Chatsworth club secures Larsen as coach

ABC Motsepe League football team Summerfield Dynamos made a strong statement of intent by unveiling former Manning Rangers, Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana midfielder Clinton Larsen as their new manager. He joins them on a three-year deal.

After flirting with promotion to the GladAfrica Championship in the last four seasons, the Chatsworth club will aim to finally win second-tier status under the guidance of Larsen who has coached at the highest level for over a decade.

Dynamos chairman Colin Naidoo believes that Larsen is the right man for the job.“The club is over the moon. It’s a dream come true to get someone of the calibre of Larsen to coach the team. Based on being an ex-player of Manning Rangers, there will be more support for the team because Larsen, who is loved in Chatsworth, is here,” said Naidoo.

“We’ve been battling in the last four seasons to get into the GladAfrica Championship.

“The club is quite competitive but we believe that Larsen has got the ability to take it to the next level.”

A factor that could work in Dynamos’ favour is that Larsen boasts vast experience coaching in South African top flight football, having been at the helm of Bloemfontein Celtic, Maritzburg United, Lamontville Golden Arrows, Chippa United and Polokwane City. Larsen also has ABC League experience and most recently coached Bizana Pondo Chiefs.

Using his extensive network, Larsen will help Dynamos to identify the types of players that they need in order to win promotion to the secondtier of South African football.

As a player, Larsen was best known for stints with the now defunct Manning Rangers and Pirates. He was a legend for Rangers where he was part of Gordon Igesund’s Mighty Maulers outfit that won the inaugural Premiership trophy in 1996/97.

With Rangers long defunct, and AmaZulu and Golden Arrows not using Chatsworth Stadium to play league games, top flight football has not been played regularly in Chatsworth for several years.

The club’s long-term aim is to gain promotion to the big league and put Chatsworth on the football map.

“Dynamos’ ambition is to be in the NFD and Premier League one day. We have some of our lovely players from last season and youngsters that are on trial. Larsen has networks and will be bringing players on trial. We will have some lovely combinations,” said Naidoo.