CAPE TOWN -- When Stellenbosch FC kick off their CAF Confederation Cup campaign against Stade Malien on Wednesday, they will continue to show that they are a perennial threat to South Africa's Big Three in the Premier Soccer League.
Mamelodi Sundowns have dominated the PSL in recent years, winning seven Premiership titles in a row. Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, however, remain the two most popular clubs in the country due to their storied history and traditions. Being rooted in one of the country's biggest cities, Soweto, may have something to do with Chiefs and Pirates' popularity, but they have supporters across the country, and the continent.
In terms of results on the pitch, however, Stellenbosch have finished above Chiefs in two of the last three seasons. After finishing fourth in 2021/22 and sixth in 2022/23, they were pipped at the post by Pirates on goal difference in the race for second place and a CAF Champions League place. Still, third in the league and a place in the CAF Confederation Cup served as some consolation.
Head coach Steve Barker, the nephew of the late Clive Barker -- who coached South Africa to their only Africa Cup of Nations title in 1996 -- told ESPN: "[Competing in CAF Competitions] is what we want, so I think myself, footballers - our club - we want to be competing on the highest level.
"That is being in finals, being third in the league last season, qualifying for CAF Competitions. Now, we've qualified for the group stages, so it's a desire that we have - we want to put this club on the map on the continent."
Crucially, Stellenbosch have been able to maintain a high standard of football even after a busy transfer window which saw star striker Iqraam Rayners sign for Sundowns and right-back Deano van Rooyen exit for Pirates.
Despite these headline departures among a total of three sales, one loan exit and eight signings, Stellenbosch beat The Brazilians home and away in the semi-finals of the MTN8 - a tournament consisting of South Africa's top eight teams in the previous league campaign. They would go on to lose the final to Pirates, missing out on a second ever trophy after winning their first last season in the Carling Knockout.
However Stellenbosch have remained steady in the league and currently sit fourth in the table. This continuity suggests that Stellies are here to stay at or near the top. Much of their success is due to the constant stream of players emerging from the DSTV Diski Challenge squad that has won South Africa's reserve league twice in a row under Evangelos Vellios.
Vellios operates in a dual role as Diski Challenge head coach and first team assistant coach, third-in-command behind Barker and first assistant Wesley Sergel. Stellenbosch has an academy going down to U12 boys' level, with plans to add newly-established junior teams to their recently established women's senior team.
"I think when we started [in the top flight in 2019], there's usually two full years where a club has to survive. It's their first year in which you sort of get into the league and then there's that wretched second season that everyone always talks about," Vellios told ESPN.
"After surviving those first two seasons, the club started getting some more stability. Some younger players started to get more mature; some players started getting promoted within the Diski to the PSL - guys like Jayden Adams, guys like Devin Titus.
"We started to recruit some exciting players and then the club was stable. In year three, we got fourth place; in year four, we got sixth - and now year five, we got third place with the Carling [Knockout Cup]."
Brendon Fourie - a former student of the Johan Cruyff Institute who, like many other Stellenbosch players and staff members, grew up in the town - is the club's head of recruitment, with his data-driven processes leading to astute signings such as André de Jong and Lehlohonolo Bradley Mojela - both of whom have played better at Stellenbosch than at previous clubs.
However, Fourie insists that beyond the numbers and systems, Barker's shrewd management of players is an asset the club has which simply cannot be quantified.
"Coach Steve's man-management skills are incredible. He understands when a player needs an arm around the shoulder or when he needs a little bit of a stern talking to. That might sound clichéd, but it's truly, truly the way it is," Fourie told ESPN.
Fourie cited the example of Bafana Bafana striker Rayners, who turned into one of the most clinical finishers in the country in his second stint at Stellenbosch after struggling at SuperSport United, and has now taken his fine form with him to Mamelodi Sundowns.
"Iqraam Rayners is a number nine that needs to be in the box and he will get you goals. He was playing out wide for SuperSport. He's not someone that takes on tactical instruction the best, but if you play him in the middle, you let other players compensate for his lack of defensive ability, then Iqraam will get you goals," Fourie said.
"Sometimes, when [Rayners] scored one or two goals over the weekend, he would get Monday off, because Coach Steve understood that [in the upcoming] weekend, he would score goals again for him.
"That is very important - understanding the players. Coach Wesley is also amazing. He understands. It's nice for me because the way that we play is so clear, so it's easy to profile [players like] Mojela."
Barker, meanwhile, attributes this to education from his uncle, in addition to his time in the South African Air Force, where he was a physical training instructor.
"I think my whole career - I've had a long career in the Air Force [and] in coaching, training and development - so I've always had, I feel, the ability to help people be better, develop them and educate them and grow them as individuals, not only as footballers," Barker said.
"I've always had a heart towards people and helping them become the best version of themselves and become the best footballers that they can be and reach their full potential, so I've seen people grow and become better and that's part of being a leader and man-manager and dealing with certain situations.
"Being a professional footballer looks nice and easy from the outside, but they also have big challenges, so I've learned over time to just be there for the players and be supportive, to encourage them and push them to reach their limits. I think that is a strength of mine. Obviously, that is one of the reasons - I think - I've been able to get players to perform at a high level.
"I think I have [learned some of it from Clive Barker]. I spent a couple of months training with him when he was at Bush Bucks and obviously followed his career. One of his strengths was that he was a real father figure to the players and allowed them to express themselves and be themselves and he was there to support them throughout.
"I think some of those traits, I also have in me as a coach, so definitely, I learned from him."
One player who has reaped the benefits of Barker's astute management has been Kyle Jurgens, who was promoted to the first team last year and is now vying for the right-back spot that was vacated by Van Rooyen.
While Fourie witnessed how Rayners' training regime and position were adapted to make him feel at home, Jurgens told ESPN that he was given more freedom to roam forward than he was initially allowed once the staff realised his unique crossing ability.
"My crossing skills are good, so it allows me to go forward. At first, I was always told to not go forward until they saw, in training, the crosses that I put in. That's the reason why I have freedom to go forward," Jurgens told ESPN.
Jurgens, like many of his teammates, lives at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport, which houses not only Stellenbosch FC, but also the South African national Sevens rugby team, the Blitzboks - as well as several other top athletes.
Having been based there since he was 16, Jurgens has had access to top class facilities and he has been able to learn from players in his own sport - such as former Borussia Dortmund defender Lasse Sobiech, who retired last year - and so, too, from athletes in different sporting codes.
"It's really a privilege - the facilities we have; I always use it and seeing other people coming from different countries, coming in here, seeing how they'll be looking and interacting with them, it's a really good space to be in. There's a quote that I saw: 'Once you surround yourself with great people, you will become great,'" Jurgens said.
"I had a centre-back, Lasse, that came in from Germany. He helped me also play right-back - he was guiding me a lot. All players from different countries, continents, that come over and teach you things - it's really good to have."
Still, Barker - never one to get too carried away in the hype that comes with highs like the club's current spell of success or too low in droughts like in 2020 - remains coy about his expectations for the season ahead.
"I think we're not a club that sets specific targets and that, but we've always said that we want sustainable success," Barker said.
Although cognisant of fixture congestion caused by the club competing in the Confederation Cup, his goal is to ensure their gradual, methodically planned ascent up South Africa's ranks continues.
"Sustainable success means consistency," he continued. "We will regard this season as being a very successful season if we show the same consistency that we showed in the last three seasons."