Durban City F.C. (1959)

Durban City Football Club

Nickname(s)	Banana Boys, Golden Boys
Founded	May 1959
Dissolved	1988
Ground	New Kingsmead, Durban
Owner	Norman Elliott
Home colours

Durban City is a former South African association football club based in the city of Durban. Formed in 1959 by Norman Elliott, the club was dissolved in 1988.

History

Durban City FC played in the newly formed whites only National Football League from 1959 to 1977, the team then moved over to the Federation Professional League for the 1978 season. The team moved again to the National Premier Soccer League, which later changed its name to the National Soccer League from 1979 to 1988.

The club was sold on the 27 July 1988 mid-way through the season to a group of local businessmen from the KwaZulu-Natal area. The new owners kept the famous blue and white hoops but immediately changed the name to Natal United. The team got relegated at the end of that season and disbanded.

Honours

• 1959 - National Football League Winners
• 1960 - Champion of Champions Trophy Winners
• 1960 - Castle Cup Winners
• 1961 - National Football League Winners
• 1961 - Champion of Champions Trophy Winners
• 1961 - UTC Bowl Winners
• 1962 - Champion of Champions Winners
• 1962 - Castle Cup Winners
• 1963 - Champion Of Champions Winners
• 1964 - Castle Cup Winners
• 1965 - UTC Bowl Winners
• 1967 - UTC Bowl Winners
• 1968 - UTC Bowl Winners
• 1968 - Castle Cup Winners
• 1970 - National Football League Winners
• 1970 - Life Bowl Winners
• 1971 - Champion Of Champions Winners
• 1972 - National Football League Winners
• 1972 - Coca Cola Shield Winners
• 1978 - Federation Professional League Winners
• 1982 - National Professional Soccer League
• 1983 - National Professional Soccer League

Phoenix Club

For The Phoenix Club Durban City F.C., see Durban City F.C. (2009).

In late 2008 Durban businessman and former youth player Glen Adams started talking about the revival of the former glamour club. The club was registered in 2009 with the South African Football Association and will be active in the 2009 season albeit in the amateur leagues from juniors to seniors.

Notable players

• Colin Addison (M) (1974-1975)
• Willie Allan (M) (1962; 1965-1966)
• Peta Bala'c (GK) (1974-1977)
• Brian Barratt (D) (1959-1962; 1963-1967)
• George Barratt (M) (1959-1967) (South African Player of the Year 1962)
• Ian Bender (F) (1978)
• Keith Blackburn (M) (1962; 1964-1966)
• Danny Blanchflower (M) (1963; 1965) 3 apps in 1965
• John Bond (D) (1965; 1969) 9 apps in 1965
• Bobby Braithwaite (M) (1967-1968) 36 apps, 3 goals
• Johnny Byrne (F) (1969-1973) 23 goals
• Bobby 'Red' Campbell (M) (1966-1967; 1968) 37 apps.
• Bobby Chalmers (F) (1962–1966) 114 apps, 106 goals (South African Player of the Year 1964; only player in NFL history to surpass 300 goals)
• Mick Channon (F) (guest, 1983)
• Lawrence Chelin (M) (1981-1985)
• Tony Coleman (M) (1972-1973)
• Ray Crawford (F) (1971) 6 apps, 1 goal
• Trevor Dawkins (D) (1975-1976)
• Brummie de Leur (D) (1970-1978)
• Marty Deetlijfs (F) (1959-1961)
• Ken Denysschen (D) (1959-1967) (South African Player of the Year 1963)
• Willie Donaldson (D) (1962-1966)
• Jimmy Dunne (D) (1974-1975)
• Peter Enders (D) (1972)
• Greg Farrell (M) (1970-1971)
• Joe Fascione (M) (1969-1971)
• Ian Filby (F) (1976-1978)
• Malcolm Filby
• Dave Forsyth (D) (1967-1973)
• John Fraser (M) (1964-1966; 1967; 1971; 1972-1974)
• Laszlo Gergely (M) (1972–1973)
• Wolfgang Geyer (M) (1972)
• Jerry Gibson (M) (1967) 11 apps, 2 goals
• Nino Gomes (1976)
• Richard Gomes (F) (1968; 1969-1972; 1976)
• Jimmy Goodfellow (M) (1970; 1971)
• Wally Gould (M) (1976-1977)
• Les Green (GK) (1971-1974)
• Bruce Grobbelaar (GK) (1978)
• Johnny Haynes (M) (1970-1972; 1973) (Foreign Player of the Year 1972)
• Jim Herriot (GK) (1971) 4 apps.
• Billy Higgins (M) (1967-1968) 42 apps, 3 goals
• Haydn Hough (GK) (1968-1969) 6 apps.
• Billy Hughes (M) (1963)
• Gordon Igesund (F)
• Morrie Jacobson (D) (1959)
• David Jenkins (M) (1975)
• Bobby Keetch (D) (1969-1971)
• Joe Kirkup (D) (1974-1976)
• Rodney Kitchin (D) (1978)
• Peter Laraman (F) (1962-1964)
• Danny Le Roux (M) (1959–1961; 1967-1968)
• Sandy McLaughlan (GK) (1973)
• John McLaughlin (M) (1966) 4 apps, 2 goals
• Jimmy McQuade (M) (1968) 3 apps.
• Tony Macedo (GK) (1969-1971) (Foreign Player of the Year 1970)
• Ronnie Mann (F) (1970-c1974) (Footballer of the Year 1971)
• Alec Milne (M) (1971-1973; 1974-1975)
• Tommy Moffatt (GK) (1961)
• Alan Mullery (M) (1976)
• Alex Munro (D) (1971–1974)
• Chris Neal (F) (1964-1965)
• Bernd Patzke (D) (1972)
• Jimmy Pearson (F) (1967)
• Brian Peterson (M) (1969)
• Pat Price (D) (1968; 1978)
• Neill Roberts (F) (1978)
• Malcolm Rufus (M) (1960-1961)
• John Rugg (D) (1962; 1964-1966)
• Peter Russell (D) (1961-1964)
• George Ryder (GK) (1961-1964)
• Les Salton (F) (1959-1961) (South African Player of the Year 1961)
• Jackie Scott (M) (1967) 2 apps.
• Jim Scott (F) (1966-1967; 1968-1971) 135 apps, 127 goals
• Jackie Sinclair (M) (1976-1977)
• Alan Skirton (M) (1972)
• Derek Smethurst (F) (1967-1968) 37 apps, 23 goals (Footballer of the Year 1968)
• Rocco Smith (GK) (1969) 1 app. (South African Player of the Year 1959)
• Tony Smith (D) (1973-1974)
• Hans-Jürgen Sperlich (M) (1973)
• Gary Sprake (GK) (guest, 1973)
• Gordon Stewart (GK) (1959) (an inside-forward; made 1 app. as an emergency goalie)
• Roy Tennant (D) (1962-1964; 1966)
• Brian Tocknell (D) (1961)
• Mark Tovey (D) (1978-1983)
• Alan Varner (M) (1961-1966)
• Wally Warren (F) (1959-1961)
• John Watson (F) (c1977)
• Alan Watt (GK) (1979; 1981-1983)
• Harry Weir (M) (1963-1964; 1966-1970)
• Vernon Wentzel (F) (1962; 1965–1966)
• Alan Whittle (F) (guest, 1973)
• Len Wilkinson (GK) (1978)
• Lionel Williams (D) (1959-1965; 1966)
• Moffatt Zuma (M) (1978-1981)

Notable Guest Players

• Mick Channon (1983)
• Danny Blanchflower (1964–1965)
• Morrie Jacobson (1959)
• Sir Stanley Matthews (1966; 1971)
• Alan Mullery (1976)
• Gary Sprake (1973)
• Alan Whittle (1973)

Notable Coaches

• Colin Addison
• Clive Barker
• Alf Boyd
• Budgie Byrne
• Joe Kirkup
• Dave Sexton(Guest)
• Bill Williams
• Butch Webster

Notable Games

• May 1961 New Kingamead Stadium : Durban City 0 vs 2 Leicester City
• 14 July 1963 New Kingsmead Stadium :Durban City 1 vs 2 C A Cerro(Uruguay)

Trivia

• City were the first team to win a professional league in South Africa in 1959
• First and only team to win league titles in three different associations NFL, FPL, NPSL
• Although defunct in 1988 Durban City still played a part in South Africa’s victory in the African Cup of Nations in 1996. Former City player and coach Clive Barker was head coach and former player Neil Tovey captained the South Africans.
• In 2007 CAF Honored 50 South Africans as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations amongst them there were five players and coaches associated to City
• Les Salton
• Malcolm Rufus
• Clive Barker
• Budgie Byrne
• Bobby Chalmers

• City were the first South African team to pay an English team a transfer fee when they bought George Luke from Chelsea FC in August 1968

• Danny Le Roux was the first African player to play for Arsenal way back in the 1957/58 season making five appearances

External links

• Durban City Football Club Official Website