Stars of Africa Football Academy

In 2003, a group of football lovers established the Stars of Africa Football Academy. The Academy develops young footballers as the future “Stars of Africa”.

The Programme ...
Each football player is developed mentally, socially and physically by a qualified and skilled technical team.

'Stars of Africa Football Academy fosters youth development of the players, who, in many instances come from disadvantaged communities. Our skills development programme is focused on providing them with a good education, social expansion and a quality of life that will hold them in good stead in their future as professional footballers or in business'.

The Academy is capable of housing up to 60 boys. Exceptionally, not only does the Academy cater to football training, but it caters to educational needs as well.


The Academy
Administration Office, 9 Bedrooms, Laundry Room, Kitchen, Dining Hall, Gymnasium, Lecture Facilities (computer studies, match analysis, training analysis, seminars/workshops), Training Facility (University of Johannesburg), Transport (22-seater Bus, 10-seater Vito).

Moreover, the Academy has a few coaches; goalkeeper coach, physical trainer, house father, cleaning personnel, driver and a chef.


'Football as life
Life around football'


Technical Director
Farouk Khan
The technical director of the Academy since its establishment, Farouk Khan, has an abundance of experience, over 26 years worth.

Khan has developed some of the players we see on our screens today. Players such as May Mahlangu, Tokelo Rantie, Sibusiso Khumalo, Kaizer Motaung, Itumeleng Khune - just to mention a few.
He has also provided coach education for coaches such as Cavin Johnson, Sugar Ray Xulu etc.

The list of his achievements is endless ...

Sponsors
The only thing Stars of Africa lacks are sponsors. The website states, the Academy wants to affiliate itself with schools, district associations, amateur clubs and professional teams. Moreover, form relationships with government departments, parastatals, academies and corporate entities.

By the sound of things, the Academy wants sponsors that will help maintain their already fully equipped facility, including operational costs such as transportation, meals, educational material and equipment.

The Academy having no sponsors turns my attention to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy Trust. I've just read what the Legacy Trust aims to do and it mentions 90% of the things the Academy stands for. If so, why doesn't the Legacy Trust sponsor the Academy?
Oh ja, you have to fill in a form or two, to state your business and what you need help with if I'm not mistaken. However, the Minister of Sport and Recreation of South Africa, Fikile Mbalula always mentions how he looks to improve and promote soccer for underprivileged children etc etc. I think the Academy should have benefitted from this a long time ago. The Academy would probably be pushing out more footballers than what they are currently producing if they had the sponsorships they require.

Like other football clubs, the boys at the Academy have training kits, match kits, tracksuits, golf shirts, etc. Do you know who supplies these? Well, the Academy.



These boys get to the Academy at such a young age, they still go to school. They visit the library and take out books to read. Isn't that amazing? The Academy is not just football crazy, it also takes pride in the education of its footballers.

I don't know how the Academy would feel about moving base, finding another location. Brixton is not a great place. It's dark, dingy and dodgy, high in crime and safety is a must when you're caring for other people's children. Security at the Academy is tight though - high walls, secure gate - nobody can just waltz in without being noticed. The boys even have a curfew. The last time I checked it was 19:00. Moreover, from what I hear, the executive team is pretty strict, a good strict though, like positive criticism. For instance, no talking to girls (or get caught talking to girls), they are a distraction (I understood this, even I wouldn't want some guy messing up my future), no missing curfew, being late for practice was unacceptable. Disrespect the Academy and you're out! I won't say no names.

If you're at Stars of Africa Football Academy, good luck with your future endeavors, even those who stepped on my toes. I hope someone or some organisation sees what I saw in the Academy and sponsors them without changing a thing. To the executive and technical team, it's been 10 years and footballers like Rantie are a reflection of the Academy, keep up the good work.

By the way, if you happen to be in the neighbourhood, knock on the door, visit the Academy, watch the boys practice or watch them play, trust me you won't be disappointed.

Will Serie A Come Back to Life?

Word on the street is that Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain and Mario Gomez have brought Serie A back to life. If you're an avid Serie A follower, is this true?

However, before you answer that, and I don't know if you would agree, but Cristiano Ronaldo helped shed some light on what La Liga has to offer. He moved people's attention away from the English Premier League to La Liga. Many people started to follow La Liga only because CR7 signed for Real Madrid. Looking back, I also shifted some of my focus to La Liga because of CR7. I ended up knowing the whole Real Madrid squad ... I was engulfed.

Anyway, back to Tevez, Higuain and Gomez.

Tevez moved from Manchester City to join Juventus, while Higuain left Real Madrid to join Napoli and Gomez moved from Bayern Munich to Fiorentina.

Carlos Tevez
Not so long ago Tevez was fighting with then Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini, Tevez took an unauthorised vacation, threatened to quit City and move closer to home because he missed his family, handed 250 hours of community service for driving offences, quit the national team and has made a move to Juventus and marked his debut with a goal against Lazio for the Italian Supercup. Hopefully Tevez has left his crazy antics at City and live up to the no. 10 shirt he wears at Juventus and close the gap Juventus had upfront. Maybe Tevez can be the one to score more than a dozen goals for Juventus, which hasn't happened since 2008. Importantly, can Tevez help Juventus defend their Serie A title?

Gonzalo Higuain
At first Higuain was linked with a move to Arsenal and everytime his name popped up in the Transfer Window, football supporters waited with bated breath but Napoli beat Arsenal for Higuain's signature. Not so long ago, Higuain had a back injury (that could've ended his career according to his doctor) and recently muscular problems and missed a lot of playing time. Is it a risk to sign a player who spends a large amount of his time injured? At first I thought, Cavani and Higuain would be great when paired together, but Cavani has flown the coup. Sharing the pitch with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, Higuain managed to score more than 100 goals for Real Madrid, imagine what he could do alone or with Lavezzi at Napoli.

Mario Gomez
For a while the German international had hinted at a move away from his German roots. However, he chose to move in the direction of the Italians. Maybe he understood how Lukas Podolski (when he was subbed 23 times during the 2012/13 Premier League campaign) felt. Last season Fiorentina finished 4th, just 2 points behind AC Milan. With the signing of Gomez, Fiorentina could finish in the top 3 this season. The German might have been a goal scoring machine for Bayern Munich, but that doesn't necessarily mean the same goes for Fiorentina. Gomez began his stint at Fiorentina with a goal that gave them a 2-1 win in a Europa League first leg qualifier. If he keeps this up, Gomez can help Fiorentina win their Europa League play-off round matches and at least gain access into the Europa League this season.



These 3 attackers are said to re-ignite the fire that used to burn brightly in Serie A. Which makes one wonder ... So before the new signings and departures, were the other Serie A footballers sleeping on the job? For instance ...

Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Edinson Cavani, Stevan Jovetic, Javier Zanetti, Massimo Ambrosini, Alberto Aquilani, Gianluigi Buffon, Stephan El Shaarawy, Riccardo Montolivo, Daniele De Rossi, Francesco Totti, Diego Milito, Miroslav Klose, Antonio Di Natale etc.

I think not!

Surely the arrival of Tevez, Higuain and Gomez will bring more attention to Serie A. Hopefully, it will remind football lovers of the beauty of Italian football. Juventus, Napoli and Fiorentina will have more eyes on them than before, with viewers hoping to see a change in each club, hopefully a good change. A change that will make each club a bit more competitive and stronger. Maybe even get a place and stay even longer either in the UEFA Champions League or Europa League.


However, if people do not turn their eyes to Serie A or just Juventus, Napoli and Fiorentina don't appear to be stronger on the log, then I guess the fuss was about nothing.

Transfer Window 2013/14

According to BBC Sport, Mesut Ozil's £42.4m from Real Madrid to Arsenal was the biggest deadline day transfer signing. Liverpool and Everton were the busiest clubs in the Transfer Window on deadline day with 3 signings. Before Ozil’s move, the biggest domestic deal was Manchester City’s £30m signing of midfielder Fernandinho and Willian's move to Chelsea for the same fee. Gareth Bale’s world record £85.3m move to Real Madrid was the biggest sale by an English club. Bury was the busiest club in the transfer window with 21 signings, while Sunderland was the busiest Premier League side with 13 signings. Sky Sports recorded a total of £642,560,000

. That is the grand total of all the signings. If all loans and transfers that did not go through had gone through, the total would be even higher.


Please note: No ‘prices’ are written next to those players that were paid for because each website or news station has their own ‘price’. Without a doubt, the English Premier League is the greatest league on earth; so all of their transfers are recorded below. The other leagues are just for interest sake.

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
ARSENAL
Yaya Sanogo (Auxerre) Free
Mathieu Flamini (AC Milan) Free
Emiliano Viviano (Palermo) Loan
Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid)

Quite disappointed at Arsene Wenger, it’s like he was gunning for free transfers even though Arsenal had the money. He also left it late to sign Ozil. Why sit around and wait for deadline day to make your move? Fans would still be calling for his head had Ozil chosen to sign for another club and lose him just like he lost Higuain to Napoli while he was dawdling. One problem I’ve noticed about Wenger, he does not immediately replace the players he offloads. We see this every transfer window. He tries to, but it’s not good enough. If he wants to stay at Arsenal and win trophies, he needs to make use of the Transfer Window.


ASTON VILLA
Libor Kozak (Lazio)
Aleksander Tonev (Lech Poznan)
Jores Okore (FC Nordsjaelland)
Leandro Bacuna (FC Groningen)
Nicklas Helenius (Aalborg BK)
Antonio Luna (Sevilla)
Jed Steer (Norwich)


CARDIFF CITY
Peter Odemwingie (West Brom)
Andreas Cornelius (Copenhagen)
John Brayford (Derby County)
Simon Moore (Brentford)
Steven Caulker (Tottenham Hotspur)
Gary Medel (Sevilla)
Kevin Theophile-Catherine (Rennes)

During the January Transfer Window Peter Odemwingie drove from West BromQPR hoping for a deadline day transfer, however he was turned down and punished for it. However, his luck changed this time, although he didn’t make a move to QPR, he made a move to Cardiff City instead.


CHELSEA
Andre Schurrle (Bayer Leverkusen)
Marco van Ginkel (Vitesse Arnhem)
Mark Schwarzer (Fulham) Free
Willian (Anzhi Makhachkala)
Samuel Eto'o (Anzhi Makhachkala) Free
Cristian Cuevas (O Higgins)
Christian Atsu (Porto)

Mourinho made sure he strengthened Chelsea by making a few visits and signings in the Transfer Window. However, he must be kicking himself for losing Wayne Rooney who decided to stay at Old Trafford. Schurrle is pretty good and played very well at Old Trafford against Manchester United. Besides, Chelsea is selfish. They want to buy certain players but refuse to let go of some of their own (David Luiz, Mata).


CRYSTAL PALACE
Elliot Grandin (Blackpool) Free
Jimmy Kebe (Reading)
Jason Puncheon (Southampton) Loan
Dwight Gayle (Peterborough)
Neil Alexander (Rangers) Loan
Florian Marange (Bordeaux) Free
Adrian Matriappa (Reading)
Barry Bannan (Aston Villa) Loan
Jerome Thomas (West Brom) Free
Jose Campana (Sevilla)
Jack Hunt (Huddersfield)
Marouane Chamakh (Arsenal)
Kevin Phillips (Blackpool) Free
Stephen Dobbie (Brighton & Hove Albion)


EVERTON
Arouna Kone (Wigan)
James McCarthy (Wigan)
Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea) Loan
Gareth Barry (Man City) Loan
Antolin Alcaraz (Wigan Athletic) Free
Joel Robles (Atletico Madrid)
Gerard Deulofeu (Barcelona) Loan

It was unexpected for Gareth Barry to be sent to Everton on loan, but I guess City had to offload some of their players for all the ones they signed.


FULHAM
Maarten Stekelenburg (Roma)
Abel Taarabt (Queens Park Rangers) Loan
Darren Bent (Aston Villa) Loan
Scott Parker (Tottenham)
Derek Boateng (FC Dnipro) Free
Fernando Amorebieta (Athletic Bilbao)
Giorgos Karagounis Free
Sascha Riether (Cologne)
Elsad Zverotic (Young Boys)


HULL CITY
Abhmed Elmohamady (Sunderland)
Steve Harper (Newcastle United) Free
Maynor Figueroa (Wigan) Free
Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham)
Danny Graham (Sunderland) Loan
Yannick Sagbo (Evian)
Allan McGregor (Besiktas)
Jake Livermore (Tottenham) Loan
Curtis Davies (Birmingham)
George Boyd (Peterborough) Free
Gedo (Al Ahly) Loan


LIVERPOOL
Simon Mignolet (Sunderland)
Kolo Toure (Manchester City) Free
Mamadou Sakho (Paris St-Germain)
Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo)
Luis Alberto (Sevilla)
Victor Moses (Chelsea) Loan
Aly Cissokho (Valencia) Loan
Tiago Ilori (Sporting Lisbon)

It was about time Kolo Toure made a move away from City. How long was he going to be in his brother’s shadow? Hopefully he will make a name for himself at Anfield. Although Luis Suarez wanted to leave Liverpool he ended up staying. I guess Liverpool didn’t want him to leave. He was their top goal scorer last season, letting him go would’ve been suicide.


MANCHESTER CITY
Fernandinho (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Jesus Navas (Sevilla)
Stevan Jovetic (Fiorentina)
Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla)
Martin Demichelis (Atletico Madrid)

Manchester City must think they are invincible since most of their signings are midfielders and attackers. Defensively they are not that strong especially after they lost a 2 goal lead against Cardiff City a few matches ago. Going back even further, even with their new signings, City lost both of their pre-season tour matches in South Africa. What does that mean? Did Pellegrini make the wrong signings or is it too soon to tell?


MANCHESTER UNITED
Guillermo Varela (Atletico Penarol)
Marouane Fellaini (Everton)

I hope I’m not the only Manchester United supporter who is extremely disappointed at the lack of Transfer Window activity from Moyes. Only two signings! Really? Like Really? Was there no money? Was he not allowed to sign players? I don’t mean to sound negative, but at this rate, Manchester United can kiss the Champions League goodbye as well as any chance of winning anything this season. It would’ve been even worse had we lost Rooney!!!


NEWCASTLE UNITED
Loic Remy (QPR) Loan
Olivier Kemen (Metz)


NORWICH CITY
Javier Garrido (Lazio)
Ricky Van Wolfswinkel (Sporting Lisbon)
Nathan Redmond (Birmingham City)
Carlo Nash (Stoke City) Free
Martin Olsson (Blackburn Rovers)
Leroy Fer (FC Twente)
Gary Hooper (Celtic)
Johan Elmander (Galatasaray) Loan


SOUTHAMPTON
Victor Wanyama (Celtic)
Pablo Osvaldo (Roma)
Dejan Lovren (Lyon)


STOKE CITY
Erik Pieters (PSV Eindhoven)
Marc Muniesa (Barcelona) Free
Oussama Assaidi (Liverpool) Loan
Marko Arnautovic (Werder Bremen)
Stephen Ireland (Aston Villa) Loan


SUNDERLAND
Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar)
Cabral (Basel) Free
Valentin Roberge (Maritimo) Free
Modibo Diakite (Lazio) Free
Ki Sung-Yueng (Swansea) Loan
Fabio Borini (Liverpool) Loan
Ondrej Celustka (Trabzonspor)
Emanuele Giaccherini (Juventus)
Charis Mavrias (Panathinaikos)
Andrea Dossena (Napoli) Loan
El Hadji Ba (Le Havre)
Vito Mannone (Arsenal)
David Moberg Karlsson (IFK Goteborg)

With a total of 13 signings, Sunderland must be aching to make their mark in the Premier League. Under the leadership of Di Canio, it’s not surprising Sunderland were this active in the Transfer Window. Last season you could see the hunger in his eyes, he was hungry for victory. With these signings maybe Sunderland could book their spot in the Europa League next season.


SWANSEA CITY
Jordi Amat (Espanyol)
Jonathan de Guzman (Villarreal) Loan
Jonjo Shelvey (Liverpool)
Wilfried Bony (Vitesse)
Jose Canas (Real Betis) Free
Gregor Zabret (NK Domzale)
Alex Gogic (Olympiakos)
Alejandro Pozuelo (Real Betis)
Jernade Meade (Arsenal) Free
Dwight Tiendalli (Unattached) Free
Alvaro Vazquez (Getafe) Loan


TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Paulinho (Corinthians)
Roberto Soldado (Valencia)
Christian Eriksen (Ajax)
Erik Lamela (Roma)
Nacer Chadli (FC Twente)
Etienne Capoue (Toulouse)
Vlad Chiriches (Steaua Bucharest)

With the ‘unexpected’ departure of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, Spurs look prepared for anything. Soldado has already scored a couple of goals for the club. Do they need Bale? Right now it’s unclear, maybe the next Transfer Window and their activity in it will give us an idea of how Spurs is doing without Bale.


WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Nicolas Anelka (Juventus) Free
Diego Lugano (PSG) Free
Stephane Sessegnon (Sunderland)
Victor Anichebe (Everton)
Scott Sinclair (Manchester City) Loan
Goran Popov (Dynamo Kiev) Loan
Matej Vydra (Udinese) Loan
Zoltan Gera (Unattached) Free
Morgan Amalfitano (Marseille) Loan
Lee Camp (Unattached) Free

Last time I checked it was unclear whether Anelka will remain at West Brom after the death of his agent. If he leaves, West Brom would be losing a good striker. Hopefully Sessegnon will bring some his magic into West Brom this season, because he was pretty good at Sunderland.


WEST HAM UNITED
Andy Carroll (Liverpool)
Stewart Downing (Liverpool)
Razvan Rat (Shakhtar Donetsk) Free
Adrian (Real Betis) Free
Danny Whitehead (Stockport County)

I don’t know anymore when it comes to Carroll, I don’t even remember where he began. Whether it was Newcastle United then Liverpool and now West Ham – it’s just confusing.


A round of applause to the three promoted clubs, Cardiff City, Hull City and Crystal Palace. They used the Transfer Window to their advantage. They understand that promotion means working even harder to stay in the Premier League. It’s embarrassing to get promoted one season and relegated the next. Hopefully their signings will keep them in the Premier League.

For each Premier League transfer full story, head to the Official Site of the Premier League!





BUNDESLIGA
BAYERN MUNICH
Mario Gotze (Borussia Dortmund)
Thiago Alcantara (Barcelona)
Jan Kirchhoff (Mainz) Free


BORUSSIA DORTMUND
Pierre Aubameyang (Saint Etienne)
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Werder Bremen)


OTHERS
Francis Coquelin (Arsenal – Freiburg) Loan
Johan Djourou (Arsenal – Hamburg) Loan
Makoto Hasebe (Wolfsburg – Nurnberg)
Shinji Okazaki (VfB Stuttgart – Mainz)
Kevin-Prince Boateng (AC Milan – Schalke)
Luiz Gustavo (Bayern Munich – Wolfsburg)





LA LIGA
ATLETICO MADRID
David Villa (Barcelona)
Martin Demichelis (Malaga) Free


BARCELONA
Neymar (Santos)
Denis Suarez (Manchester City)


REAL MADRID
Isco (Malaga)
Asier Illarramendi (Real Sociedad)
Gareth Bale (Tottenham)


OTHERS
Miroslav Stevanovic (Sevilla – Elche) Loan
Roque Santa Cruz (Manchester City – Malaga) Free
Esteban Granero (QPR - Real Sociedad) Loan
Stephane Mbia (QPR – Sevilla) Loan
Giovani dos Santos (Mallorca – Villarreal)





SERIE A
Kaka (Real Madrid - AC Milan) Free

Carlos Tevez (Manchester City – Juventus)
Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao – Juventus) Free

Oriel Romeu (Chelsea – Valencia) Loan

Maicon (Manchester City – Roma)
Gervinho (Arsenal – Roma)

Massimo Ambrossini (AC Milan – Fiorentina) Free
Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich – Fiorentina)


NAPOLI Raul Albiol (Real Madrid)
Pepe Reina (Liverpool) Loan
Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid)
Jose Callejon (Real Madrid)
Duvan Zapata (Estudiantes)
Antonio Cassano (Inter Milan – Parma)




OTHER LEAGUES
Bojan Krkic (Barcelona - Ajax) Loan
Christopher Samba (QPR - Anzhi Makhachkala)
Jay Spearing (Liverpool – Bolton)
Tokelo Rantie (Malmo – Bournemouth)
Bongani Khumalo (Tottenham – Doncaster)
Alfred N'Diaye (Sunderland – Eskisehirspor)

Felipe Melo (Juventus – Galatasaray)
Umut Bulut (Toulouse – Galatasaray)

Djibril Cisse (QPR - Kuban Krasnodar)
Lassana Diarra (Anzhi - Lokomotiv Moscow)

Ricardo Carvalho (Real Madrid – Monaco) Free
Radamel Falcao (Atletico Madrid – Monaco)
Eric Abidal (Barcelona – Monaco) Free

Joel Campbell (Arsenal – Olympiakos) Loan

Edinson Cavani (Napoli – PSG)
Marquinhos (Roma – PSG)

Kevin Davies (Bolton – Preston) Free
Park Ji-Sung (QPR - PSV Eindhoven) Loan
Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Tottenham – QPR) Loan
Wayne Bridge (Manchester City – Reading) Free
Denilson (Arsenal - Sao Paolo) Free
Clint Dempsey (Tottenham - Seattle Sounders)
Fred (Internacional - Shakhtar Donetsk)
Eduardo (Genoa - Sporting Braga) Loan

Florent Malouda (Chelsea – Trabzonspor) Free
Jose Bosingwa (QPR – Trabzonspor) Free

Anatoliy Tymoshchuk (Bayern Munich – Zenit) Free
Andrey Arshavin (Arsenal - Zenit St Petersburg) Free


This is a summary of some of the most important (or most spoken about) transfers during the Transfer Window. Personally I wouldn't have been able to record each and every signing. I didn't even try because I wouldn't have written this post. I'd probably be in a straight jacket in a padded room trying to regain my sanity, because all those transfers, transfer news, transfer gossip, etc., would have driven me insane!

For all transfers take a look at: BBC Sport!