AGE OF INNOCENCE

Manning Rangers’ inaugural Premier Soccer League championship victory in 1997 as a modest Durban club was a launchpad for many who went from being PSL unknowns to stars at some of the biggest clubs in the country. It would prove a life-changing experience

“WE DIDN’T CARE ABOUT THE MONEY, I ONLY CARED ABOUT THE MEDAL I GOT.”

Innocent Chikoya epitomised the modern full-back, a player who was equally confortable going forward on attack as he was in his defensive duties. For Manning Rangers he was superb in their championship run in 1996/97 under coach Gordon Igesund, a model of consistency who understood his role and gave everything to the cause. Only Mark Davies played more games than Chikoya during that historic campaign in which he also scored four goals as The Mighty Maulers stunned the country to become surprise champions. “Winning the league with Rangers is a memory that will stay with me forever because we did the totally unexpected that year,” Chikoya says of that triumph. “Who would have bet on Rangers lifting the league title? Absolutely no one! However, being the compact unit that we were, we knew how to grind out results and from the day we went top of the standings we never let go of top spot. “Even my mom was excited that I had brought home a league winners’ medal. At that time we didn’t care about the money, I only cared about the medal I got,” he recalls. Rangers won six games in a row on their way to being crowned champions at the end of May 1997, beating Bush Bucks in the penultimate game of that campaign. Prior to his three-and-a-half years at Rangers under Gordon Igesund, the Zimbabwe-born wing-back had spent a difficult year in 1995 with African Wanderers, where he was also coached by Igesund over two spells. He had joined Wanderers along with compatriot Charles Yohane from Fire Batteries in his homeland. “Wanderers were a club with their own challenges and I remember I once just left in frustration and went home when I wasn’t playing as much as I wanted to after Gordon left. “Luckily, Gordon came back and it was because of him that I got to play again and then got to move with him to Rangers, which came after some boardroom squabbles involving Wanderers,” notes Chikoya. After twice being named Player of the Season at Rangers, it was obvious that a move to the bright lights of Johannesburg was on the horizon and Orlando Pirates became his next destination during the winter of 1999. With The Buccaneers he again won the league twice in 2000/01 and 2002/03, and added the 2000 BP Top Eight title. “Pirates was a totally different environment where it was expected that we had to win trophies, unlike Rangers where it was all a shock. What thrilled me was that I won my first title at Pirates with Gordon.” However, Chikoya left Pirates after a five-year stay that ended limply as he started a single game in his penultimate season before staying on as a surplus foreigner not registered in his last campaign with the club. Moroka Swallows then came calling and it was to be with The Dube Birds that he would eventually bring an end to his playing career in 2006 after two solid years of service under Gavin Hunt, playing 27 games in his final season. “I am grateful for the chance I got to play football which granted me the opportunity to meet all sorts of people. I have no regrets. “I understand football has changed and I have embraced that. Players are being coached differently now, coaches have jobs to protect and the game is just results oriented,” he states. Now 46, Chikoya has joined fellow countryman Edelbert Dinha as a coach at Shumba Football Development based at Leeuwkop Prison in Johannesburg. At Shumba he coaches the Under-17s and -19s, and helps out the senior team, which plays in the SAB League. “I have remained within football since I retired, starting out as a coach at Sir Isaacs FC, which played in the SAB League. After that I joined Eddie here at Shumba two years ago. “We are grooming potential stars who will be scattered all over professional football within the next few years. Although we don’t have a sponsor we try our best to source equipment for the boys, who all come from poor families in Tembisa, Alexandra and Cosmo City.”