The other two are Owen da Gama of Silver Stars and SuperSport United Pitso Mosimane, who have both made the successful transition from star player to equally adept coach.

Dumitru, who has steered Chiefs to the brink of the Premiership title, will be chasing the award for the first time since it was introduced in 2000. The veteran Romanian-coach is no stranger to success, having previously won two championships when he was in charge of Mamelodi Sundowns.

Igesund, whose Ajax side have also been strong contenders this season, is also a previous winner of the Premiership Coach of the Season, having established the benchmark in local soccer by winning three titles with three different clubs. Igesund was the Premiership Coach of the Season for 2000/2001 when he steered Orlando Pirates to the title.

Mosimane’s role in keeping SuperSport United up among the contenders for the third successive year is also recognised in his inclusion in the final four. The Pretoria-based club finished runners-up in the Castle Premiership over the last two seasons and can still achieve the same feat again this time round.

Da Gama’s achievement in keeping under-rated Silver Stars in the Premiership this season, plus turning the side into a formidable force in cup competition, has earned him the prestigious nomination.

The award carries a prize money of R45 000.

The winner will be announced at the annual Castle Premiership end of season awards in Johannesburg on 17 June 2004.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:

1999/2000 - Paul Dolezar (Mamelodi Sundowns)

2000/2001 - Gordon Igesund (Orlando Pirates)

2001/2002 - Gavin Hunt (Black Leopards)

2002/2003 - Roger de Sa (Wits University)

Award Nominees

TED DUMITRU

Romanian-born Ted Dumitru has been a firm fixture on the South African football scene since 1985 when he crossed the border from Swaziland to take charge of Kaizer Chiefs. Dumitru, who will turn 65 in September, now celebrates his second spell with the Amakhosi by taking them to the brink of their first Castle Premiership title in more than a decade.

Chiefs, despite their status as the country’s best-supported club, have been in the wilderness as far as the Castle Premiership title has been concerned but Dumitru’s canny ways have steered the team back onto course for success.

The much-traveled Dumitru has also previously coached at Mamelodi Sundowns, where he was twice a Castle Premiership winner, Orlando Pirates, Manning Rangers, Giant Blackpool and QwaQwa Stars. His international assignments have included stints as the national coach of Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia and in the now-defunct North American Soccer League he took charge of the Rochester Lancers. He also worked in Turkey.

GORDON IGESUND

Gordon Igesund has blazed new trails in terms of coaching achievements since the launch of the Castle Premiership in 1996. In that time, Igesund has won a remarkable three titles with three different clubs, starting with Manning Rangers in 1997, Orlando Pirates in 2001 and Santos two years ago. Igesund’s coaching career did not start with the same success; the coach suffered relegation with the likes of African Wanderers and Klerksdorp City before learning to turn adversity into success.

He also battled last season with Ajax Cape Town, whom narrowly avoided relegation, but this year turned them into championship contenders. Igesund, who will be 48 in July, has also worked at Witbank Black Aces, the Durban-based Leeds United and D’Alberton Callies, with whom he won promotion to the Castle League in 1992.

As a player, Igesund was one of the first South Africans to compete overseas, joining Admira Wacker in Austria. He also played at Highlands Park, Jomo Cosmos and Johannesburg-based Dynamos in his career.

PITSO MOSIMANE

Last season, Pitso Mosimane came close to becoming the first South African international to turn into a championship-winning coach when he took SuperSport United to second place in the Castle Premier Soccer League.

Mosimane, who will be 40 in July, earned four caps for Bafana Bafana before turning his hand to coaching, where he has emerged as one of the country’s most exciting talents.

His professional approach to the job comes from a playing career in which he was exposed to several international clubs. Mosimane, who started his career at Jomo Cosmos, played in Greece, Belgium and Qatar before returning home to end his career at Mamelodi Sundowns. He started as assistant to Bruce Grobbelaar at SuperSport United but took over from the former Liverpool goalkeeper in 2002, steering the Pretoria-based club out of trouble and into to second place in the league for two successive seasons.

SuperSport United this season also continued to be Castle Premiership contenders plus placed themselves in line for the last eight of the African Champions League as Mosimane continued to build on his credentials.

OWEN DA GAMA

Last year, Owen da Gama steered the unfashionable side from the Limpopo Province into the Castle Premiership for the first time. Now he has managed to keep them in the top flight, plus taken Stars on a mazy cup run and firmly established the team from Polokwane on the Castle Premiership map.

Da Gama, who will be 43 in August, has coached in the Limpopo province for several years since ending his successful playing career. His work with Silver Stars has now established himself as a bright talent and made him a marketable commodity on the coaching circuit, taking largely-unknown players and moulding them into an exciting unit.

A powerful striker Da Gama was a hero in Ireland at Derry City, with whom he played in the 1988 Football Association of Ireland Cup final in Dublin. He was also a footballer in Belgium at a time when it was difficult for South Africans to break through into the international ranks. In this country, Da Gama played at Arcadia and Dynamos and won a cup title with Moroka Swallows in 1989.