UJ newbies ready for battle

AUCKLAND PARK – University of the Western Cape (UWC) will be out to show newbies University of Johannesburg (UJ) just what Varsity Football is all about when the two sides meet in their opening fixture in Bellville on 21 July.

UJ head coach Bradley Carnell is cautiously optimistic about his team’s debut performance at the national Varsity Football tournament.

Carnell says he is delighted that UJ is among the eight qualifying universities for the second edition of the nine-week competition.

UJ has jumped nine places to seventh on the University Sport South Africa (USSA) rankings since the former Bafana Bafana defender took the helm last year.

Carnell, who also made his name in the German Bundesliga, says if the team sticks to their strengths they have the ability to be competitive.

“At this point in time, our aim is to do the best we can. At the end of the campaign, we’ll reflect and see where the road is taking UJ Football,” he says.

As the new kids on the block, UJ will not take the game lying down.

Carnell says the onus is for his squad to give a good account of themselves in their first fixture and to build their reputation and be good representatives of UJ Football.

“We are relishing the fact that we’ve qualified in such a short space of time,” Carnell comments.

“It has always been a long-term plan to build something sustainable in the next three to five years,” he adds.

As the proverbial new broom, Carnell has made sweeping changes in line with this vision.

“We only have about three players left from the squad I inherited. It’s been a huge clean-up, which was long overdue,” he says.

One season on and his efforts appear to have paid off. UJ are the current USSA Gauteng League champions and have gained promotion to the Castle League, where they finished in the top three in their debut season.

UJ will host the first of three home games on 28 July at the AW Muller Stadium on the Auckland Park Bunting Road Campus.

The first match kicks off at 6pm.