Shamrocks Football Club is still going strong after surviving two world wars and several other challenges which nearly saw its demise.
Established the same year that Nelson Mandela was born, the club last week celebrated its centenary at the South End Museum, in the area where it all started 100 years ago.
The club is now based in Malabar.
Its oldest living member, Norman Samuels, 94, said it was wonderful to have been part of the club’s history.
“It’s difficult to put it all into words, but it’s a great feeling,” Samuels said.
“It was wonderful and I played for the club for more than 20 years – since I was a little boy.”
Gasen Padayachee, who was the club’s vice-president for 29 years, thanked the club’s “forefathers” – a group of fishermen – for its longevity.
“Little did they know that Shamrocks would survive two world wars and, more importantly, Shamrocks was established the same year Mabida was born,” Padayachee said.
“What stands out is our league wins – in one year we won seven trophies.
“It was amazing. We had our ups and downs – we got relegated but built ourselves up again.
“If it wasn’t for our forefathers the club would’ve never survived 100 years.
“The most challenging time for us was during apartheid when they took our grounds away from us and forced us to play under harsh conditions, but still we managed to rise above it.
“The thing that is challenging for us, and I suppose any other club, is the cost of running a club these days.
“To buy kit for junior players, to take them to different grounds . . . it’s costly and if you don’t have sponsors and you don’t have fundraisers you will not survive,” he said.
“There are people, especially the older generation, who’ve been there from the beginning, who will fight tooth and nail for the club.
“Those are the guys who just cannot see the club go down. We run things like bingos – we sell those tickets and make sure we make R10,000 to contribute to the club.”
South End Museum administrator Colin Abrahams said: “I think any club that can manage to stay in existence for 100 years needs to be celebrated, especially if you come from the disadvantaged communities where people have not been granted those opportunities.
“Shamrocks made it through some very difficult years.”
South End Museum trust vice-chair Clive Felix said the centenary was quite an achievement.
“It shows that with persistence you can overcome adversity,” he said.
“I don’t think it was easy for them to keep the club going but, because they believed in the idea, they didn’t let the apartheid regime destroy what they had. It just made them work harder.”