A lack of white players in the Premier Soccer League(PSL) has been a talking point for many football fans with Matthew Booth being the latest.
The 47-year-old former Bafana Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns defender is one of the few recognisable white players who played in the PSL. The tall former centre-back started his career with Cape Town Spurs before making a big move to Sundowns in 1998. Having had three good years with Masandawana, Booth moved to Europe where he spent close to 10 years.
In his interview with YouTuber Shakes Rampedi, Matthew Booth gave more insight into reasons white players are nowhere to be seen in the PSL.
During the 2010 FIFA World Cup on home soil, Booth was the only white player in the team but did not play a single match for Bafana Bafana. Dean Furman, who captained Bafana in the mid-2010s, was often the only white player in the national team.
Matthew Booth said the reasons why white youngsters are not playing soccer was a class issue rather than a racial issue.
“For me, it’s more of a class issue, it’s not a colour issue. We’re losing kids of all colours who are middle class and upper class. But just visually, it seems like there is very few white players,” he said.
“If you go down to any amateur club in Johannesburg, for example, it’s a rainbow of colours; white, black, coloured, Indian, you name it. And then you see a definite change, it’s not a colour issue.”
Having had two stints at Sundowns, Matthew Booth knows the importance of having proper amateur leagues. He said safety concerns could also be another factor middle-class kids don’t play in townships where football is active.
Matthew Booth says class is to blame for lack of white PSL players
“It’s middle class and upper kids who perhaps are finding training a little bit difficult, or they have to go to areas where they feel unsafe, or the referee does not turn up, or the league is badly organised. And then the middle class and upper class say ‘Mom, dad, I am going to focus on my studies or I am going to sit at home and play X-Box’,” Booth said.
Fewer white players in the PSL compared to 20 years ago
In the 90s and early 2000s, PSL had plenty of white players with some having played for the national team. Eric Tinkler, Mark Fish, Neil Tovey, Bradley Carnell and Glen Salmons played for Bafana at some point.
Matthew Booth feels the Safa failed to lure white middle-class and upper-class youngsters into the game.