The Story Behind “The Clever Boys”

CAIRO – 10 July 2017: With many reports suggesting Al-Ahly striker Amr Gamal may move to South African club Bidvest Wits FC “The Clever Boys,” Egypt Today is taking a look into the background of the club.

Bidvest Wits has an interesting story behind how it was created and who used to play. The team first began as a university team which was later turned into a professional team. Nicknamed “The Students” or the “Clever Boys,” Bidvest saw great success last year, winning the South African football league title.

The club was first formed by representatives of the university’s Student Council in 1921. They recruited students from the university in order to play South Africa’s second sport, football; rugby is the country’s most popular sport.

The university team then became professional making it into a club. By the start of 1930, the club saw their first match played on grass. By the start of the 1940’s, Bidvest won its first major trophy, the Southern Transvaal First Division title, in 1943.

1959 marked the creation of the South African Football professional league under the name of National Football League (NFL). Seventeen years after the creation of the league, Bidvest managed to feature for the first time in the top level.

The club began to suffer in 1961, going to the second division and then to the third division having no coach at the time. They were equipped with poor facilities that didn’t help the club gain back their promotion. In 1963, the club gained their promotion to the second division and remained there before going up to the first going up to the first division in 1975.

The 1980’s was a good omen on Bidvest Wits winning several tournaments and finishing third behind Kaizer Chiefs. They even went on to win an International tournament at 1985.

Bidvest Wits continued their good performance in the 1990’s winning the BP Top Eight and the Coca Cola Cup.

The 2002/2003 season was very successful to Bidvest having a run going 13 matches unbeaten before ending in third place in the league.

The Clever Boys won the Nedbank Cup in 2010 after beating Amazulu.

Bidvest continued their excellent run in the 21st century with them coming fourth in the league in the season of 2013/2014 before going on to win the league title in the 2016/2017 season.

The club managed to sign South African onternational star player Steven Pienaar, who used to play for Everton FC. Bidvest are also seeking to get Al-Ahly striker Amr Gamal on a one-year loan.