Former Ajax Cape Town midfielder Cole Alexander has opened up about the demise of the club now known as Cape Town Spurs, explaining how it provided career paths for hundreds of youngsters from the Cape Flats.
Long before Alexander played his football at places like Kaizer Chiefs, Bidvest Wits, SuperSport United, Odisha FC in India and Helsingborgs IF in Sweden, he made his professional debut as a teenager at Spurs.
The same is true for hundreds of youngsters from the Cape and even Gauteng. Alexander, from Lentegeur, Mitchells Plain, sincerely wishes Spurs return to the top flight sooner than later.
CAPE TOWN SPURS FALL TWO DIVISIONS DOWN
Known as the Urban Warriors, and still one of the most celebrated clubs when it comes to youth development, they suffered relegation to the Motsepe Foundation Championship in 2023, before falling even lower to the third-tier ABC Motsepe League in 2025, a painful decline.
“No club is perfect, but Spurs [formerly Ajax Cape Town] is the club that gave thousands of players a platform to build careers,” Alexander told FARPost. “There was this season I played in the PSL, every team I played against in the PSL had Cape Town Spurs products in it.
“We can’t just forget that club’s legacy and history,” Alexander continued. “That club, that club was a machine, man. It opened so many doors for young players in and around Cape Town, a truly relentless system. It was a machine.
THE CLUB GAVE DEBUTS TO SOWETO KIDS THULANI SERERO, CLIFFORD NGOBENI AND THULANI HLATSHWAYO
“You even had players from Gauteng making professional debuts there like Steven Pienaar, Thulani Serero, Thulani Hlatshwayo, George Maluleka, Clifford Ngobeni and many others coming from Gauteng. There were also some from all the way in Zimbabwe like Khama Billiat and Willard Katsande.
“I personally have to give them credit because they gave me a chance to become a professional in the PSL. From there, I created a career to help my family. It’s how many, many careers in the Cape Flats were launched, hundreds of players. They put our feet in the door.
“They must get a lot of credit. I really hope they do come back one day in the future. We need to see that machine rolling again,” he said.
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