Bidvest Wits Football Club, (simply often known as Wits University F.C. or Wits) was a South African professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club from

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

which played in the Premiership the first-tier of South African league football system. It was nicknamed "The Clever Boys" or "The Students" because of the close affiliation with the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

. The club was sold at the conclusion of the 2019–20 Premiership season. This after Bidvest confirmed that it had reached an agreement for the sale of the club's top-flight status to Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM).

History

The club has its roots at Wits University in Johannesburg, where it was formed in 1921 by the university's Students Representatives Council. The club competed in a variety of tournaments and leagues before eventually winning promotion to the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

in 1975 – then South Africa's top domestic league. During the 1970s the club produced some of South Africa's finest players – amongst them

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Gary Bailey Gary Richard Bailey (born 9 August 1958) is a former footballer who made nearly 300 appearances in the Football League playing as a goalkeeper for Manchester United. Born in Ipswich, Suffolk, he grew up in South Africa, but went on to be cap ...

, who went on to play for

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and defender

Richard Gough Charles Richard Gough (born 5 April 1962) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Gough played in the successful Dundee United team of the early 1980s, winning the Scottish league title in 1982–83 and reach ...

, who later played for

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

, Everton and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The club won their first major title in 1978 – winning the Mainstay Cup after beating Kaizer Chiefs in the final of the competition. Six years later they picked up the BP Top 8, and a year later in 1985 they again beat Chiefs, this time in the final of the JPS Knockout Cup. The club finished 6th in the inaugural NSL season in 1985 while Scottish striker Frank McGrellis was crowned the league's top scorer with a total of 29 league and cup goals. The 1990s saw mixed fortunes for the team. They won two trophies, the BP Top 8 and the Coca-Cola Cup in 1995 under coach John Lathan. But a year later they dropped dangerously close to being relegated from the newly formed Premiership – only surviving thanks to a spirited win on the final day of the season against

Jomo Cosmos Jomo Cosmos is a South African soccer club based in Johannesburg that plays in the ABC Motsepe League. The club is owned and coached by South African football legend Jomo Sono. At the end of the 2021–22 National First Division season, the ...

. Mid-table finishes followed in 1997 and 1998 before the club finished sixth in 1999–00 – helped largely by the inspirational form of centre back Peter Gordon, who played over 400 times for the club and won caps for

Bafana Bafana The South Africa national soccer team represents South Africa in men's international soccer and is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for soccer in South Africa. Nicknamed Bafana Bafana (The Boys in Zulu), the ...

(the South African National Team), and Sam Magalefa who finished as the club's top goalscorer. In 2000–01 the club finished a disappointing 13th under new Scottish coach Jim Bone. A year later former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Roger De Sa was appointed head coach, and he immediately restored order with the club finishing 7th in the PSL in 2002, thanks to a 3–1 victory on the final day of the season over

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club, referred to as simply Pirates, is a South African professional football club based in Orlando, Soweto that plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as Betway Premiership. The team plays i ...

. Under De Sa's reign things appeared to be looking up for Wits, with the club securing third-placed finishes in the PSL in 2003 and again in 2004. But in 2005 things took a turn for the worse, as De Sa's ultra-defensive tactics, coupled with a mass player exodus at the start of the season, saw the side score just 24 goals in 30 league matches to finish bottom of the league. At the start of the 2005–06 season, former Santos Cape Town and Maritzburg United coach Boebie Solomons was appointed as head coach, and Solomons' first season in charge brought a return to the PSL for the Clever Boys, with the club comfortably winning the Mvela Golden League (the second tier of South African football) after starting the season with six successive victories. In June 2007 Roger De Sa rejoined the club after a two-year absence. He replaced caretaker Eric Tinkler who succeeded Boebie Solomons during the 2006–07 season. In 2010 Wits managed to win the

Nedbank Cup The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's Premier Soccer League, premier club association football, soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of gi ...

defeating

AmaZulu Zulu people (; ) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni people, Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest Ethnic groups in South Africa, ethnic group and nation in South Africa, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They o ...

in the final.

2014–2017

2014–2017 were the most successful years in Wit's history. They finished in the top 3 in the Premiership for four consecutive years, and the 2016–17 season saw Wits win their first Premiership title. Wits finished the season with 18 wins, 6 draws and 6 losses, and won the league by three points in a tightly contested season. They also won the 2016 MTN 8 (beating 2016 CAF Champions League winners

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premiership, the first tier of South African football league syste ...

) and the 2017 Telkom Knockout.

Honours

Domestic competitions

* Premiership ** Winners: 2016–17 *

** Winners (2): 1978,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Telkom Knockout The Carling Knockout Cup is a South African professional soccer knockout competition which comprises the 16 teams in the South African Premiership. The Carling Knockout Cup is the third of the three main cups administered by the PSL along with ...

** Winners (3): 1985,

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

MTN 8 The MTN 8 is a South African soccer single-elimination tournament, cup competition launched in 1972 for teams who finished in the top 8 positions of the league table of the country's preceding season of the top-flight league (currently the Sout ...

** Winners (3): 1984, 1995,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

National First Division The South African Championship, officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African football after the South African Premiership. Both the South African Championship and ...

** Winners (1): 2005–06

Notable former coaches

* Mike Kenning * Julie Kaplan * Eddie Lewis (1974–79) *

Joe Frickleton Joe Frickleton (c. 1935 – 14 December 2020) was a Scottish professional football player and manager, active primarily in South Africa Playing career Frickleton, who played as a wing half, played youth with Clydebank Juniors, before turning pr ...

(1986) *

Terry Paine Terence Lionel Paine (born 23 March 1939) is an English former professional footballer. Originally from Winchester, Paine is best known for his career with Southampton, for whom he made a club-record 808 appearances across 18 seasons. He playe ...

(1987–88) * John Lathan * Jim Bone (2000–01) * Roger De Sa (2001–05) * Boebie Solomons (1 July 2005 – 10 March 2007) * Roger De Sa (1 July 2007 – 9 July 2012) * Antonio López Habas (12 July 2012 – 4 Jan 2013) *

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English writer, filmmaker, and visual artist. He came to prominence in the 1980s with a series of short stories collectively named the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading horror author ...

(7 Jan 2013 – 28 May 2013) * Gavin Hunt (28 May 2013 – 5 September 2020)

Club records

*Most starts: Peter Gordon 415 *Most goals: Peter Gordon 55 *Most capped player: Charles Yohane 268 (1997–2006) *Most starts in a season: Andy Geddes 46 (1986) *Most goals in a season: Frank McGrellis 29 (1985) *Record victory: 14–0 v Cardiff City (16 September 1986, Mainstay Cup) *Record defeat: 1–6 vs Kaizer Chiefs (14 October 1990, NSL) Source:

League record

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

– 6th *

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

– 8th *

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

– 9th *

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

– 7th *

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

– 7th *

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

– 9th *

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

– 11th *

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

– 3rd *

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

– 16th *

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

– 7th *

– 11th

Premiership

National First Division The South African Championship, officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African football after the South African Premiership. Both the South African Championship and ...

* 2005–06 – 16th (promoted)

Premiership

References

External links

* {{University of the Witwatersrand Association football clubs established in 1921 National First Division clubs National Football League (South Africa) clubs Premier Soccer League clubs Soccer clubs in Johannesburg University of the Witwatersrand 1921 establishments in South Africa Bidvest companies