Benni's Back!

It meant leaving his wife and daughter in Scotland, but the SA soccer legend couldn’t pass up the chance to coach Cape Town City.

- Nick Said

HE HAD just days to decide whether to take the job and turn his life upside down. It would mean returning to his hometown – a place he hadn’t lived in for 20 years – and leaving his wife and child behind in a faraway country he now called home. But it was a no-brainer, Benni McCarthy says. “I just had to take it. To start at a club where I know people are helping me progress – that was important.” And so Benni is back – older, wiser, more experienced and rather beefier than the skinny 17-year-old kid he was when he shot to fame back in 1995. The former Bafana Bafana star is, of course, the new coach of Cape Town City, the surprise team of the 2017 PSL season which was in with a chance of taking the title and ended up finishing third. Benni (39) was approached by the club’s chairman, John Comitis, after the coaching position became vacant following the shock resignation of Eric Tinkler, who announced he was off to helm SuperSport United. Comitis’ son, Michel – Cape Town City’s commercial director – told his dad to appoint Benni “for the brand, for Cape Town and for football in South Africa. Have the balls to take the decision,” he said. So he did – and Benni was thrilled. “Football can be harsh and I thought it was important I took a job where I would feel settled and where I knew the club management understood where I was coming from. “I played for John Comitis at Cape Town Spurs when I was a teenager and we have a good understanding. This is a big step for me – it feels like I’m starting a whole new chapter and everything I’ve done so far counts for little. “I’ve acquired knowledge, obviously, but coaching is totally new. That is why the environment needs to be enabling and I think I have that at Cape Town City.” BUT accepting the job has come at a price. His second wife, Stacey Munro,