Shaun Bartlett (born 31 October 1972) is a South African professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Cape Town Spurs. During his playing career, he played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

Early life

Born in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

, Bartlett was raised by his grandmother in Factreton on the Cape Flats. He began playing for his church team and quickly developed a deft striking ability on the field. He was also a talented

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

Club career

Bartlett began his career with his hometown Cape Town Spurs and then moved to

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

and the Colorado Rapids in the league's inaugural season in 1996. Halfway through the 1997 season, he was traded to the MetroStars on 10 July. Bartlett left MLS, without leaving much of a mark and returned to his home country. He later went on loan to FC Zürich and then transferring there for good in 1998. He went on loan to Charlton Athletic in 2000, and moved there in 2001 on a permanent deal worth £2 million. Bartlett won the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

Goal of the Season In English football, the Goal of the Season is an annual competition and award given on BBC's '' Match of the Day'', in honour of the most spectacular goal scored that season. It is typically contested between the winners of the preceding ten G ...

award in 2000–01, for his volley against Leicester City. He was released by the club in May 2006. Bartlett then returned to South Africa signing with

Kaizer Chiefs Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) are a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premier Soccer League. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Lords" or "Chie ...

and in the summer of 2008 retired from professional football. After several discussions, he then made a return to football with Bloemfontein Celtic.

International career

Bartlett made his full international debut for the South Africa national team in a friendly against

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It has an area of over and has a populatio ...

on 26 April 1995. He is the second all-time leading scorer behind Benni McCarthy for South Africa, with 28 goals in 74 appearances. He helped his country to the

1996 African Nations Cup The 1996 African Cup of Nations was the 20th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by South Africa, who replaced original hosts Kenya. The field expanded for the first time to 16 teams, ...

and played in the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for th ...

, scoring two goals.

Managerial career

In October 2021, Bartlett was appointed as manager of National First Division side Cape Town Spurs.

Personal life

Bartlett's wedding was attended by

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

. To avoid excess attention, only he and his bride knew that the politician was coming. Bartlett's son, Tyrique is also a footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list South Africa's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bartlett goal.''

Honours

Player

FC Zürich * Swiss Cup: 2000 Kaizer Chiefs * Telkom Knockout: 2007 * MTN 8:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

South Africa * African Cup of Nations: 1996 Individual * BBC Goal of the Season: 2000–01

Manager

Golden Arrows * National First Division: 2014–15

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartlett, Shaun Living people 1972 births South African soccer players South Africa international soccer players South African expatriate soccer players Vasco da Gama (South Africa) players Colorado Rapids players New York Red Bulls players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Premier League players Major League Soccer players 1996 African Cup of Nations players 2000 African Cup of Nations players 2002 African Cup of Nations players 1998 FIFA World Cup players FC Zürich players Soccer players from Cape Town Association football forwards Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players Swiss Super League players Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Cape Coloureds Bloemfontein Celtic F.C. players South African expatriate sportspeople in England South African expatriate sportspeople in the United States South African expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland South African soccer managers