Abubakaar "Boebie" Solomons (born 22 March 1955 in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

) is a South African

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 ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

who last coached

Premier Soccer League The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the administrative body for professional soccer leagues and cups in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, and was founded in 1996 following an agreement between the National Soccer League and the remnant ...

club

Polokwane City Polokwane City Football Club is a South African professional football club based in the city of Polokwane in the Limpopo province that currently plays in the first tier South African Premiership. The team plays its home matches at the Peter Mok ...

. He is one of the few footballing coaches in the country to have won winners medals for both the PSL league title (as assistant to

Gordon Igesund Gordon Igesund (born 22 July 1956) is a former South African football player and coach who was most recently the manager of Highlands Park in the Premier Soccer League. Early life Igesund was born in Durban to George Norman Igesund (born 193 ...

at Santos) and the

Mvela Golden League The South African Championship, officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African association football, football after the South African Premiership. Both the South Afr ...

(as head coach with Bidvest Wits). He has also coached South Africa at under-20 level.

Playing career

Solomons played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Glendene Glendene is a suburb of West Auckland, in New Zealand. It is under the local governance of the Auckland Council. Glendene is a mainly residential suburb with the north-eastern portion devoted to light industry. History Glendene is named a ...

and

Cape Town Spurs A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

during his playing career. He was known by the nickname "Asem" (the

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

word for "breath") due to his impressive stamina and work rate.

Coaching career

Solomons moved into coaching shortly after retiring from playing, and joined the coaching staff at Santos for the first time in the late 1980s. In 1998, he was appointed head coach of the South Africa under-20 team. He then joined

Santos Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter * Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War Places *Santos, São Paulo, a municipality in São Paulo ...

in 1999, where he initially worked as a youth coach, before becoming involved with the coaching of the senior team in 2000. He was appointed as the club's caretaker-coach on several occasions, including a spell in 2002 where the club won the

BP Top Eight Cup The MTN 8 is a South African soccer 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 Premiership). The winners receive ...

, before being appointed as permanent head coach in 2003 following the resignation of

Muhsin Ertugral Muhsin (also spelled Mohsen, Mohsin, Mehsin, or Muhsen, ) is a masculine Arabic given name. The first person known to have the name "Muhsin" was Muhsin ibn Ali, the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatimah bint Muhammad. Islamic term In Arabic, it ...

. He went on to lead the team to the final of the

ABSA Cup The ABSA Cup, formerly the Barclays Cup, is the current branding for an association football cup competition launched in 2007 by the Football Association of Zambia. Participants are decided half-way through current season (match day 17) and are ...

, where Santos defeated

Ajax Cape Town Cape Town Spurs F.C. (formerly known as Ajax Cape Town) is a South African professional football club based in Parow in the city of Cape Town that plays in the National First Division. Dutch Eredivisie club AFC Ajax was their parent club and ma ...

2–0. In October 2004, he was sacked due to the team's poor performances in the

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...

. Solomons had a short stint with

Maritzburg United Durban City are a South African soccer club based in the city of Durban. Prior to the start of the 2024–25 National First Division, they were called Maritzburg United, and were based in the city of Pietermaritzburg. They were promoted to t ...

before being appointed as coach at

Bidvest Wits Bidvest Wits Football Club, (simply often known as Wits University F.C. or Wits) was a South African professional football club from Johannesburg which played in the Premiership the first-tier of South African league football system. It was ni ...

, who had recently been relegated to the

, at the start of the 2005–06 season. Solomons guided the team to promotion back to the top flight during his first season in charge, but was sacked in March 2007 due to a poor run of results. After brief spells at

Black Leopards Black Leopards FC is a South African professional association football, football club based in Thohoyandou, Vhembe, Vhembe Region, Limpopo, that plays in the National First Division. History The club was founded in 1983 by business people in ...

and Winners Park, he returned to Santos as the club's Director of Football in November 2008. He was once again appointed as head coach of Santos in July 2009. Solomons left the club in December 2011 after a poor run of results. He joined

Bloemfontein Celtic Bloemfontein Celtic Football Club (simply known as Celtic) is a South African soccer club based in Bloemfontein. Bloemfontein Celtic had a large fan base in the Free State and competed in the Premiership before selling their status to Royal ...

in June 2012 as an assistant coach to Clinton Larsen before being appointed as head coach of

in October 2013. Solomons was fired on 1 September 2014 after string of poor results in the 2014–15 Premier Soccer League campaign. Solomons got appointed head coach at

Cape Town All Stars All Stars is a South African football club based in Johannesburg. The club was founded as Cape Town All Stars in 2010, and played their home games at the Athlone Stadium. They dissolved after selling their National First Division league status t ...

in September 2014, replacing Dylan Deane. Boebie resigned at

ahead of the 2015/2016 National First Division season and were appointed head coach at Milano United. Milano United and Boebie Solomons parted ways in April 2017 and Solomons as appointed Technical Director at

FC Cape Town FC Cape Town was a South African football club based in the Parow suburb of Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South A ...

Coaching career highlights

2005/6 Won Mvela Golden League Championship and promotion to the Premier Soccer League
with Bidvest Wits as head coach.
1998 Appointed as head coach of South African U20's national squad.
1996 Won National Soccer League championship in second division with Milano FC
1995–2005 Executive member of SAFA Western Province
1995–1996 As assistant coach, toured with SA U20's national team to Lesotho, Germany and Italy.

Honours

2003 Absa Cup winners
2002 BP Top 8 winners
2002 Premier Soccer League champions (as Santos FC Assistant Coach)
2001 Bob Save Super Bowl winners (as Santos FC Assistant Coach)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solomons, Boebie 1955 births South African people of Malay descent Living people Soccer players from Cape Town South African soccer managers South African men's soccer players Durban City F.C. (2024) managers Black Leopards F.C. managers Polokwane City F.C. managers Men's association football midfielders 20th-century South African sportsmen