Barker ‘excited’ about his squad as Stellies welcome Chiefs in league opener

There can be few people looking forward to the start of the 2025-2026 campaign more than Steve Barker, the irrepressible 57-year-old coach of Stellenbosch FC.

This is despite Stellies having to almost rebuild their team every season with the big Gauteng clubs snapping up many of Barker's gems produced by his club's excellent scouting and academy.

In recent seasons Barker, who has been with Stellies since their promotion seven seasons ago, has lost players such as Ashley du Preez to Kaizer Chiefs, Deano van Rooyen and Sihle Nduli to Orlando Pirates and Iqraam Rayners and Jayden Adams, who were recently joined by left-back Fawaaz Basadien at Mamelodi Sundowns.

Centre-back Tylon Smith, the 20-year-old who was player of the tournament as Amajita won the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations this year, and who was expected to shine at Stellies in the coming season, was sold to English championship side Queens Park Rangers.

Despite all this, Barker beamed with hope at the launch of the Betway Premiership in Johannesburg on Tuesday as he expressed how enthusiastic he is about the coming season.

“I'm excited about the squad this season,” said Barker before his team's opening league clash against Kaizer Chiefs at Athlone Stadium on Sunday (5.30pm).

“We have good depth all around the squad and we'll have good competition in every position. I'm looking forward to it.”

Barker mentioned the signings of players such as centre-backs Siviwe Nkwali, Henri Stanic and Simthandile Sishi as vital to his plans, as the winelands club returns to the Caf Confederation Cup, where they lost to Tanzania's Simba SC in the semifinals last season.

Muzomuhle Khanyi, a striker who won the Golden Boot in the Motsepe Foundation League playing for Hungry Lions last season, has also joined Stellies, with left-footed players Langelihle Phili and Khomotjo Lekoloane. Central midfield, where Stellies recently lost highly-rated Nduli to Pirates, is strengthened by Vuyolwethu Andries, who has been promoted from the club's development ranks. 

“We've got some exciting players. It's a young, energetic squad, full of running and wanting to prove themselves. I'm excited about the squad and looking forward to a challenging but successful season,” said Barker.

The Stellies coach didn't put specific targets for the campaign but emphasised the importance of improving on what they achieved last season. Stellies were runners-up in the MTN8, ended third in the Premiership for the second successive campaign and had a strong run in the Confed.

“Every start of a new season I want to improve on the previous season. We'd like to improve on our log position, make at least one final, hopefully win it.

“In the Confed we went all the way to the semifinals and we would like to go one step further. It's about progressing and improving on the previous year.

“Last year we played 51 matches and the maximum amount we can play this season is 58. If we can play more than 50 we would have done well [in progressing in competitions].”

Stellies lost all three matches against Chiefs last season. Barker said he's expecting a tough game as he believes Amakhosi are improving under coach Nasreddine Nabi.

“They're a work in progress and I think they're slowly getting better. But there's a lot of pressure on them because they've spent a lot of money on players over the past two seasons, bringing in a new coach and a whole technical staff. They have to perform.”

Stellies started their season with a 3-2 MTN8 quarterfinal win against AmaZulu at Cape Town Stadium on Sunday.