Crusaders FC wins the RCLFA Senior Premier League title
Lefate Makunyane explained that the mood is high and players are ready to go and compete to the next level.
Ferndale-based Crusaders Football Club has been crowned champions of the Rand Central Local Football League (RCLFA) Men’s Senior Premier League after a stellar season with 21 games and 50 points.
The Randburg and Panorama football clubs were second and third with 46 and 44 points, respectively.
Crusaders coach Lefate Makunyane explained that this achievement means a lot to him as a coach.
“I have proven my worth to this game, proven how much love I have for the game and how dedicated I am in changing the lives of these players. I am very happy for myself, the team, management, players, our fans and Crusaders FC as a whole. As for the club, we are very excited to be written in the books of RCLFA as 2023/2024 champions.”
He added that the season wasn’t that easy, players gave their best – during training sessions, outside the field where they handled themselves very well and during match days where their characters were tested but they did their best putting in extra efforts.
The team faced some challenges throughout the season. Their players mostly work and sometimes they will miss games which is a big inconvenience for Makunyane.
“As a club, we also had a lack of transportation due to a lack of sponsors coming on board, then it forced players to travel individually. To be honest with you, I would love to have my players in one transport when we travel to games to be able to break the ice together by singing and motivating each other.”
Despite everything, all the players continued to work hard collecting as many points as possible and putting themselves among the league chasers.
“What worked for us towards the end of the season was only discipline, constant reminders to the players how important it is to win and mostly at the game against Randburg FC. It was only about motivating the players before the game and just reminding them about our structure/formation, reminding them how important it is to fight for one another and lastly, to have one vision on the day to win the game.”
The Randburg FC game was a decider of the title, and the Crusaders won the tough encounter 2–1. Not only have they won the title, but they also qualified for the playoffs of the Regional League.
“We have already started with preparations towards the playoffs and it’s very difficult to prepare as we don’t know who our opponents are because Diepsloot League is still ongoing.”
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