Editor’s note: Benoni Derby more than just football

I regularly browse through the old Benoni City Times newspaper articles for our weekly “Flashback Friday” feature on the benonicitytimes.co.za website and one of the things that has always stood out for me in the sports section of the aged papers is the classic football rivalry between Old Bens and Benoni Northerns – more famously known as the “Benoni Derby”.

I have been harping on the topic all week since coach Raymond Cloete’s Old Bens FC’s first team finished their final home game of the ELFA Seniors Super League Division Two as champions, meaning that they will earn promotion to 2015’s Super League Division One where they will encounter longtime foes Benoni Northerns in two league derbies.

As a football obsessed Benoni resident this news gets me incredibly excited.

A competitive derby will be back for the first time since Old Bens as a club was suspended from all leagues by Easterns (which was eventually overturned).

It’s a great achievement for Bens as a whole but also vitally important for the development of the sport in Benoni.

I have been to football derbies where hundreds, sometimes thousands, of Benonians have been in the stands supporting their clubs.

Sure, it gets feisty both on and off the field, but that’s exactly what football derbies are about and that’s precisely why they are so exhilarating to witness.

The home club makes much needed money from the football fans in attendance and the players get to enjoy the experience of playing in front of a full house, which in turn encourages youngsters watching in the stands to keep playing football so that they may get a chance to play in a Benoni Derby some day.

It’s a win-win situation for everyone in Benoni.

Roll on 2015.

Roll on the Benoni Derby.