Jean-Pierre Farrugia will oversee the development of the next generation of talent at the SFC Academy after being appointed as the Club’s Head of Youth.

• Farrugia assumes the role with a wealth of experience to his name and most recently served as the coach of the Club’s 18 team.

• His first task will be navigating the prestigious Bayhill Premier Cup, which gets underway in Cape Town on Wednesday.

The appointment further strengthens the Club’s aim to nurture and develop the personal and professional potential of prospective footballers within the Academy structures, many of whom it is hoped will one day don the maroon jersey of the first team.

Farrugia is familiar with the SFC set-up, having previously been appointed as U-18 coach in April 2022, and boasts more than a decade of experience to his name. He started coaching with the U-11 team at Santos where he remained for four years before moving on to the ASD Academy, where led the team to the U-17 ENGEN Cup title.

Thereafter, he joined Ubuntu Cape Town and worked his way up the ranks over a period of seven years, taking charge of both the U-17 and U-19 teams in addition to serving in an educational role, before being promoted to backroom staff of the professional team which competed in the National First Division.

On his appointment as the new Head of Youth at SFC, Farrugia said, “It’s a massive privilege to be part of a chain already working so well. It’s wonderful to be part of the development of players in an academy where you put them on a stage to later sign for DDC and PSL teams.

“As coaches, we always say our biggest success is to see how many players we can help through their journey, and if we can do that to academy players who are also now local, that’s the cherry on top.”

His role will see him continue his duties as U-18 coach where he will be supported by a team of competent coaches and support staff in the Youth Academy, including Roger Cupido who continues as his Assistant at U-18 level, and the vastly experienced Morne Crumpton, who joins on a fulltime basis as Youth Head of Administration

Their first task will be to oversee the Club’s 2023 Bayhill Premier Cup campaign which gets underway on Wednesday, where the team will be looking to build on last year’s runners-up finish in the competition.

Bayhill Fixtures:

• 5 April – 19:00 vs Hellenic FC

• 6 April – 15:00 vs Pillars Sports Academy

• 8 April – 12:45 vs Turfloop FC

“The team and players raised the standard last year, and inevitably that raises people’s expectations for winning it,” Farrugia added.

“We all know the reality of football, it’s very unpredictable and especially so in tournament football, but many famous coaches say it’s one game at a time and if we can negotiate each one, we stand a good chance of reaching the final, or at least the latter stages.

“We don’t want to get carried away, but we have to accept that if you get to this level, with this level of players and quality of team, people start expecting a lot of things and we have to learn to deal with it and that’s part of football.

“The club is very excited as the team has a good chance of winning, so it’s the way we handle the expectation that will play a big factor in our success.”