Abubakaar "Boebie" Solomons (born 22 March 1955 in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
) is 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 ...
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
who last coached
Premier Soccer League
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
club
Polokwane City
Polokwane City Football Club is a South African professional football club based in the city of Polokwane in the Limpopo province that currently plays in the second tier National First Division. The team currently plays its home matches at the P ...
. He is one of the few footballing coaches in the country to have won winners medals for both the PSL league title (as assistant to
Gordon Igesund
Gordon Igesund (born 22 July 1956) is a former South African football player and coach who was most recently the manager of Highlands Park in the Premier Soccer League.
Early life
Igesund was born in Durban to George Norman Igesund (born 193 ...
at Santos) and the
Mvela Golden League
The National First Division (NFD), officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African club football after the South African Premier Division. Both the NFD and South Afri ...
(as head coach with Bidvest Wits). He has also coached South Africa at under-20 level.
Playing career
Solomons played as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
for
Glendene
Glendene is a suburb of West Auckland, in New Zealand. It is under the local governance of the Auckland Council.
Glendene is a mainly residential suburb with the north-eastern portion devoted to light industry.
History
Glendene is named afte ...
and
Cape Town Spurs
A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck.
History
Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. The ...
during his playing career.
He was known by the nickname "Asem" (the
Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
word for "breath") due to his impressive stamina and work rate.
Coaching career
Solomons moved into coaching shortly after retiring from playing, and joined the coaching staff at Santos for the first time in the late 1980s.
In 1998, he was appointed head coach of the
South Africa under-20 team.
He then joined
Santos in 1999, where he initially worked as a youth coach, before becoming involved with the coaching of the senior team in 2000.
He was appointed as the club's caretaker-coach on several occasions, including a spell in 2002 where the club won the
BP Top Eight Cup
MTN 8 is the current branding for a South African soccer cup competition launched in 1972 for teams who finished in the top 8 positions of the league table of the country's preceding top-flight league (currently the DStv Premiership) season.
...
, before being appointed as permanent head coach in 2003 following the resignation of
Muhsin Ertugral.
He went on to lead the team to the final of the
ABSA Cup, where Santos defeated
Ajax Cape Town 2–0. In October 2004, he was sacked due to the team's poor performances in the
CAF Confederation Cup
The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football club competition established in 2004 from a merger of the CAF Cup and the African Cup Winners' Cup and organi ...
.
Solomons had a short stint with
Maritzburg United
Maritzburg United is a South African football club based in the city of Pietermaritzburg that currently plays in the Premier Soccer League.
Honours
*First Division Coastal Stream champions: 2007–08
*First Division Championship Play-offs: 2 ...
before being appointed as coach at
Bidvest Wits
Bidvest Wits Football Club,
(simply often known as Wits University F.C. or Wits) was a South African professional football club from Johannesburg which played in the Premier Soccer League the first-tier of South African league football system. ...
, who had recently been relegated to the
Mvela Golden League
The National First Division (NFD), officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African club football after the South African Premier Division. Both the NFD and South Afri ...
, at the start of the 2005–06 season. Solomons guided the team to promotion back to the top flight during his first season in charge, but was sacked in March 2007 due to a poor run of results. After brief spells at
Black Leopards
Black Leopards FC is a South African football club based in Thohoyandou, Vhembe Region, Limpopo that plays in the National First Division.
History
The club was founded in 1983 by business people in the Vhembe Region. In 1998 the club was tak ...
and
Winners Park, he returned to Santos as the club's Director of Football in November 2008. He was once again appointed as head coach of Santos in July 2009.
Solomons left the club in December 2011 after a poor run of results.
He joined
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 ...
in June 2012 as an assistant coach to
Clinton Larsen
Clinton Larsen (born 17 February 1971 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal) is a South African former football player and manager who was last manager of Polokwane City in the South African Premier Division
The South African Premier Division, official ...
before being appointed as head coach of
Polokwane City
Polokwane City Football Club is a South African professional football club based in the city of Polokwane in the Limpopo province that currently plays in the second tier National First Division. The team currently plays its home matches at the P ...
in October 2013.
Solomons was fired on 1 September 2014 after string of poor results in the
2014–15 Premier Soccer League campaign.
Solomons got appointed head coach at
Cape Town All Stars in September 2014, replacing Dylan Deane. Boebie resigned at
Cape Town All Stars ahead of the 2015/2016 National First Division season and were appointed head coach at
Milano United.
Milano United and Boebie Solomons parted ways in April 2017 and Solomons as appointed Technical Director at
FC Cape Town
FC Cape Town was a South African football club based in the Parow suburb of Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the le ...
Coaching career highlights
2005/6 Won Mvela Golden League Championship and promotion to the Premier Soccer League
with Bidvest Wits as head coach.
1998 Appointed as head coach of South African U20's national squad.
1996 Won National Soccer League championship in second division with Milano FC
1995–2005 Executive member of SAFA Western Province
1995–1996 As assistant coach, toured with SA U20's national team to Lesotho, Germany and Italy.
Honours
2003 Absa Cup winners
2002 BP Top 8 winners
2002 Premier Soccer League champions (as Santos FC Assistant Coach)
2001 Bob Save Super Bowl winners (as Santos FC Assistant Coach)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solomons, Boebie
1955 births
South African people of Malay descent
Living people
Soccer players from Cape Town
South African soccer managers
South African men's soccer players
Maritzburg United F.C. managers
Black Leopards F.C. managers
Polokwane City F.C. managers
Men's association football midfielders