DURBAN – The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) wants its soccer programme to be rated among the best in university circles following the appointment of ex-Bafana Bafana and German Bundesliga player Delron Buckley.
The 43-year-old Durban-born coach who grew up in Sydenham, aims to get UKZN football sides and players at all levels to be the best they can be.
He wants talented individuals to develop and improve to the extent they win places in the national squad or get professional contracts with clubs.
“The University has hired me to help the side be successful and win, while playing top football at a high level.
“Ultimately, they want UKZN to be the best university team in South Africa and if we reach that pinnacle that will be a huge achievement,’’ said Buckley.
Vice-captain and first-year BSc student Mxolisi Mthiya said Buckley has been widely welcomed by UKZN players and officials.
“Our new coach is top class and has the full backing of the team.
“He is clear about what he wants and that is for the team to score goals and win games.
“We are all excited about what he brings – we couldn’t have asked for anything more,” said Mthiya.
Mark Bashe, the manager of student health and sport at UKZN, said Buckley is a great acquisition for the institution.
“We would love to see him create a new football strategy for UKZN and help us achieve our ambitions which include being among the top three university teams in whatever competition we participate in and to have a good side to send to the African Universities Championships in Ghana next year,” he said.
UKZN said soccer is popular at the institution as more than 4 000 men and women play the game at various levels on the different campuses.
The UKZN men’s first team is known as UKZN Impi and play in two major annual competitions this year – the FNB-sponsored Varsity Football Tournament in Pretoria and the University Sports SA tournament (USSA) in Cape Town.
The team won the USSA competition in 2018 while the best they have done at the Varsity Football Top 8 event is sixth.
This year, the games will all be held under “bio-bubble” conditions because of Covid-19, said UKZN.
Interesting facts about Buckley:
- He published a book called
- He had his big break at the age of 17 when he was signed by the Bundesliga club VfL Borchum where he stayed for nine years scoring 20 goals in his 177 appearances.
- Buckley continued his international club soccer career until 2012 when he returned to South Africa after 19 years in Europe.
- He then joined Maritzburg United making 43 appearances for the club before retiring from the game to take up a post as AmaZulu Football Club’s assistant coach and later a similar position at Maritzburg United.
- During this time, he was also a member of the Bafana Bafana squad (73 appearances, 10 goals), and played at the World Cup tournaments in France in 1998 and in Japan/Korea in 2002 as well as at the Olympic Games in Australia in 2000.
THE MERCURY