Windhoek Welwitschia

The Windhoek Welwitschia association football (soccer) club in the X11 Vedder League was formed on January 6, 2009. The squad is "owned" by the Staatsregeringministrie vir Sport en Atletiese van Transvaal and managed by Bartnel Botha, the current Minister for Sport & Athletics in Transvaal.

The Welwitschias play all their home matches at Khomasdal Stadium (capacity 10,300).

Their kit colours are shirts featuring the Namibian flag (dark blue, red, and green with white trim and a yellow sun) paired with dark blue shorts with green trim. During the first five friendlies prior to the team's inaugural season, a temprorary kit was used consisting of brown shirts with white trim and white shorts with brown trim prior to adoption of the Namibian flag kit on January 28, 2009. On September 10, 2009 - prior to Vedder League Season 6 - the kit was re-designed so that the stripes were diagonal across the chest instead of vertical and offset. The sun emblem was moved to the player's left shoulder from its original location on the right side of the jersey.

The club sponser since their first season has been Soundic Radio. The team is often nicknamed The Wels for short and the club's fans are nicknamed Die Biltongboere after the Biltongboere Social Club located near to the Khomasdal. Recently Biltongboeres has been used occasionally in the press to refer to the team itself.

Windhoek played its first match, a 5-3 loss in a friendly at Khomasdal Stadium versus IGFC, on January 10, 2008; Kees Waterreus scored the club's first-ever goal 29 minutes into the first-half.

Prior to joining the Vedder League, the Welwitschias had previously played one season (in February 2008) in the Transvaal Voetbalsvereniging African League, winning the regular season championship before the two domestic leagues folded.

Windhoek Welwitschias played their first competitve match on February 14, 2009 - a 2-2 draw in which Alexander Wiggers scored the club's first official goal.

Of the initial 18-man expansion roster, 7 of those players still remain with the club: fullbacks Robert Persijn and Lucas Fik, midfielders Marc Hesselink and Bert Schut, and forwards Kees Waterreus, Pierre Schulp, and Roger Deemer. The roster stabilised after the first season of changes and turnover in the subsequent three seasons was very low - with generally one player departure and one acquition on average per season. Season 7 saw numerous changes during pre-season as older players and deadwood were moved to make room for the future second generation of the team. Of the current roster, 14 players have played in all five seasons for the club while there have been only 8 departures by active players.

Club rivals in the Vedder League are primarily Nottm Forest and Sharks FC - along with FC Sankt Pauli which play in the higher divisions but against whom the Welwitschias have had strong success against in their four friendly meetings to date. =Club Record by Season=

=Cup Record by Season=

=Career Statistics= Includes regular season and cup matches; * indicates player retired with club

=Great Biltongboere players= text

=Vedder League - Season 3 (Division 4)=
 * EXPANSION ROSTER (January 12, 2008): Roger Deemer, Cees de Jong, Jan de Langen, Lucas Fik, Marc Hesselink, Henk-Jan Koopman, Geert Nederkoorn, Gerald Noorlander, Chris Roest, Cor Robben, Robert Persijn, Pierre Schulp, Bert Schut, Rick Sier, Rudy van Bronckhorst, Silvio Vanenburg, Kees Waterreus, and Alexander Wiggers
 * ROSTER TRANSACTIONS: Jamie Alcott signed ($95,300) as free agent on January 20, 2009; Silvio Vanenburg and Cor Robben released January 21, 2009; Carlton Drury signed ($600,000) as free agent on January 21, 2009; Dakarai Baako (prospect) signed January 21, 2009; Gil Sá signed ($900,000) as free agent on January 22, 2009; Geert Nederkoorn and Jan de Langen released January 26, 2009; Rick Sier released on January 29, 2009; Ivor Frederick signed ($900,000) as free agent on January 29, 2009; Charlie Watkins signed ($600,000) as free-agent on February 5, 2009; Henk-Jan Koopman sold for $125,076 on February 6, 2009; Emil Saxo signed ($676,003) as free agent on February 17, 2009; Vorster de Vries (junior prospect) signed on February 18, 2009; Dakarai Baako released March 1, 2009; Boyke Chan Carl (junior prospect) signed on March 4, 2009

=Vedder League - Season 4 (Division 3)= =Vedder League - Season 5 (Division 2)= =Vedder League - Season 6 (Division 2)= ROSTER TRANSACTIONS: Gerald Noorlander released on September 12, 2009; Tusker Ndaw Zagwe signed ($800,000) as free agent on September 14, 2009
 * ROSTER TRANSACTIONS: Chris Roest released on May 13, 2009; Manos Torgo signed ($1,200,000) as free-agent on May 16, 2009.
 * ROSTER TRANSACTIONS: Rudy van Bronckhorst sold ($500,052) on July 11, 2009; Samuel Evans signed ($120,000) as free agent on July 12, 2009.

=Vedder League - Season 7 (Division 1)= ROSTER TRANSACTIONS: Charlie Watkins released on December 1, 2009; Ditre Ramotswa signed ($600,000) as free agent on December 1, 2009; Tusker Ndaw Zagwe released on December 2, 2009; Jerry Chan Carl (junior prospect) signed on December 2, 2009; Cees de Jong sold ($288,000) on December 8, 2009; Alexander Wiggers sold ($644,000) on December 9, 2009; Michael Gerd signed ($357,200) as free agent on December 21, 2009; Jerry Chan Carl released on December 23, 2009; Iwan Bissumbhar (junior prospect) signed on March 4, 2009; Romeo Nilo signed ($78,100) as free agent on January 5, 2010 =Vedder League - Season 8 (Ligue 1)= ROSTER TRANSACTIONS: Roger Deemer released on February 24, 2010; Bismarck Botha (junior prospect) signed on February 24, 2010

=Player merits=
 * Jamie Alcott - 2nd most assists (5 assists) in Season 3 (Div.4); 1st most assists (6 assists) in Season 7 (Div.1); 2nd most points (8 points) in Season 7 (Div.1)
 * Boyke Chan Carl - 2nd MVP (8 Xpert Elevens) in Season 6 (Div.2)
 * Roger Deemer - 2nd most sending offs (1 red card) in Season 3 (Div.4); 2nd most sending offs (1 red card) in Season 7 (Div.1)
 * Vorster de Vries - 2nd most sending offs (1 red card) in Season 6 (Div.2); 2nd most bookings (3 yellow cards) in Season 6 (Div.2); 2nd most assists (5 assists) in Season 7 (Div.1)
 * Samuel Evans - 3rd top scorers (5 goals) in Season 7 (Div.1)
 * Ivor Frederick - 3rd most sending offs (1 red card) in Season 6 (Div.2); 3rd most bookings (3 yellow cards) in Season 6 (Div.2)
 * Marc Hesselink - 1st MVP (7 Xpert Elevens) in Season 3 (Div.4); 2nd most assists (6 assists) in Season 4 (Div.3); 3rd most assists (4 assists) in Season 6 (Div.2)
 * Robert Persijn - 3rd most sending offs (1 red card) in Season 3 (Div.4)
 * Pierre Schulp - 3rd top scorers (5 Goals) in Season 5 (Div.2)
 * Bert Schut - 3rd most points (6 Points) in Season 3 (Div.4); 1st most assists (6 assists) Season 5 (Div.2); 2nd most points (10 Points) in Season 5 (Div.2)
 * Kees Waterreus - 2nd top scorers (6 goals) in Season 4 (Div.3); 3rd most points (8 points) in Season 4 (Div.3)
 * Alexander Wiggers - 2nd most sending offs (1 red card) in Season 4 (Div.3); 1st most sending offs (4 red cards) in Season 5 (Div.2); 2nd most bookings (3 yellow cards) in Season 5 (Div.2)

=Youngest and oldest players=
 * Youngest: (18) Manos Torgo (goalkeeper) signed with the club during its second season when he was 18. Jerry Chan Carl (midfielder) signed with the club as a junior prospect when he was 17 years old but never played in a senior competitive match.
 * Oldest: (37) Charlie Watkins (goalkeeper) was the oldest player to sign with the squad at 33 years old. He was released on December 1, 2009 at the conclusion of his fourth season with the club, at the age of 37 years old.

=Captains= Charlie Watkins (goalkeeper) and Ivor Frederick (midfielder) alternated as captains during the team's first four seasons of play. Marc Hesselink (midfielder) and Boyke Chan Carl (fullback) have captained a handful of matches when the two aforementioned players were unavailable.

Starting in Vedder League Seven 7, Ivor Frederick became the sole captain after Watkins' release at the conclusion of the previous season.

="Zero Heroes"= The following players were signed by the club but never participated in a competitive match.

= Press Releases =

Season 3 (Division 4)
JANUARY 6, 2009 - Windhoek gets new team in Vedder League

Windhoek Welwitschia Association Football Club is pleased to announce the approval of its expansion team in the Vedder League. Coached by Reginald “Reggie” Rossiter, the Welwitschias are looking forward to making a successful run during their inaugural campaign.

The new club calls Khomasdal Stadium in Windhoek, Namibia its home and is managed by Bartnel Botha, who is also the manager for the Transvaal Springboks who play in the Primera Division of Liga Mundo.

Anticipation amongst local footballing fans, nicknamed the Biltongboere, is building as the new squad will take to the field next Tuesday, January 13 in their first ever match, a friendly hosted by Olympique Clarice.

JANUARY 6, 2009 - Expansion Squads debut Saturday

The Vedder League will get its first look at the two newest members when Windhoek Welwitschia face-off versus expansion brothers IGFC this Saturday in a friendly match hosted at Khomasdal Stadium.

The Welwitschias were originally making their debut in a friendly at Olympique Clarice next week but the opportunity came up to fly IGFC into Windhoek for a pre-season friendly.

“Our club is really pleased with the arrangement of this match-up, as it will give everyone a realistic look at the two brand-new teams as I believe both teams will take the game seriously to start off on a positive note. So it should be a close match and a good display what both sides can do and also where they will need to work on” commented Manager Bartnel Botha whilst on the sidelines of Khomasdal during the squad’s first practice.

“Having been through this same expansion process with another team in another league, I’m really not expecting major strides at this early point. Our plan is to build and play patiently, looking more towards the future instead of short-term gain. We may dip into the transfer market but chances are I’ll work with what we got right now and see who attracts attention, who sticks, and who doesn’t”

Manager Botha also told the press that he expected that a number of league officials may be at the game to look in on the progress of the two squads: “Expansion always brings some apprehension to league officials, as they never know if the league has acquired a healthy addition to the family or a stillborn organization.”

JANUARY 10, 2009 - IGFC 5, Windhoek 3

Windhoek Welwitschias lost this evening 5-3 to fellow expansion club IGFC. The Welwitschias were trailing 2-0 twenty minutes into the match but goals by forward Kees Waterreus and midfielder Marc Hesselink made it a 2-2 draw just before the whistle blew at the end of the first-half.

During the second half, the Welwitschias fell behind again by two goals in the course of nines minute before midfielder Gerald Noorlander put the ball past IGFC keeper Leigh on a breakaway to pull the score back by one. Unfortunately in the dying couple of minutes IGFC scored their fifth goal to seal the final scoreline at 5-3 for the visitors.

After the match, Manager Bartnel Botha said that “...while a win would have been nice, I’ll take solace in that we were able to come back during the first half by being down by two. I like the looks of some of our midfielders but as a team we backed off a lot in our play when we did not have the ball - that will need to change.”

JANUARY 13, 2009 - Windhoek 0, Olympique Clarice 0

Windhoek Welwitschias drew nil-nil at the Stone Bass today in a friendly versus Olympique Clarice.

“I’m quite impressed by the result in light of our previous loss a few days ago. For us to draw against an established club like Olympique Clarice is a great step forward” said a happy Manager Botha in the post-game interview. “We surprisingly dominated in possession (58%), shots on goal (6 to 3) and with our midfield and offensive play – that was probably more surprising than the scoreline result.”

The Welwitschias next friendly is at home versus expansion AFC Scunthorpe this Saturday evening.

JANUARY 17, 2009 - Windhoek 6, AFC Scunthorpe 1

In today’s friendly played at Khomasdal Stadium, Windhoek Welwitschias dominated the field against AFC Scunthorpe for a convincing 6-1 victory. Forward Kees Waterreus scored 4 goals and Gerald Noorlander collected 3 assists.

The match was scoreless for half an hour until AFC Scunthorpe opened the scoring when Harold Dibbler potted the ball past Windhoek keeper H-J Koopman in the penalty area. However the Welwitschias soon took the lead when they scored two quick goals in the next couple of minutes.

The second half started with the scoreline 2-1 for Windhoek but the home team soon ran away with the ball as they put the ball past AFC Scunthorpe keeper Alfie Alcott four times in the course of half an hour.

JANUARY 21, 2009 - Dakarai Baako, resumes his soccer career

Dakarai Baako, the former member of the UCFA Springboks and former paramount chief, was signed to a contact this evening by the expansion Windhoek Welwitschias of the Vedder League.

“My political career obviously affected my playing ability and when I approached the Transvaal Springboks about signing a contract, there really wasn’t a place for me. The manager, Bartnel Botha had a frank discussion with me about my desire to resume my playing career and he suggested that I approach the new Windhoek X11 team. Once the league’s transfer window re-opened, I was offered a try-out for their midfield and subsequently signed.”

“I’m looking forward to putting all the crazy political BS that is Transvaal and my previous personal problems behind me - and just focusing myself on playing some good football in X11.”

JANUARY 24, 2009 - Wels drop rematch against IGFC

Windhoek Welwitschia lost 2-1 in their re-match this evening versus IGFC at The Theartre of Wet Dreams.

The Wels have dropped two games against IGFC, in their previous meeting on the wrong side of a 5-3 loss.

“IGFC is a team we have not been able to crack in the friendlies, it’ll be interesting to see how our meetings are during the regular season when our boys bring their tougher game” commented manager Bartnel Botha to reporters in the dressing room. Forward Pierre Schulp had the lone tally for Windhoek.

Windhoek’s next friendly is at home when the Vedder League champions All Star Bassist F.C make a visit to Khomasdal Stadium.

“We have no illusions how this match will turn out – this game is strictly for our fans. To show them our appreciation of their strong support to help get this club off the ground, we felt that we owed it to them to bring in the very best side.”

Tickets for the All Star Bassist match have already sold out and drawn fans from all over Namibia. The club reports that season tickets are still available but are expected to go fast once the regular season gets under way.

JANUARY 27, 2009 - Windhoek upsets Bassists 3-2

In a friendly hosted yesterday at Khomasdal Stadium, the visiting All Star Bassists FC were expected to make short work out of Windhoek Welwitschia. However the new lads on the block took it to the Vedder League Champions and eked out a 3-2 victory.

Domenica Lee opened the scoring for the Bassists with a long-range powerful shot which sailed past a stunned HJ Koopman at the 21st minute. Undaunted the Wels dug in hard and began to make BB King work as three shots were fired against the visiting goal in a ten minutes span. Pierre Schulp was then able to get the ball past BB King on Windhoek’s fourth try to even the scoreboard at one goal apiece at the 35th minute.

Schulp had two more tries against King and then bagged Windhoek it’s second goal to take the lead six minutes later. Four minutes later, midfielder Jamie Alcott then chipped in a header past BB King to give the home side a 2-goal lead.

Jaco Pastorius then clawed one back for the All Star Bassists just seconds before the half-time whistle to make the score 3-2.

While the Welwitschias dominated with strong ball possession, All Star Bassists showed their true championship form by making the most of their chances as Wels keeper Koopman let in both shots he faced.

Compared to the excitement of the first half, the second half was more subdued.

Disaster struck both teams at the 50th minutes when midfielder misdirected a clearing kick back to HJ Koopman and accidentally put the ball in for an own-goal, evening the score line at 3-3. However another reversal struck, this time for the Bassists, when referee Frank Redkard disallow it due to an apparent foul on the play by the champions. Windhoek would get one more attempt on net twenty minutes later but otherwise the rest of the half was rather dull for the fans to watch.

“This win was pretty sweet; quite a shocker really” commented Manager Botha afterwards, “although I found our goaltending was somewhat abysmal. Our keeper was able to only stop one of three shots, while All Star Bassists’ keeper King played admirable under the pressure and was able to make half his saves.”

“I’ve been happy with our results during the pre-season – although we have had noticeable trouble against the English side IGFC. Not sure why, they seem to have had our number in our two meetings so far.”

FEBRUARY 1, 2009 - Windhoek 3, FC Sankt Pauli 2

Windhoek Welwitschia chalked up another friendly victory against FC Sankt Pauli on Saturday. The visiting Namibian side held a two goal lead for most of the match but the final score was 3-2.

“St. Pauli played a lot better this game than in our previous meeting” complimented Manager Botha after the match ended. “It’s obvious they’ve been practicing hard since our last match-up, the possession time and opportunities during the first half were fairly close. At the end of the day, I believe we were able to make better use of possession”

The Welwitschias next two friendlies are against visiting Ligue 1 teams Subliminal Rovers and H Block Harriers. “Our club believes that not only should we play friendlies to prepare us against our likely opposition in Ligue 3 this coming season, but by playing against the very best sides we also gain valuable knowledge as to the long-term fortunes of this squad on the field” said coach Reggie Rossiter. “It is our goal to challenge every Ligue 1 team for friendlies”.

The match at Warsteiner Arena was also the debut of the new Welwitschia kit featuring the Namibian flag as its main design.

FEBRUARY 15, 2009 - Windhoek goes 2-2 in league debut

A late red card for Windhoek Welwistchia bungled a two-goal lead against Blonde Moments as the home side struck back for two goals to even out the final result 2-all.

The Welwitschias got on the scoreboard when Alexander Wiggers scored on a penalty kick conceded just seconds before the referee blew the whistle to score Windhoek’s first official goal in competitive play and close out an otherwise dull first half.

Eight minutes into the second half, Ivor Frederick set up Pierre Schulp for a long range shot to give the Windhoek a strong two-goal lead.

However defender Robert Persijn was booked twice within ten minutes and sent off for an early shower which left Windhoek down a man with eleven minutes left to play. That was enough time for Blonde Moments to get back into the game and bang two quick goals past a stunned Charlie Watkins.

Commented Manager Botha afterwards: “After playing such a long pre-season tour, I think the boys were nervous going to our first competitive match. Unfortunately we found a way to steal defeat from the jaws of victory today.”

Next up on the schedule is the club’s home debut at Khomasdal Stadium when F.C. This is Malfoy make the trip to Namibia.

FEBRUARY 21, 2009 - Windhoek wins home opener

Vedder League football made its debut in Namibia today when Khomasdal Stadium hosted FC This Is Malfoy. The home fans didn’t go home disappointed as Windhoek Welwitschia walked away with a 2-0 win against their visitors from Spain.

Midfielder Ivor Frederick got the Wels on the scoreboard when Marc Hesselink set him up for a long range shot at the 20th minute. Then with five minutes remaining, Malfoy midfielder Mateo Aizkorreta accidentally deflected the ball into his own net to allow Windhoek to take a 2-0 lead.

While both teams matched up well on defense, the Welwitschias held a noticeable advantage on their offense.

“We were apprehensive going into today’s match as last week our opponent was coming off a win against IGFC – a team we really struggled against in two friendly meetings during the pre-season.”

Today’s win also saw three Windhoek players – Alexander Wiggers, Marc Hesselink, and Cees de Jong – make the X11 team for Week 2 and Manager Bartnel Botha named the X11 manager.

Windhoek Welwitschia now goes on the road as they travel to Utah for next week’s match against Runnin Utes.

FEBRUARY 28, 2009 - Windhoek loses 4-2 in gong show effort

A disorganized mess on defense today caused major setbacks for Windhoek Welwitschia as they coughed up a 4-2 loss versus Runnin Utes.

“Our play in our own end was atrocious!” exclaimed Manager Botha has he berated his players after the match in the dressing room.

Problems started early when back-up Gil Sá was given the nod for the start - but then forced to leave the game early from injury. A cold Charlie Watkins then went in but was completely ineffective against his opposition, allowing in all four shots against him.

Defender Cees de Jong then blundered a clearing pass when he forgot which way he was facing and booted the ball into his own net.

The visitors now clearly frustrated being down 4-0, the match then deteriorated into war zone in the second half as the Welwitschias began to cheapshot and trip up the Runnin Ute players whenever Referee Sten Koll wasn’t looking. The dirty goon play seemed to pay off somewhat as the homeside lost three players to injury and Windhoek was able crash their way to the net twice to narrow the score down to 4-2.

“It’s a frickin’ gong show out there” said Damien Reese of the Runnin Utes from the sidelines after he was carried off. “You’d think these guys showed up to play rugby and not football.” The Wels saw a total of five bookings during the match, four yellows and one red card right at the final whistle when Roger Deemer showed his frustration with the loss by flipping the bird at the Ute fans.

“That was a disgusting display by the visitors, their manager needs to restrain his players better” commented one fan as he was heading towards the exits.

MARCH 4, 2009 - Wels add junior star to starting line-up

It’s rare when a junior prospect joins a team and has an immediate impact – however just that happened today when Windhoek Welwitschia promoted fullback Boyke Chan Carl from their junior team.

Manager Bartnel Botha signed the 20-year Surinamese player this morning and he has already been given a starting position on the Wels’ defensive line.

“Boyke is the most talented signing our club has made so far – he’s that good enough as a prospect that he walked on and automatically secured one of the starting eleven. He’s also adept at taking freekicks, which is something I always like in a defender as it then opens up all the midfielders and forwards for setting up an attacking run.”

“I wasn’t really planning on making any further additions to our defensive line, but Boyke caught our scouts' eyes during recent junior squad matches and it was obvious that he should really be playing up in senior football. To see a young talent of his calibre able to join our squad... well, I was simply overjoyed” said Botha.

Boyke’s debut will be this Saturday in front of his home fans against league-leading Nottm Forest - where he is expected to make an impact in shutting down the potent Forest offense.

MARCH 15, 2009 - Manager relieved as Wels clobber IGFC

Going into yesterday’s match at IGFC, Manager Bartnel Botha admitted he was somewhat nervous as to how his squad would perform.

“We played IGFC twice during our lengthy pre-season and we lost to them both times. Even though they were sitting in last place, I still had concerns - as some teams just have your number no matter how good or bad the talent difference is between the teams.”

Therefore the cautious Botha was pleasantly surprised when Windhoek Welwitschia bagged a goal in the first minute of the match and then launched on a scoring tear during the rest of the first half to take a dominating 5-0 lead. Rudy van Bronckhorst, Pierre Schulp, Bert Schut, and Kees Waterreus were the goal scorers along with an own-goal courtesy of Greg Deary on IGFC.

The second half was scoreless but both teams continued to play hard as IGFC had three bookings and two Windhoek players left early due to injuries sustained.

The victory put Windhoek Welwitschia back in second place after dropping down to fourth place last week from going winless in the previous two games – although one of those games was a nil-all draw against Fourth Division high-flyers Nottm Forest.

“Nottm Forest are definitely the class of the division right now and when we re-match in a couple of weeks it should be the best clash of the second half of the season. It appears that the rest of the teams have fallen on difficult times or lost their managers, so I think it is safe to say that us and Nottm Forest will be promoted at the end of the season.”

APRIL 12, 2009 - Promotion on the line next week

Windhoek Welwitschia faces Blonde Moments next week in a match which will determine second place and promotion to Division 3; a win or a draw will guarantee promotion for the Wels. Sharks FC in third place still maintain a mathematical chance but face division-dominant Nottm Forest and would require an impossible 11-goal margin of victory – so the battle for second boils down between Blonde Moments and Windhoek.

Last Saturday, the Welwitschias defeated FC This Is Malfoy by the score of 3-0. Reserve forward Emil Saxo scored twice while midfielder Ivor Frederick picked up the other goal.

APRIL 18, 2009 - Wels demolish Blonde Moments

In the final match of the Vedder League season, Windhoek Welwitschia required a win or a draw to secure second place and promotion to the third division. This afternoon they did just that as Rudy van Bronckhorst – player who was slated to be placed on the transfer line – got a rare start and the unexpectedly bagged four goals for the Wels’ in their 6-0 romp over Blonde Moments. Roger Deemer, another forward whose job was also seen to be on the line, scored one goal while midfielder Bert Schut collected the other. Fringe midfielder Jamie Alcott had a career game as he set up and assisted on 5 of Windhoek’s goals.

“It was a case of all our second-line and fringe players giving that extra effort today to impress management for the following season” said Manager Bartnel Botha. “Deemer and Van Bronckhorst we tried to move during the season as they weren’t really getting much playing time - but there were no takers. It’s quite possible after today’s strong showing that these two will gain a reprieve and we’ll keep them around for another season.”

“Alcott was another player who panned out somewhat and didn’t quite perform as well as expected during the course of the season, although today he had a great match and got X11 honours for the first time. He’s still young so he’s got plenty of time to improve and we picked him up for a steal, at one-tenth what he is worth now, so definitely one I will keep around.”

Back-up goalkeeper Gil Sá – who oddly enough played in more matches than starter Charlie Watkins – had an easy time as the Welwitschias outshot Blonde Moments 14 to 2.

APRIL 22, 2009 - Welwitschia Season in Review

Windhoek Welwitschia midfielder Marc Hesselink took home the MVP award for Division 4 (7 Xpert Elevens) while four other players collected merits from the season: Jamie Alcott had second-most assists (5 assists), Roger Deemer second-most sending offs (1 red card); Robert Persijn had third-most sending offs (1 red card) and Bert Schut had the third-most points (6 Points) in Season 3 (Div.4).

The club held its inaugural post-season awards ceremony and dinner last night and the following awards were handed out by the club management: Player of the season: Marc Hesselink; Fullback of the season: Lucas Fik; Midfielder of the season: Marc Hesselink; Foward of the season: Rudy van Bronckhorst; Most Improved Player: back-up goalkeeper Gil Sá; and, Prospect of the season: fullback Boyke Chan Carl.

Manager Bartnel Botha met with the local sports media this morning and mentioned that according to the club's progress change report, player skills increased by 12 and deducted by 1 for an overall increase of 11. Nine players saw their skill increase by a full point.

"The management is quite happy with the results from this season. We aimed for a promotion position and we ended up in second behind a very very tough-to-beat Nottm Forest side who by their performance more than deserved to win the division. At present I do not anticipate any roster changes as all those players we had been considering moving, they have all improved enough to warrant us keeping them at least until the next season is well underway."

Yesterday the Wels defeated FC Sankt Pauli 4-1 in their first friendly of the post-season. During the off-season, as part of its training tour Windhoek Welwitschia will accept friendlies from teams in the top two divisions. "It is our policy to challenge ourselves with strong opposition in the off-season to prepare us for our own division. We like to gauge ourselves against the very best the Vedder League has to offer" said Manager Botha.

Season 4 (Division 3)
MAY 2, 2009 - Windhoek wins season opener at home

Windhoek Welwitschia opened their second Vedder League campaign at home today when they demolished The Young Dribblers 5-0 at Khomasdal Stadium.

Back-up goalkeeper Gil Sá got his second start of the season and faced just one shot while the Welwitschias bombarded Elliot Wolfe for 10 shots. Kees Waterreus bagged a hat-trick with fellow forward Pierre Schulp scoring the other two goals.

Next game for the Namibian side is the second leg of their cup tie with SAFA Sporting Club of Lebanon. The Wels hold a 4-goal advantage going into Tuesday’s match at Watta Msaytbe Arena.

MAY 17, 2009 - Welwitschias win sixth in a row

Windhoek Welwitschia defeated the old Division 4 champions Nottm Forest by the score of 6-2 yesterday at the Khomasdal.

“Nottm Forest was a strong team that really flustered us last season, so I am definitely pleased to see such a decisive result against them” commented Manager Bartnel Botha during the post-match press conference. The win is Windhoek’s sixth competitive victory in a row – their seventh if the pre-season friendly versus FC St. Pauli is counted.

In other news, Windhoek released 34-year-old fullback Chris Roest on Wednesday and signed goalkeeper Manos Torgo to act as a third reserve keeper for both Charlie Watkins and Gil Sá who have been working as a tandem with the netminding duties.

“Watkins is 34 now and will be nearing retirement soon, therefore we wanted to get a third keeper on the roster so we could develop him along with Gil Sá to continue a working goalkeeper tandem for the future. Most teams just go with one goaltender which they ride through thick or thin – but we have been using a tandem that splits the duties between them and this seems to have brought us good results” said the manager. “It keeps both keepers on their toes and always prepared to play at a moment’s notice.”

MAY 19, 2009 - Welwitschias advance to Quarterfinals

Despite a 2-1 loss this evening at Atyeo Arena, Windhoek Welwistchia won their cup draw versus H Block Harriers 7-5 on aggregate to advance to the Vedder League Cup quarterfinals.

“After our decisive 6-2 win at home last week, I was fully expecting a tough return match at their home” said Manager Bartnel Botha. “The Harriers are currently the top team in the Vedder League and have constantly been one of the strongest sides, so we certainly knew it would not be an easy time when we invaded their grounds.”

Rudt van Bronckhorst scored Windhoek’s lone goal during the second half to equalize but H Block Harriers held the lead for most of the match. Parker Mills and Ken Stuart scored to lead the home side to victory in the second match of the Final-16 round – although not enough to prevent the Division 3 leaders from advancing onwards.

JUNE 13, 2009 - Windhoek downs Highway FC 4-1

Windhoek Welwitschias maintained their grip on second place in Division III with a 4-1 home victory at the Khomasdal this afternoon. The Biltongboere out-shot the visitors 9-3 as forward Rudy van Bronckhorst, midfielders Marc Hesselink and Vorster de Vries, and fullback Robert Persijn bagged goals in the win; substitute Frazer Hibbert scored the lone tally for Highway FC.

Next up for the Welwitschias is a road match at City Grounds versus rivals Nottm Forest in a must win for both clubs in their push for promotion. Windhoek won their earlier meeting this season at the Khomasdal, but Nottm Forest has proven to be a headache for the Wels in many previous meetings. Arguably the pressure is more on Nottm Forest as they have the more difficult schedule remaining with a draw versus the dominant, divisional leaders Sharks FC still to come. After playing Nottm Forest next Saturday, Windhoek then faces two managerless squads in what should prove to be goal-scoring field days for the Namibians.

JUNE 16, 2009 - Windhoek over FC Sankt Pauli in friendly

Windhoek Welwitschias walked away with a 3-2 victory over Dutch side FC Sankt Pauli in a friendly played this afternoon at the Warsteiner Arena. In four friendly meetings between the two clubs, the Welwitschias have dominated with 4 wins and a goal marigin of 13-5.

“Since we both joined the Vedder League, our two clubs have made it a habit to play friendly matches on a regular basis. I really look forward to the day when we actually play in the same division, as we will then have an instant rivalry to exploit and focus ourselves on - as well as having points on the line to make it more interesting” commented Manager Botha.

Windhoek face another rival this Saturday in a critical match-up with Nottm Forest – which will likely end up having promotion ramifications for both sides.

“Both teams need to gain the three points from the match although for different reasons”.

JUNE 27, 2009 - Wels stumped by revitalised Chizz Boy

Windhoek Welwitschia’s easy cruise to second place in Division 3 crashed into some abrupt rocks this evening when they drew 1-1 to newly-renamed Chizz Boy FC – the club formerly known until two days ago as IGFC.

Kees Waterreus scored the Wels’ only goal of the match which also saw the loss of leading scorer Gerald Noorlander to injury and fullback Boyke Chan Carl to suspension.

The single point for Windhoek paired with Nottm Forest’s 6-0 thumping of last-place Young Dribblers meant that the Namibian side slipped into third place in the standings and outside the promotion zone for the first time this season.

“Thankfully we face the dismal Young Dribblers next week while Nottm Forest are up against powerhouse Sharks FC, so if all goes well we should squeak back into second place – baring any upsets” said Manager Bartnel Botha after today’s match.

Windhoek Welwitschia has struggled for victorious results as of late. After starting the season with a domineering six-win run, the Wels then hit the skids and have only managed one win and four draws in their last nine competitive matches.

JULY 5, 2009 - Welwitschias slip into third

A decisive 5-1 victory over last-place Young Dribblers yesterday was not enough to gain a lock on promotion after Nottm Forest pulled off a 3-2 upset against divisional powerhouse Sharks FC. Despite a stronger record than last season, Windhoek Welwitschia finished out the season one place lower in the standings and oustide the promotion zone.

Windhoek got on the scoreboard in the opening minute when Ivor Frederick scored on a long range shot and the floodgates opened from that point on as the Wels outshot the Young Dribblers 11 to 4. Eight players were involved in Windhoek’s five goals as all forwards and midfielders picked up points during the match. Third-string goalkeeper Manos Torgo got his second start of the season and his first senior victory although he let in what was only the Dribblers’ second goal of the entire season when Gabe Holden scored against him on a direct freekick.

Looking back at the season, Manager Bartnel Botha lamented that “…it all boiled down to too many draws for us. We started the season on a six-win tear where every game saw at least five goals – but then we went on the skids in mid-May when we faced some tough opposition from the Sharks and Sumney FC. We never seemed to re-gain our stride after that point.”

On the plus side, the Welwitschias’ offensive output increased during the season by 5 goals and 14 players saw their points production increase.

“I’m really looking forward to see our progress report. Despite our finish in the standings, we’re one of the strongest Division III sides and with the improvement I am expecting, next season should prove to be our best yet.”

JULY 8, 2009 - Tickets now on sale for FC Sankt Pauli

Tickets went on sale this morning at the Khomasdal for Saturday’s friendly versus FC Sankt Pauli. While the two clubs have yet to play a competitive match against each other, the Welwitschias and FC Sankt Pauli have met four times in friendlies – twice at Warsteiner Arena and twice at the Khomasdal – with the Namibian side victorious in all four matches by an aggregate of 13 goals to 5.

“We both joined the Vedder League at the same time however they commenced play in Division 2 while we started out in Division 4. We have always looked forward to our meetings with FC Sankt Pauli as a means to gauge our on-going progress against a team which started the same time as us but play in a higher calibre division” said Manager Bartnel Botha.

“While we have built up good on-field rivalries the past two seasons against the likes of Notth Forest and Sharks FC, our fans still look forward to the day when Windhoek and FC Sankt Pauli are in the same division and the rivalry between us can be taken to a whole new level.”

Continuing the club's policy to play friendlies only against the highest calibre teams, Manager Botha said that Windhoek Welwitschia would accept any friendlly match challenges from Ligue 1 teams.

JULY 8, 2009 - Van Bronckhorst on the transfer wire

Manager Bartnel Botha has placed 28-year-old forward Rudy van Bronckhorst on the transfer wire. Worth $1,087,200, he has been placed on the block for $500,000 in an attmept to free up some room on the Windhoek Welwitschia roster.

JULY 9, 2009 - Club awards announced

Windhoek Welwitschia held its post-season awards ceremony and dinner last night at the Biltongboere Social Club and the following awards were handed out by the club management:
 * Player of the season: Kees Waterreus
 * Goalkeeper of the season: Gil Sá
 * Fullback of the season: Boyke Chan Carl
 * Midfielder of the season: Gerald Noorlander
 * Forward of the season: Kees Waterreus
 * Most Improved Player: midfielder Vorster de Vries

Season 5 (Division 2)
JULY 13, 2009 - Namibian tour for league’s best

The Vedder League’s two top teams will be making visits to Khomasdal Stadium this week when H Block Harriers and Subliminal Rovers face Windhoek Welwitschia in friendly matches.

First up are the Harriers tomorrow. In three previous cup and friendly meetings, the Ligue 1 side have won two matches while Windhoek walked away with a surprise 6-3 victory in a cup tie this past season. On Saturday the Subliminal Rovers will make their second visit in Namibia; the teams met in exhibition play in Windhoek’s inaugural season and played to a 3-3 draw.

“Our club makes it policy to play only the top clubs during our off-season so as to prepare ourselves and gauge our improvement compared to the very best this league has to offer. It also rewards our loyal fanbase by bringing the best teams and players to the Khomasdal to ensure a high caliber of product on the field” said Manager Botha after today’s optional practice.

JULY 15, 2009 - Wels up two games in Namibian tour

Windhoek Welwitschia defeated the league champion H Block Harriers 5-4 yesterday at the Khomasdal. Earlier in the week FC Sankt Pauli made the trip to Windhoek and the home side walked away with a 3-1 victory.

Against H Block Harriers, forwards Kees Waterreus and Pierre Schulp each bagged two goals and an assist with midfielder Ivor Frederick scoring the other goal. The high-scoring game was exciting and close as both teams held the lead – albeit only for 2 minutes in the case of the Ligue 1 side.

“It’s always a positive feeling to score a victory at the champions’ expense – regardless whether a friendly or competitive match. And the high scoring really catered to the local fans who come to these matches and pay to see the top stars of Ligue 1 do their thing” said Manager Botha after the final whistle.

Afterwards, both clubs retired to the Biltongboere Social Club where Windhoek midfielder Vorster de Vries fired up the braai and the two teams settled down for pints, good food, and some shop talk before the visitors had to depart a few hours later for the airport and their flight home.

Next up on the Namibian tour are visits to Windhoek by Subliminal Rovers on Saturday followed by Sumney FC next week; the Sumney match-up generating quite a stir as both managers have a long history of prior competitive experience against each other in Liga Mundo. In the most recent season, Manager Botha's team beat Manager Arcadian_Empire's team by 3 points to take the league title. The match may be a friendly but still expect to see a barn-burner as the managers continue their rivalry when go up against each other with different clubs.

JULY 25, 2007 - Windhoek victorious in season opener

Windhoek Welwitschia’s third season started off today in the right direction with a decisive victory over Lebanese side SAFA Sporting Club. The visiting Namibians picked up 4 goals at Watta-Msaytbe Arena as the home side was shutout by third-string keeper Manos Torgo and the Wels’ solid defensive line.

Fullback stalwart Boyke Chan Carl opened the scoring for Windhoek with his booming freekick past keeper Bilal Hachem. Midfielders Ivor Frederick and Jamie Alcott both scored before halftime to give the visitors a solid 3-0 lead. Despite a slight edge in possession for SAFA Sporting Club, the Wels’ offense pelted Hachem for 7 shots in the first half while the Namibians' wall of fullbacks snuffed out SAFA's attackers so that Torgo didn’t have to face any shots until the second half.

Newly-acquired forward Samuel Evans was making his debut with Windhoek and bagged the fourth goal of the match in the 55th minute. Six minutes later midfielder Alexander Wiggers was expelled from the match for injuring Chadi Karneh and the Welwitschias were forced to play down a man for the rest of the match.

“If it weren’t for that red card, I reckon the scoreline would have been much higher” commented Manager Botha after the match. “Twice last season we demolished this team in our cup meetings, so I didn’t even bother to dress our strongest squad today. I saw it as an excellent match for our youngsters to shine and excel in.”

Jamie Alcott, Bert Schut, Lucas Fik, and Boyke Chan Carl were all named to the X11 Squad for Week 1.

Next up is the home opener at Khomasdal Stadium versus Voom de futbol who are traveling in from Gauteng province in South Africa for their first-ever meeting with Windhoek Welwitschia.

AUGUST 2, 2009 - Welwitschias win derby match

Windhoek Welwitschias downed rivals Nottm Forest 5-1 in a derby match at the Khomasdal yesterday. In what was a rather chippy affair for the home side, Roger Deemer scored two goals in the first half for the Biltongboere before leaving halftime due to injury. Alexander Wiggers potted in one goal and picked up an assist before being ejected early in the second half. Midfielder Bert Schot and fullback spotkicker Boyke Chan Carl also scored for Windhoek.

Goalkeeper Gil Sá, in his first start of the season, made 5 saves of 6 shots – letting in Raymond Chisholm’s close-in attempt for Nottm Forest’s only tally of the match.

Along with Wiggers’ red card, three other players ended up in Referee Seymour Red’s black book for infractions.

The win propelled the Welwitschias back into first place after dropping down to third the week before when they lost a close decision to Gauteng side Voom de futbol. Next up for Windhoek is a trip to Durban to face the always dangerous Sharks FC. The Welwitschias have yet to beat the Sharks in four meeting but hope to reverse that trend in light of the Sharks recent middle of the road results.

AUGUST 9, 2009 - Welwitschias hold off Chizz Boy F.C

Bert Schut scored during injury time to give Windhoek Welwitschia a critical home win yesterday against leaders Chizz Boy F.C. The 2-1 victory meant the Namibians reclaimed first place by just one goal.

Pierre Schulp got the home side on the scoresheet early after Bert Schut set him up from a corner kick at the 7th minute. Around 15 minutes later, Zachary Strodder scored from a penalty shot past Charlie Watkins to tie up the game at 1-1. In a fairly uneventful match, Windhoek held a noticble advantage in possession but was limited to just 5 shots.

“I think the key factor was we were able to exploit the Chizz Boys’ somewhat disorganized midfield game” commented Manager Botha after the match.

Five Biltongboere made the weekly X11 squad: Boyke Chan Carl and Robert Persijn on fullback, X11 captain Bert Schut on midfield, and the two forward positions held by Kees Waterreus and Pierre Schulp.

Next up for Windhoek is an away trip Tuesday to Gauteng to meet Highway FC before a two week layoff before the rematch at the Khomasdal on August 22.

“The back to back byes will obviously affect us in the table but the rest means that when we return to the field, we’ll be 100% healthy and raring to go with two games at hand!” said midfielder Marc Hesselink to the press. “That puts us in a great position going into the second half of the season.”

AUGUST 11, 2009 - Shortmanned Wels shutout Highway FC

Playing down a man for two-thirds the game, 10-man Windhoek Welwitschia shutout Highway FC at Valley Bridge earlier today. Pierre Schulp and Samuel Evans scored from headers while fullback Boyke Chan Carl booted in one of his deadly freekicks to round out the scoreline at 3-0. Goalkeeper Gil Sá faced five shots on net, four of them in the second half.

In what was a bit of a slugfest on the field, fullback Cees de Jong was expelled by Referee Robert Nixon at 31 minutes. Both teams also lost players to injuries – with Windhoek losing the services of league-leading scorer Bert Schut for three weeks. “I really liked how we still dominated the game even though we played shorthanded for most of the match. The line-up wasn’t particularly our strongest, but I went with players who had been showing high form in training this week and it really paid off” said Manager Botha. Youngsters Emil Saxo and Samuel Evans had noticeably strong outings for the attack, goalkeeper Gil Sá pulled off arguably his strongest effort to date.

“Gil Sá is developing quite nicely this season. Along with Manos “Hands of Fate” Torgo, I really like the condition of our goalkeeping corps. Starter Charlie Watkins has been struggling lately in training, but the fact we have, not one, but two back-ups who are close to capable of carrying this team, our future is looking brighter every day.”

“At the rate we are progressing, this team is going to be quite deadly next season.”

AUGUST 31, 2009 - Samuel Evans hero against Sharks FC

Windhoek second-line forward Samuel Evans banged home two goals against Sharks FC to give the home team their first even win against the Durban side in six tries.

Sharks FC went up by 1-0 early in the first half but in the second half Samuel Evans made paydirt on what were the Welwitschias’ only shots on net during the second half. His first goal came off a Vorster de Vries corner kick at the 74th minute. Then three minutes into injury time, Evans scored from in close in the penalty area to lead Windhoek to a much needed victory.

Windhoek Welwitschia has three games remaining in the season as they continue cling on to vanishing promotion hopes. Next up tomorrow is a tricky away trip to rivals Nottm Forest followed by what should be two easy matches against the two bottom clubs in Division 2.

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009 - Welwitschias down Forest in home stretch

Windhoek Welwitschia defeated divisional rivals Nottm Forest 2-1 yesterday at the City Ground. All three forwards – Kees Waterreus, Roger Deemer, and Emil Saxo – bagged goals for the visiting Namibians while Julian Winston scored for Nottm Forest a couple of minutes after Windhoek went down by a man when Alexander Wiggers was sent off for injuring Larry Richards in the 82nd minute.

Goalkeeper Charlie Watkins made 4 saves on 5 shots in what was his fourth outing of the season.

Six Welwitschia players made this round’s X11 team for Division 2: forward Kees Waterreus, midfielders Bert Schut, Gerald Noorlander, Jamie Alcott, and fullbacks Lucas Fik and Robert Persijn. Manager Bartnel Botha was also named X11 manager.

As Manager Botha explained the press post-game: “Our next two matches should be fairly easy wins for us as we face Voom de futbal followed by laughing-stock cellar-dwellers SAFA Sporting Club. Our position for promotion was helped immensely today when Highway FC and Sharks FC played to a 1-1 draw. While winning the division is probably beyond our means, our prospects for promotion now look very good as we have an extra game at hand compared to second-place Sharks FC – and they face divisional leaders Chizz Boy F.C in their final match of the season. Playing SAFA in our final match should prove to be a blowout for our offence, I expect a high-scoring result against them which should be enough to push us past Sharks FC.”

SEPTEMBER 5, 2009 - Welwitschias look to bump Sharks

Windhoek Welwitschia gained a critical victory this evening against Voom de futbol, downing the Gauteng side by the score of 3-1.

“While Voom de futbol has ended up being one of the weaker sides this season, we coughed up a close win at the Khomasdal against them at the start of the season – so we were not going to take them lightly today” said Manager Botha afterwards.

Pierre Schulp scored twice for die Biltongboeres and Bert Schut picked up one goal as Windhoek concentrated its scoring efforts around the half-way portion of the match. Third-string goalkeeper Manos ‘The Hands of Fate’ Torgo played his strongest game to date despite not seeing much action from the weak opposing offense.

“I’m really happy how well Manos Torgo has performed this season in his starts. He looked really shaky last season, but he’s really stepped up his play quite a lot this season. I wouldn’t be surprised if next season he starts to challenge for the number 2 spot on our goalkeeping troika” said Botha.

The win today – combined with Chizz Boy F.C’s 1-0 victory over Sharks FC – now gives Windhoek Welwitschia the chance to knock the first-place Sharks FC out of promotion contention in what has shaped up to be a nail-biter finish to the Vedder League Division 2 campaign. While the Welwitschias are currently in third-place, they are 1 point out of 2nd and 2 points out of 1st however Sharks FC has now finished their season and must wait until Tuesday to see if they end up inside or outside of promotion.

“We would need a major upset from our rivals Nottm Forest against Chizz Boys for us to have a shot at the divisional title, but second place looks very real as our final match is against the winless SAFA Sporting Club. So what I see happening is Chizz Boys will win and finish in 1st while we move up into 2nd which would bump Sharks back down into 3rd”.

SEPTEMBER 9, 2009 - Windhoek player recovers lost trophy

Jamie Alcott was taking his dog, Pickles for a walk in the woods when the dog unearthed a trophy stolen from the FA headquarters. The player received a reward of 1,500,000 rand from the governing body to show their gratitude which he donated to the club.

SEPTEMBER 9, 2009 - Welwitschias grab second place

In what was a foregone conclusion, Windhoek Welwitschia cruised to an easy 4-1 victory this evening against last-place SAFA Sporting Club and jumped one point ahead of Sharks FC for second place and a promotion spot.

“The scoreline could have been frighteningly higher if we didn’t lose Alexander Wiggers to an expulsion in the 63rd minute. We also dressed a fairly weak line-up, trying to get some last-minute playing time in for some guys as well as play some of our second- and third-liners” said Manager Botha after the final whistle.

Goalkeeper Gil Sá faced only three shots on net during the match but did concede what was only SAFA’s third goal of the season when he misjudged an attempt by Ghassan Abou Dyab on the creaseline.

Manager Botha did confess it was disappointing that Windhoek wasn’t able to capitalise on its strong start from the first half of the season and take the divisional title.

“We ended up with back-to-back byes at the midpoint so that huge break between games took a heck of a lot of wind out of our sails and through our form out the window as we sat around waiting for our next match. Even gaining the promotion spot doesn’t guarantee anything, as in successive years we have gain promotion through our own efforts or league restructuring but have always still ended up in the bottom division. We can now only wait and see how the league restructures itself again in the off-season and whether it really was promotion or not.”

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009 - Club awards dinner held in Windhoek

Windhoek Welwitschia held its post-season awards ceremony and club dinner last night at the Biltongboere Social Club located next to Khomasdal Stadium and the following awards were handed out by the club management:

Player of the season: midfielder Jamie Alcott and fullback Boyke Chan Carl (tie) Goalkeeper of the season: Gil Sá Fullback of the season: Boyke Chan Carl Midfielder of the season: Bert Schut Forward of the season: Pierre Schulp Most Improved Player: forward Samuel Evans

In Division 2 merits, three players were notable: forward Pierre Schulp was third in goals with 5, midfielder Bert Schut lead Division 2 for most assists with 6 and was second in points scoring with 10. Tough midfielder Alexander Wiggers picked up the black mark awards for leading Division 2 with most sending offs (4 red cards) and second-most bookings (3 yellow cards).

Season 6 (Division 2)
SEPTEMBER 14, 2009 - Roster changes

Windhoek Welwitschia made a rare roster move this weekend after midfielder and original Biltongboere Gerald Noorlander was released on Saturday and then replaced this afternoon by 22-year-old midfielder Tusker Ndaw Zagwe picked up from the transfer wire. This is just the third change made to the club line-up in the course of three seasons.

“Since our re-tooling in our first season, I’ve pretty much settled on our long-term roster. Probably the only future change you will see is Charlie Watkins retiring after this season or the next and I bring in a trainee in our third keeper spot.”

Manager Bartnel Botha explained that Noorlander was released as his production dropped significantly last season.

“Noorlander was never flashy player but I kept him on for last season after he finished second in our team scoring in Vedder League Season 4. However I found during last season it was becoming more difficult to find enough playing time for him and he wasn’t really doing much except get injured. As our younger midfielders progress further this season, I felt keeping him on had since become a liability. Granted his replacement isn’t as talented at this very moment, but he has a lot of skills he will bring to the table once he is allowed to develop in the course of the next two seasons. Zagwe, of mixed Ethiopian-Kenyan parentage, is a relaxed, cool player that will remind many fans of Ivor Frederick except he doesn’t have Ivor’s booming shot.”

SEPTEMBER 16, 2009 - Vedder League Namibian tour

Windhoek Welwitschia is in the midst of its pre-season friendly schedule as the Khomasdal hosted two visiting teams this past week and has two more matches lined up.

Sumney FC arrived in town on Saturday and promptly dominated play on the field in their 3-1 win against a lacklustre home squad which was still showing the effects of progress training camp. Forward Kees Waterreus scored the lone goal for Windhoek in the 78th minute coming off their only shot in the entire match while Bodo Böse, Sumner Bhandel, and Helmut Pollman scored for the visitors. Neither keepers Watkins nor Cronshaw looked particularly spectacular.

Yesterday then saw a reversal of fortunes for Windhoek as they hosted FC Sankt Pauli and proceeded to bombard 10 shots against keeper Jürgen Scheller. Kees Waterreus again lead the offense for the Welwitschias with his pair of goals in the first half along with Bert Schhut’s marker early in the second half. The 3-0 victory increased Windhoek’s record against FC Sankt Pauli to 6 wins and 0 losses – albeit all friendly matches, a point which Kees Waterreus pointed out: “It’s strange for despite them being a competitive team in a higher division, we’ve often beaten them by 2 or 3 goals. Our guys do look forward to the day when we are in the same division as Sankt Pauli. We’ve played a lot of friendlies against them but we are curious how well we would do in a league match-up.”

Next up on the schedule at Khomasdal Stadium is Saturday’s visit by The Confederacy followed by league champions United next Tuesday.

As Manager Bartnel Botha explained the United fixture, “we traditionally always challenge the league champion in the pre-season – for two reasons: it gauges our progress against the very best team in the entire league as well as gives our fans a chance to see of the best players playing in the Vedder League.”

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 - Welwitschias vs Sumney in FA Cup

The most anticipated rivalry in four seasons for Windhoek is about to begin when the Welwitschias face Sumney FC in the Final-16 round of the FA Cup.

Both managers Botha and Arcadian Empire have maintained a bitter yet respected rivalry from six seasons of Liga Mundo play – and this has now carried over into the Vedder League when Arcadian Empire took over Sumney FC late last season.

The two clubs currently do not play in the same division but anticipation has been mounting towards the day when they do. What was never expected was they would face each other in a cup draw in just the first full season for Arcadian Empire managing in the Vedder League.

“Arcadian Empire’s team in Liga Mundo has gotten the better of me over the seasons” explained Windhoek manager Bartnel Botha, “however last season my Transvaal Springboks team went on a Cinderella run and took the league title against all odds – leaving Arcadian Empire to lick his wounds in second place.”

“We’ve exchanged much mudslinging over the seasons – such as when my star midfielder referred to his team as ‘a bunch of women in skirts’ after a critical victory against them last season”

Even though the two clubs won’t play in Namibia until the second match, Khomasdal Stadium has already been sold out.

“We’ve had some good rivalry against Nottm Forest over the seasons and the Sharks always prove to be a decent, tough-playing draw – but nothing will compare to this rivalry about to begin.”

Manager Botha then added: “Bring it on!”

OCTOBER 6, 2009 - Windhoek winning streak reaches 6

Boyke Chan Carl and Bert Schut scored within six minutes of each other to give visiting Windhoek Welwitschia a surprising victory over Sumney FC after the home side had led the match 1-0 for over an hour. The win increased Windhoek's winning streak to six consecutive matchs.

Simon Blümel bagged an early goal in close against Welwitschia keeper Charlie Watkins to put the home team on the scoreboard first. While the Biltongboeres outshot Sumney with three times as many shots, young Dylan Bhandal held fast for 7 saves to keep the score line honest.

“Judging from how well our midfield exploited the open field at centre to create opportunities, the final score should have been higher but Bhandal was a wall in preventing our forwards from burying away more goals than they did” commented Windhoek Manager Botha. “That kid is going to have a long and fruitful career in this league” he said in reference to the Sumney keeper.

Along with Boyke Chan Carl and Bert Schut, Jamie Alcott also made the X11 team for today’s cup round – but probably the most important unit for the victorious Welwitschias was the defence.

“Our fullbacks are all on the top of their game right now and snuffed out the opposing attack for most the match. We will need them to do it all again next week as no one expects Sumney to roll over and die.”

OCTOBER 12, 2009 - Offer for Bert Schut turned down

Manager Bartnel Botha confirmed that a League 1 club interested in midfielder Bert Schut contacted him today and submitted an offer bid on the player – however despite it being better than market value, it was quickly turned down.

“I will not identify the club out of respect for their own privacy, but none of our players are for sale,” commented the Windhoek manager, “although we are impressed that some of our players are nevertheless attracting attention from stronger clubs. This gives us confirmation that we indeed have the right squad for the future.”

NOVEMBER 8, 2009 - Welwitschias play spoiler role

In a hard-fought match, visiting Windhoek Welwitschia upset high-flying Durban side Sharks FC by hanging on for a tenacious 1-0 win. It was just the second win for Windhoek in 8 meetings, their first at ABSA Stadium, and the Sharks’ first defeat this season.

Manager Bartnel Botha was pleased by the squad’s effort: “Sharks FC are a real quality side, sometimes I wonder why they are still stuck down in the bottom division after all these seasons playing them. So anytime you can walk away with any points – let alone a win against them – then your team has done its job, and then some. Today was a massive win for us, totally unexpected since in our last meeting at the Khomasdal in Windhoek, we got spanked 3-1.”

The lone goal of the match came in the 79th minute when Kees Waterreus lobbed the ball up to Pierre Schulp who then beat Peyton Crawford one-on-one on the breakaway.

“I think what helped our effort today was our play in our own end was picture perfect. Our defense was a brick wall and Gil Sá stood on his head and played his best match to date” said Botha.

Looking at the Division 2 table, Manager Botha admitted that Windhoek was - baring some ludicrious upsets - out of the running for the divisional title but said there was still a chance to slip into the second promotion spot if Windhoek can defeat rivals Nottm Forest next week and then depending on how the Sharks vs. Nottm Forest match on the last day of the season plays out.

“Despite Sharks and Nottm tied in the table 3 points ahead of us, we cannot catch the Sharks even with yesterday’s win in the bank because they still have two matches against the two weakest sides. Nottm Forest has a more difficult schedule, as they have to face both Sharks and us – but they too have a goal-padding match against hapless SAFA Sporting Club. It is possible that we can tie Nottm for points, but it could well come down to goal differential and then that becomes a crapshoot because we’ll both depend on SAFA for bagging maximum goals.”

Botha then added, “Regardless, it looks like another photo finish is shaping up for Division 2.”

NOVEMBER 15, 2009 - Another upset for Windhoek

Windhoek Welwitschia benefited from an early own-goal and a Bert Schut set-play to defeat rivals Nottm Forest 2-1 yesterday at the Khomasdal. Nottm Forest beat Charlie Watkins when Cuthbert Sloan scored on a breakaway a couple of minutes after Bert Schut scored from Vortser de Vries’ corner kick - but the first 15 minutes was all that was needed to decide the game as the remainder of the match deteriorated into a rash of bookings for both sides.

The recent wins against the two best teams in Division 2 coupled with a surprising 1-1 draw between derby rivals Real Durban FC and Sharks reinforces Windhoek’s chances at promotion at Nottm Forest’s expense.

“Our promotion hopes unfortunately hinge on the result of the Nottm Forest vs Sharks clash in a couple of weeks” commented Manager Botha to the press after the match.

NOVEMBER 26, 2009 - Windhoek hopes rest with Sharks win

An unfortunate 2-2 draw last Saturday versus Supa Strikas fc means that any hopes for Windhoek Welwistchia gaining promotion now rests with rivals Sharks FC.

“A Nottm Forest win would essentially consign us to another season of Division 2 football” said Manager Botha. “We simply don’t have the goal difference for a tiebreaker should Nottm Forest finish at 22 points.”

As the standings indicate now, a Sharks win paired with an expected Windhoek win next Saturday against cellar-dwellers SAFA Sporting Club would give second place to the Namibian side. However if Nottm Forest either win or draw, then Windhoek would need at least a 5 goal margin of victory against SAFA to get enough goals to beat Nottm Forest in goal differential if both sides finish with 22 points. Mathematically the Welwitschias still have a shot at first-place however most pundits including the team and players are writing that off.”

“Five goals is not impossible against SAFA however we’ve only seen that kind of scoreline only once from them this season. Besides we need to use the match for some last minute training experience before the end of season progress report. Now if we were playing our strongest line-up on Saturday, then yes I would say there is a chance we could bag more than 5 goals against SAFA. But we won’t be doing that, not when two of our second-string forwards need the start against SAFA. So now our fortunes are once again resting on the results of others. That Sharks-Nottm Forest match this Saturday has so much on the line. It will decide the title for two clubs and promotion for three clubs – so it’s a real exciting way to close out the season.”

Season 7 (Division 1)
DECEMBER 1, 2009 - Biltongboere begin rebuilding

With an eye to the future, Windhoek Welwitschia released 37-year-old goalkeeper Charlie Watkins this morning. Watkins had been with the club since its inaugural campaign four seasons ago but management could not guarantee him any playing time.

As Manager Bartnel Botha explained during today’s press conference, “it was tough letting Charlie go as he carried us well in our first two seasons. However with the steady progress of Gil Sá and Manos Torgo, he had been struggling for playing time the past two seasons. If he had been able to keep up with Gil and Manos in the most recent progress report, we probably would have kept him on for another season. However with no runners under the age of 23, we really need to start looking at bringing in some youngsters - and that requires opening some spots somewhere.”

Since their first season, Windhoek has only made one roster change every subsequent season – however Manager Botha said that he expects to see another two more player make their departure.

“We are currently floating Cees de Jong and Tusker Ndaw Zagwe on the transfer market. Cees is another veteran who has been eclipsed by his younget team mates and we found it very difficult to find line spots for him. As for Tusker, we were expecting more from him in development and he has basically panned out.”

“We’ve got a lead on a replacement for Cees de Jong – while for our midfield, we really aren’t in major need of bodies as of right now. I think what we will do is see what we can get through our junior system – as we haven’t actually promoted any prospects since Boyke Chan Carl joined us last March, which was four seasons ago. I’m curious to see what lands on our plate going that route.”

DECEMBER 2, 2009 - Chan Carl Brothers re-united

Windhoek Welwitschia signed its first youth prospect in almost nine months when Jerry Chan Carl, 17 year-old younger brother of star fullback Boyke Chan Carl, joined the club today as a midfielder. The promotion resulted in the subsequent release of Tusker Ndaw Zagwe, who had been floated on the transfer wire but had gained no attention.

DECEMBER 7, 2009 - Two more veterans to depart

Windhoek Welwitschia confirmed this evening that fullback Cees De Jong and Alexander Wiggers – both veterans from the original expansion team – will be departing the club later during the week after multiple offers on the transfer wire have been received for both players.

Wiggers, a hardnosed midfielder, is tenth on the club’s all-time scoring leaders and will go down in the history books for scoring the club’s first-ever goal in competitive player while De Jong will be remembered by fans for his unflashy, ‘defensive’ defenseman style of play.

Observers are expecting Manager Botha to make further youth rejuvenation changes to the squad’s midfield, either acquiring new, younger players from other clubs or filling open spots with junior prospect promotions.

DECEMBER 20, 2009 - Biltongboere adjust to life in Div.1

Windhoek Welwitschia held off NEC Nijmegen to a 3-all draw in their Division 1 debut yesterday. Forward Kees Waterreus scored twice and midfielder Jamie Alcott scored one goal. Goalkeeper Gil Sá had a rather uncharacteristic flat performance and only made 2 saves on the 5 attempts against him.

“We’ve played at Nijmegen last season in a mid-season friendly and promptly got trounced 4-1, so I was pretty apprehensive how we would perform against them” said Manager Botha. “Friendlies don’t really give you an idea how aggressive or passive a team will play, so we had no idea what their strategy would be. Likewise, we like to play an aggressive, crunching style which we back off in friendlies, so they probably were not expecting as physical a match as we game them.”

“However we were still shaking off some of the rust from the lengthy off-season. Going into the match, neither of our keepers looked particularly impressive during warm-ups – hopefully both Sá and Torgo can pick up their training regimen in the next couple of weeks.”

After four seasons spent in the bottom division of the Vedder League, adjusting to playing in Division will undoubtedly cause some growing pains.

“Apart from deadly Sharks FC, we don’t really know any of the other teams and what their strengths and weakness are – although no doubt that is how they probably view us as well. So long as we can avoid relegation, then I will be content for results this season. Unlike Division 2, every match will be hard-fought. The days of an easy three points from whipping post teams the likes of SAFA are now gone.”

FEBRUARY 14, 2010 - Welwitschias secure promotion

A strong 5-2 win yesterday at IFK Göteborg coupled with a surprising 3-2 loss by rivals Sharks FC propelled Windhoek Welwitschia back into first place and secured promotion to the top flight of the Vedder League next season. However Manager Bartnel Botha views next week’s final match of the season to be the toughest yet for the Biltongboeres when they travel to NEC Nijmegen – a squad which Windhoek had difficulty against during the season opener.

“Nijmegen is probably now the most dangerous side in Division 1 and despite them struggling in the standings in the first half of the season, we cannot take them lightly. They held us to a tie at our home opener and I expect we will be in for a hard time in the return match” said Manager Botha at training this morning.

Windhoek came into the season with the goal to avoid relegation but has been able to challenge for the divisional title along with Sharks FC, the other promoted side from last season.

“I knew Sharks FC would excel in this division, but I felt we would have problems on account of undergoing some rebuilding this season as we let go or sold off four of our veterans who had been around for our first four seasons. I felt bringing on four new players – Ramotswa, Gerd, Nilo, and Bissumbhar – all at once would weaken us in our defense and midfield, generally our strongest areas, enough so that we’d be fighting to avoid relegation. I did not expect all our boys to dig in and perform as well as they have.”

“It is going to be a real barnburner match to close out the season. Even though NEC Nijmegen have no chance for promotion, I do not doubt for a moment they are relishing the role of spoilers. For once this season all the pressure will be on us, so I hope we do not drop the ball next Saturday.”

=Transvaal World Cup III appearance= The Welwitschias participated in Transvaal World Cup III as a filler team to balance out the tournament scheduling. Completely outclassed by the stronger national squads, they finished in 44th and last place - losing to Checors in a shoot-out.

=See also=
 * Transvaal Springboks (Liga Mundo)
 * NVK Kaapstad Hornets (Nordreich Liga)
 * Transvaal Voetbalsvereniging