There is a lot riding on this season for our only representative in the Motsepe Foundation Championship, Cape Town Spurs.
The Urban Warriors are back to winning ways, putting a stop to a three-match winless streak which included two losses and just one point.
It was looking like free-scoring Ashley Cupido, who added two more to his five in the 2-1 win over Polokwane City last Friday, was going to be the only thing worth talking about out of Ikamva.
But now there could be more.
It’s year three since the club was relaunched as Spurs, following their famous and public split from Ajax Amsterdam, which also means their third attempt at promotion completely independent of their former Dutch partners.
That makes it their fifth attempt, if you count the two years they tried to get promoted as Ajax.
It was like a story from a famous movie, two families, the Comitises and the Efstathious, related by marriage, clash over the leadership in Ikamva.
The Efstathiou family managed to win the battle for control of the club, which has since famously led to former partners establishing Cape Town City.
The current leadership took over a very organised and football-focused project, which was a shining example of youth development.
They just couldn’t take it any further than it had already been when the Comitis family was at the forefront.
Their demise was predicted and expected because of their lack of experience without their in-laws by their side.
A whole bunch of the youth players and coaches decided to request their release from the club after the split happened, because of fears and lack of trust in the Efstathious.
You have to understand that a player’s departure means that they take their whole family with them, which means these new players and families also need to be orientated.
So it really was great that they were able to win the Bayhill Premier Cup this year and mark the new journey with a youth title after losing so many players and coaches.
Over the years, we’ve seen Steven Pienaar, Daylon Claasen, Eyong Enoh, Thulani Serero, Dean Solomons and Leo Thethani move to Amsterdam.
Pienaar, Enoh and Serero managed to make an impact during their time in Amsterdam.
All of what I’m saying is recorded on the walls at Ikamva. And they have in their coaches Shaun Bartlett, Nasief Morris and Calvin Marlin, former stars who know what it’s like to be the guy from the Cape.
Marlin may not have as many national call-ups as he should have, but we can only hope he shares his experiences with his group of goalkeepers as they follow in his footsteps.
Bartlett, well he’s Shaun Bartlett. And Nasief Morris had a long career in Europe.
So the likes of Thethani, who has returned to the club after a truly frustrating period following his release from Amsterdam will obviously not at be at his best after also taking an extra two-year break from football.
The 23-year-old midfielder took some time to find himself and he is now surrounded by the next wave of talent that had decided to remain with the club to try and help them bounce back to the Premiership.
Chumani Butsaka, Khaya Mfecane and goalkeeper Lincoln Vyver are part of this new breed of stars that could play a key role in getting Spurs back to the top tier.
And they can start today with their clash against [ex-Cape Town] All Stars in Pretoria at 3.30pm.
Coming from a successful youth setup, they had learned some hard lessons early in the senior setup and will have to step up to the plate if Spurs are going to be successful.
WEDNESDAY’S CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES
Uthongathi v JDR Stars, All Stars v CT Spurs, NB La Masia v Casric Stars, TTM v Black Leopards, Magesi v AmaTuks (all at 3.30pm)
TEAM P W D L GD Pts
1 Hungry Lions 7 5 0 2 3 15
2 AmaTuks 6 4 2 0 5 14
3 TTM 6 4 1 1 6 13
4 Polokwane 7 4 1 2 4 13
5 Uthongathi 6 3 3 0 3 12
6 Casric Stars 6 3 2 1 4 11
7 Baroka 7 3 1 3 1 10
8 CT All Stars 6 2 3 1 1 9
9 CT Spurs 6 2 2 2 1 8
10 JDR Stars 6 2 1 3 2 7
11 MM Platinum 6 2 1 3 -1 7
12 Magesi 6 2 1 3 -6 7
13 Venda 7 2 0 5 -5 6
14 PTA Callies 7 1 1 5 -5 4