- Former Bafana Bafana strikers Mark Williams and Shaun Bartlett praised the late Clive Barker’s sense of humour and his football mastermind.
- Barker’s family confirmed in March that he had been diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia. He died on Saturday.
- “The Dog”, as the coach was known, left his indelible mark in South African sporting memory when he led Bafana to their historic Afcon title in 1996.
Former Bafana Bafana strikers Mark Williams and Shaun Bartlett fondly remember the late Clive Barker’s sense of humour, his mentorship and the football mastermind behind their Africa Cup of Nations triumph in 1996.
Earlier this year, Barker’s family revealed his heart-wrenching struggle with Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), a cruel degenerative condition.
READ: ‘He ran like a flight about to take off’: Class of ’96 lead tributes to late Clive Barker
This progressive form of dementia mercilessly chips away at cognitive ability and independence.
Despite undergoing treatment for a life-threatening aneurysm hindering his heart’s blood flow, Barker’s health took an unforeseen turn. Tragically, he succumbed to the relentless grip of LBD months later at the age of 78.
Known by the moniker, “The Dog”, Barker rose to prominence as a manager in the 1970s and oversaw South African teams such as Durban City, Durban Bush Bucks, Manning Rangers, AmaZulu (Zulu Royals) and Santos.
He clinched two league championships and two league cups throughout his club career.
However, his indelible mark was etched in South African sporting memory when he led Bafana Bafana to victory in the Africa Cup of Nations of 1996, the first and only triumph to date, just two years after the country had embraced democracy.
Williams, who scored the winning goals in a second-half cameo off the bench against Tunisia in the final, remembers clearly the good times with Barker, and more so the time the coach defeated him in a game of pool.
Throughout the Afcon tournament, the former Wolverhampton Wanderers striker was, as he tells it, the pool champion whom no one could beat.
A day before the Afcon final, Barker did.
“When we were in camp, there was a pool table and all the players played against each other, and nobody could beat me for the whole month in the Afcon Cup,” Williams recalled during an interview with News24.
“Coach Clive said to me, ‘Can I play?’
“I said, ‘Oh, please, man, don’t waste my time. I’ve got a big game tomorrow and I’m getting myself ready. I’m going out tonight.’
“He said, ‘The finals are tomorrow. Can I play one game?’
“I said, ‘Okay, one game.’
“He beat me! I couldn’t believe it. I went to my room because nobody could beat me. You can ask all the players, Neil Tovey and Mark Fish. I beat them all.”
In the hopes of a rematch, Williams, who couldn’t sleep, at about 10pm that same night went knocking on “Coach Clive’s” room door.
An exchange of begging and pleading, reminders of a certain impending final the next day, and even an exasperated “Clive, just go play with Mark” from Barker’s wife followed. Still, the man refused. “No.”
“I said, ‘Come to the door. I want to ask you something,'” Williams continued.
“He came to the door, I put my foot in the door so he couldn’t close.
“‘Please, one more game,’ I said.
“We went back to the pool room. It took me two minutes. I finished him,” Williams said with a warm laugh. “And I said, ‘Now I’m going out.'”
Bartlett recalls the day, nearly three months after Bafana claimed the Afcon title, Brazil visited for an international friendly, which was dubbed the Nelson Mandela Challenge in honour of the former statesman.
READ: Kadodia remembers the Clive Barker touch at Maritzburg United
Bartlett, a former Charlton Athletic and Kaizer Chiefs striker, said Barker had his own way of making light of things.
And, according to Bartlett, Barker was full of jokes – or was it his skill in motivation? – at the prospect of Bafana’s looming encounter with the mighty Brazilians.
“He kept saying, ‘Let’s just stay at home, guys. Let’s just give them the game because we’re playing Brazil. There’s no way we are going to get anything from these guys. Let us not go and embarrass ourselves,’” Bartlett recounted to News24 the mood in the Bafana camp leading up to that match.
Then came the about-turn in the dressing room on matchday.
“He’s like, ‘Guys, come on, we can beat these guys and give them a run for their money.’
“That was his way of that reverse psychology-type motivation, and he was always joking around playing the game itself.”
Bafana did give their visitors a run for their money in a thriller at Soccer City that day, even though they lost 2-3.
“Everybody will tell you that he was very stern and strict as far as that is concerned. As much as people say he won the Afcon, you had to be a good technician,” Bartlett said.
“He doesn’t get enough credit for that. He was a student of the game and knew exactly how to get the best out of his players and exploit the weaknesses of opponents.”