Shaun Bartlett

Shaun Bartlett (born 31 October 1972) is a South African professional soccer manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Cape Town Spurs. During his playing career, he played as a striker.

Early life

Born in Cape Town, Bartlett was raised by his grandmother in Factreton on the Cape Flats. He began playing for his church team and quickly developed a deft striking ability on the field. He was also a talented cricketer.

Club career Bartlett began his career with his hometown Cape Town Spurs and then moved to Major League Soccer and the Colorado Rapids in the league's inaugural season in 1996. Halfway through the 1997 season, he was traded to the MetroStars on 10 July. Bartlett left MLS, without leaving much of a mark and returned to his home country. He later went on loan to FC Zürich and then transferring there for good in 1998. He went on loan to Charlton Athletic in 2000, and moved there in 2001 on a permanent deal worth £2 million. Bartlett won the Premier League Goal of the Season award in 2000–01, for his volley against Leicester City. He was released by the club in May 2006.

Bartlett then returned to South Africa signing with Kaizer Chiefs and in the summer of 2008 retired from professional football. After several discussions, he then made a return to football with Bloemfontein Celtic.

International career Bartlett made his full international debut for the South Africa national team in a friendly against Lesotho on 26 April 1995.

He is the second all-time leading scorer behind Benni McCarthy for South Africa, with 29 goals in 74 appearances. He helped his country to the 1996 African Nations Cup and played in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, scoring two goals.

He was surprisingly omitted from the squad for the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup by coach Clive Barker amid disputes between Barker and the South African Football Association over player selection, and subsequently missed the 1998 African Cup of Nations due to injury. New coach Philippe Troussier recalled Bartlett in May 1998, naming him in the preliminary squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He featured in the warm-up matches against Zambia and Argentina, scoring the equaliser against Zambia, before being included in the final squad on 23 May.

On 12 June, Bartlett made his World Cup debut when he came on as an 89th-minute substitute for Benni McCarthy in South Africa's 3–0 defeat to France. Six days later, he played 77 minutes in a 1–1 draw with Denmark and provided the assist for McCarthy's goal, South Africa's first ever goal at a FIFA World Cup. In the final group match against Saudi Arabia, Bartlett scored twice in a 2–2 draw, although South Africa finished third in their group and were eliminated from the tournament.

Bartlett subsequently experienced a dip in form, leading to doubts over his status as South Africa's first-choice striker. However, he returned to form at the 2000 African Cup of Nations, where he finished as the tournament's top scorer with five goals. He began the competition with two goals against Gabon before scoring against the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Algeria to help South Africa reach the quarter-finals. South Africa defeated Ghana in the quarter-finals despite playing the entire second half with ten men, before losing to Nigeria in the semi-finals. Bartlett scored his fifth and final goal of the tournament in the third-place play-off against Tunisia, which South Africa won 6–5 on penalties, despite him missing his attempt in the shoot-out.

With his goal in the third-place play-off, Bartlett surpassed his strike partner Phil Masinga to become South Africa's all-time leading goalscorer. He finished the tournament as its top scorer, although he was omitted from the Team of the Tournament, with Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o and Patrick Mboma selected as the two forwards instead. His five goals also made him South Africa's second-highest scorer in the history of the competition at the time, behind Benni McCarthy, who had scored seven goals at the previous edition.

Bartlett was handed the captaincy the following year as regular captain Lucas Radebe struggled with recurring injuries. He was again among South Africa's leading scorers during the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, scoring four goals in six appearances. By that stage, he had scored 23 goals in 61 appearances for the national team.

He subsequently took part in the 2002 African Cup of Nations in Mali. Bartlett started South Africa's opening match against Burkina Faso but suffered an injury during the game and missed the remainder of the group stage. After South Africa progressed to the knockout stages as winners of Group B, he returned for the quarter-final against Mali despite not having fully recovered. Although he was able to make a substitute appearance in the 2–0 defeat, the injury caused him to miss the remainder of the 2001–02 season and ultimately ruled him out of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Bartlett returned to the national side during the qualifying campaign for the 2004 African Cup of Nations, scoring in a 2–1 victory over Ivory Coast that sealed South Africa's qualification for the tournament. He announced his retirement from international football in October 2003 to focus on his club career with Charlton Athletic, but was persuaded by the South African Football Association to reverse his decision a few months later in February 2004 in order to help the national team qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Following South Africa's failure to qualify for the tournament, Bartlett again announced his retirement from international football. He made his final appearance on 7 October 2005, scoring in a 4–2 friendly defeat to Germany, and finished his international career with a record 29 goals in 74 appearances.

Managerial career Bartlett coached Golden Arrows to the National First Division title in the 2014/15 season. He went on to play a crucial role as Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach in turning around the club from a ninth-place finish in the 2018/19 season to topping the table for most of the following season. In October 2021, Bartlett was appointed as manager of National First Division side Cape Town Spurs. After leading them to promotion, Spurs parted ways with Bartlett after seven consecutive defeats at the start of the 2023–24 season.

Personal life Bartlett's wedding was attended by Nelson Mandela. To avoid excess attention, only he and his bride knew that the politician was coming. Bartlett's son, Tyrique is also a footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International Scores and results list South Africa's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bartlett goal.

Honours

Player FC Zürich Swiss Cup: 2000

Kaizer Chiefs Telkom Knockout: 2007 MTN 8: 2008

South Africa African Cup of Nations: 1996

Individual BBC Goal of the Season: 2000–01

Manager Golden Arrows National First Division: 2014–15

Cape Town Spurs DSTV Premiership Promotional Playoffs: 2022-23