Rob Benandie, the CEO of Stellenbosch FC, has expressed his views on a 2024 filled with both victories and challenges for the Cape Winelands club at every level, including the youth teams, women’s division, and the Betway Premiership squad.

Since their ascent to the top tier during the 2019/20 season, Stellies have rapidly become a formidable force in South African football. They have made considerable progress in youth development as well as the premier league.

The Under-18 squad concluded last season with an unbeaten record in the league, successfully defending their Engen regional championship, while the Dstv Diski Challenge team secured the league title on the final match day and triumphed in the Next Gen tournament in the UK, competing against teams such as Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace, and Aston Villa.

In addition, the club introduced a women’s team last year, which remained unbeaten in the latter half of the season, finishing a respectable third in the Sasol Regional League during their first campaign.

“The year 2024 has been quite eventful, and I want to take a moment to reflect on what we’ve accomplished this year. We’ve been fortunate to enjoy a great deal of success on the pitch,” stated a proud Benandie as he reminisced about the remarkable year.

“Furthermore, our professional side in the PSL played more matches than ever before this year (a total of 42), thanks to our success. A year ago, we were celebrating our victory in the Carling Cup.

“Although we were unable to defend that title, we made it to another cup final, narrowly losing to Orlando Pirates in the MTN8 in Durban. Additionally, reaching the semi-final of the Nedbank Cup was a significant achievement for the club.

“We finished the Premier Soccer League in third place, qualifying for CAF for the very first time, and we’ve progressed to the group stage, marking our first-ever win in the CAF group stage just recently in Angola,” he remarked.

Benandie also touched on the disappointment of not being able to host home matches at their regular venue, the Danie Craven Stadium, assuring fans that they are dedicated to restoring normalcy as soon as possible.

“I want to reach out to our supporters, as there are not only successes but also challenges and frustrations throughout the season. We lost a couple of key players who had been with us for a considerable time (Iqraam Rayners and Deano van Rooyen), and we also experienced staff changes,” he elaborated.

“Not being able to play at our beloved Danie Craven Stadium has been a significant source of frustration for our fans, primarily due to the field’s quality not meeting PSL standards at this time.

“This situation is largely out of our control, but I assure you that we are actively collaborating with various stakeholders to avoid this issue in the future. We look forward to welcoming you back to the Danie Craven Stadium by late January and into February as we enter the second half of the PSL season.”