Clive William Barker (23 June 1944 – 10 June 2023) was 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 ...

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. He guided the South Africa national team to their only

African Nations Cup The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

title in 1996. He was uncle of Steve Barker.

Playing career

Barker was born in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

. He became a professional footballer in the 1960s, playing for Durban City and Durban United having made his debut at the age of 17. He had a trial with

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, but a serious knee injury quickly ended his career.FIFA.com – Clive Barker's Success With South Africa
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Managerial career

"The Dog", as he is nicknamed, became a manager in the 1970s, coaching numerous clubs in South Africa, including Durban City, Manning Rangers, AmaZulu (Zulu Royals) and Santos Cape Town. During his club career he won two league championships and two league cups. He was one of the first white managers of a black team in the South African league. Barker took over as manager of the South Africa national team in 1994 after the team was reinstated after a ban due to apartheid. He took the South Africa national team to their only

title in 1996, with a 2–0 victory in the final against

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. Under his guidance South Africa qualified for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

, their first World Cup. He quit in December 1997, before the team could compete in the World Cup finals, after a poor showing at the

1997 FIFA Confederations Cup The 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup was the first FIFA Confederations Cup, Confederations Cup to be organized by FIFA. The tournament had previously been played in 1992 King Fahd Cup, 1992 and 1995 King Fahd Cup, 1995 as the King Fahd Cup. This editi ...

. Barker was a local television commentator during the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. Barker was appointed manager of Bidvest Wits in January 2013.

Personal life and death

Barker's son, John Barker, is a South African filmmaker. Barker's nephew Steve Barker followed in Clive's footsteps as a soccer manager. Barker was diagnosed with

Lewy body dementia Lewy body dementia (LBD) is an umbrella term for two similar and common subtypes of dementia: dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD). Both are characterized by changes in thinking, movement, behavior, and mood. The ...

in 2023. He died in Durban on 10 June 2023, at the age of 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Clive 1944 births 1996 African Cup of Nations managers 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup managers 2023 deaths AmaZulu F.C. managers Bidvest Wits F.C. managers Durban City F.C. managers Manning Rangers F.C. managers Durban City F.C. (2024) managers Men's association football defenders Deaths from Lewy body dementia Santos F.C. (South Africa) managers Soccer players from Durban South Africa national soccer team managers South African people of English descent South African soccer managers South African men's soccer players 20th-century South African sportsmen