By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Cape Town Spurs Football Club announced that Ernst Middendorp will stay on as the head coach for their 2024-25 National First Division campaign.
Last week, Spurs had announced they have mutually agreed to part ways with the German tactician, citing financial constraints in the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
However, they have reconsidered their options and back-tracked on their decision to part ways.
“Cape Town Spurs are pleased to announce that coach Middendorp will be returning to the “Impossible Mission” he once labelled the experience to be after he took over the team in November with only three points on the board,” the club on their website.
“This turn of events signifies that both club and coach are fully invested in the vision that CT Spurs FC set for itself after the withdrawal of Ajax Amsterdam in October 2020.”
In the statement, Middendorp also shared his views, “I bought into the vision of the club from day one. The picture that the board put in front of me, really excited me and we had started implementing the plans with the intention on building on this in the new season.
“Unfortunately, we were a couple of points short at the end and were relegated. The challenge of the project however remained in my mind even though the club and I decided to part ways. When I returned to Cape Town on Friday, I received a call from the directors to meet up for breakfast. We were able to carve a way through the obstacles that were originally there. I requested the board to try keep the squad together and not sell players unless they received really strong offers. I am happy to say that we can now continue from where we left off and deliver, together with the board, the club that we all envisage to see one day attaining its rightful place in SA football,” concluded the coach.
The club finished the 2023-24 PSL season at the very bottom of the standings, collecting just 23 points from 30 matches.