/ 27 May 1999

GROBBELAAR TURNS DOWN AJAX

FORMER Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar has turned down an offer to coach the newly-formed Cape Town Ajax next season, officials said on Sunday. The decision comes despite the 42-year-old Zimbabwean’s remarkable achievement in taking the newly-promoted Seven Stars to fifth place in the South African premier league on Sunday. It was the best finish for any club playing their first season in top-flight soccer in South Africa. Stars, who were 13th on the table when Grobbelaar took over as coach in January, are merging with neighbours Cape Town Spurs to form the new Ajax Cape Town, which will be owned by Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam. Grobbelaar started his first full-time coaching job with two defeats but after that shepherded the unfashionable side up the standings, sometimes with the eccentricity that was also a trademark of his playing days.