considering the team he had was not a star-studded team and he had a very low budget to work with.

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Coaching Maritzburg United gave him the experience needed to get Bidvest Wits promoted

In 2004 Solomons uprooted his life to coach Maritzburg United. Although it was a short spell, it would prove to be a useful one that would give him the knowledge he needed to bring Bidvest Wits back up. In his first year at Bidvest Wits, he managed to win the Mvela Golden League Championship and earn promotion to the Premier Soccer League (PSL).

“I found that I dealt with a different type of personality. A different mindset coming from Cape Town. I’m glad that I made the move. The move to Maritzburg actually served me well because when I moved to Bidvest, they got me to coach them and then immediately I took them back to the PSL. My move to Maritzburg was a good learning experience for me.”

For Solomon, his favourite club as a player will always be Cape Town Spurs and as a coach it is Santos. It is not hard to see why as he enjoyed a great spell while at both of these clubs in those respective roles. Nowadays he has stepped back from coaching. He is currently the technical director at Stellenbosch FC and is helping to develop the young talent at the club.

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