Know the history, Boksburg Football Club: A journey back in time

Back in the mid-1980s the Boksburg Football Club (BFC) produced a number of players who went onto play for some of the top teams in the land: Peter Gordon at Wits, Tony Catano at Cosmos and Pirates and Gavin ‘Stability Unit’ Lane at Pirates and Swallows as well as the Bafana Bafana.

Back in 1991 with the club going through a transformation period, club chairman Russ Swinney brought in Frank Doherty and astute coach Jimmy Allan to stabilise the senior amateur section which had been going through a rough patch.

Recalling about the time Doherty said: “There was a lot of politics going on within the various sections of the club. Russ [Swinney] was trying his best to keep a lid on things but was taking strain. Jimmy [Allan] and I were tasked with keeping the senior section afloat without being asked to produce miracles.

“The positive thing was the number of enthusiastic youngsters that were keen to play, and with Jimmy’s vast experience we managed to finish our first league campaign in mid table and losing narrowly in the league cup final.

“It was obvious to Jimmy and myself that we needed to bring in experienced players with positive attitudes when it came to discipline and training. I discussed a few names with Jimmy and approached a few guys. Mike Kelly joined from Benoni Northerns, while Donovan Hayes and keeper John Nelson joined from the now defunct Atlas FC.”

Upon the above players’ arrival to the Blues, the impact was immediate, joining youngsters like Andy Kerr, Clint Munro, Jimmy Wightman, Mark Doherty, and Clint Siemers.

The team went on to lift the league title the following season.

“I was delighted for Russ because he had been chairman during a particular difficult period,” explained Frank.

“It’s fair to say we did bump heads a few times but that was all behind us. Another name that mustn’t go unmentioned during this time is Callum Storrar, who worked hard behind the scenes helping to bring harmony to the club.”

The pinnacle

Building on the success of 1992 and under a new chairman Jonny Pedro, the Blues not only won the league the following season but the league cup as well, defeating Benoni Northerns 4-2 in the final.

The club, now flying and with the chairman’s power of persuasion finally putting an end to the politics, the Blues’ time of glory had arrived. This was the same year that the club took part in Safa organised tournaments. They suffered a desperate loss to Black Leopards FC following some questionable decisions from the referee in the Maize Power Cup.

However, later that year the Blues extracted revenge, defeating Leopards in a penalty shootout at Rand Stadium in the Smirnoff Cup. The winning penalty was hammered home by Robbie Train.

Fast forward to the 1994 season, the Blues once again won the league and cup double and reached the final of the Sparletta Cup played in Port Elizabeth. The Boksburg City Stadium outfit lost 3-1 after extra time to local side Park United.

Describing the proceedings, Frank continued: “The boys left everything on the field that day; they were exhausted at the end with the home team being roared on by the 6000 local support.”

However, that season saw some big changes: Kelly was lost through a knee injury as was Wightman, although the club did recruit the experienced Terry Paine from Alberton and Chris Hurst from Old Bens FC. Hurst went on to play in England with Emley in the then Conference League, signing for Huddersfield with moderate success.

The beginning of the end

The changes continued into the 1995 season with influential coach Frank stepping back due to work pressure. Scotty Moore took over the manager’s role and worked with Allan.

The team eventually lost some of its fluidity before losing the league to Bedfordview and surrendering the cup final to Alberton.

It was the first time in four seasons without silverware.

The silver lining of the 1995 season was the glamour tie in the Bob Save Cup where the Blues faced off against the mighty Kaizer Chiefs at the Johannesburg Stadium. A crowd of around 5000 watched Amakhosi turn on the style, handing the local club a footballing lesson in a 7-1 drubbing.

Turning out for Boksburg that day was veteran Les Groblar of Swallows and a very young Conrad Jantjies who went on to star for the Springboks.
Sadly tragedy struck a year later when chairman Jonny Pedro was killed in a botched robbery.

With Allan’s resignation and various players coming and going, the Blues never hit those heights again. In a desperate attempt to steady what was a fast sinking ship, Frank returned and stepped in again for a while but the magic was gone.

The camaraderie from a few years previously, was also gone.

“I can still remember when Jimmy [Alan] and I teamed up: he said he wanted to join a club capable of winning leagues, well he won three! His secret? He could make average players good and good players better,. That was a big part of our amazing few years,” concluded Frank.

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