April Phumo (1 April 1937 – 27 November 2011) was a South African

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and coach. He was nicknamed "Styles".

Early life

April Phumo was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

on 1 April 1937.

Playing career

He was a squad member of the South African national team prior to the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...

; the team was banned from competing due to

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

Coaching career

Club sides

Phumo managed

Arsenal (Maseru) Arsenal Football Club is a Mosotho football club based in Maseru. Achievements * Lesotho Premier League: 3 ::1989, 1991, 1993 * Lesotho Cup: 3 ::1989, 1991, 1998 Performance in CAF competitions * African Cup of Champions Clubs: 3 appearances ...

of Lesotho, leading them to "several league titles and an unexpected place in the last 16 of the African Champions Cup in 1990." He later managed South African club sides

Ria Stars Ria Stars were a South African football club from Pietersburg Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern Sotho Bloemfontein Celtic Bloemfontein Celtic Football Club (simply known as Celtic) is a South African amateur football club based in Bloemfontein that competes in the ABC Motsepe League, the third tier of the South African football league system. Bloemfontein Celtic has ...

Nathi Lions Nathi Lions was a South African football club based in KwaMashu, roughly 30 km north of Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), ...

and Atlie. Phumo spent a brief spell as manager of United FC during 2009, helping the club gain promotion to South Africa's

National First Division The National First Division (NFD), officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African club association football, football after the South African Premier Division. Both t ...

National sides

Phumo was the first ever manager of the Lesotho national team. Phumo began coaching Lesotho in 1979 and received a FIFA coaching diploma in 1981. Phumo was involved with the South African men's senior team for a number of years. He was assistant to

Trott Moloto Trott Nchilo Moloto (born 19 July 1956 in Pietersburg) is a South African Association football coach. Coaching career Among others, he previously coached South Africa, Mamelodi Sundowns, Maritzburg United and also had a stint at Tanzanian clu ...

and the

2000 African Cup of Nations The 2000 African Cup of Nations was the 22nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria, who jointly replaced Zimbabwe as host. Just like in 1998, the field ...

, before a spell with

Ria Stars Ria Stars were a South African football club from Pietersburg Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern Sotho Ephraim Mashaba Ephraim Mashaba (born 6 August 1950) is a South African former soccer player and manager. Career Mashaba managed Vaal Reef Stars until the club was relegated from the South African top-tier. He managed the South Africa national team, but w ...

. When Mashaba was sacked in January 2004, Phumo became temporary manager, taking control of the national team at the

2004 African Cup of Nations The 2004 African Cup of Nations, known as the NOKIA African Cup of Nations, Tunisia 2004 for sponsorship reasons (also referred to as AFCON 2004 or CAN 2004) is the 24th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's footb ...

. Phumo also managed the South African men's under-20, men's under-23 and women's senior national teams.

Death

Phumo died of cancer on 27 November 2011, aged 74, at a hospital in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

References

1937 births 2011 deaths South Africa national soccer team managers South African soccer managers Deaths from cancer in South Africa Sportspeople from Johannesburg South African expatriates in Lesotho Expatriate football managers in Lesotho Lesotho national football team managers 2004 African Cup of Nations managers {{SouthAfrica-footy-bio-stub