Larsen proud of his ‘top’ achievement after promoting Magesi

Clinton Larsen puts the promotion of Magesi FC to the DStv Premiership at the top of achievements as a coach.

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The well-travelled coach has won the Motsepe Foundation Championship and will once play topflight football next season.

It’s a historic moment for the Limpopo side who will be playing in the top league for the first time in the club’s existence. Larson has previously won the Telkom Knockout cup competition with former club Bloemfontein Celtic in 2012.

The 53-year-old clinched automatic promotion with two games left to avoid the tricky play-off system following a 3-1 victory over Kaizer Chiefs Nedbank Cup slayers Milford FC.

“This ranks at the top because I’ve won the Telkom Knockout with Bloemfontein Celtic and now I’ve won promotion so this has to be up there with that,” he said.

“I’m very proud of this achievement because people don’t know how hard we had to work to get the club to where it is. People think after you sign a few players then you will start to win some games but there is so much more to it that goes behind the scenes.

“I can’t be thankful enough to the management. My methods can be different to others but I am who I am but they have trusted me to coach my way and deal with the players my way and today we stand here as NFD champions.”

Larsen who has also coached Maritzburg United, Golden Arrows, Chippa United and Polokwane City added that being given freedom to work has helped him guide unfancied Magesi to the promised land.

“I have been at the club for 15 months, I came last season and from day one, we had a lot of work to do. To change the structure of the club and make it more professional and I’m just happy that the club allowed me to mould the team the way I see fit,” he said.

“I said in my post-match interview that I must be the envy of a lot of coaches because in the 15 months that I’ve been with the club, there hasn’t been a single day of interference and that can’t be said about many teams in the NFD and even in the PSL. I was a bit emotional earlier because I’ve been away from my family for a long time and I want to dedicate this to them because they mean the world to me.

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“I said it from day one that it’s not about me because I’ve been in the PSL and I’m not obsessed about being in the PSL but this is a life changing moment for the club and in particular my players because some of them really deserve to play at the top and they are good enough.”