Secret Footballer

David Modise’s interview with KickOff.com about cliques at his former club Kaizer Chiefs opened up a can worms about the treatment newcomers receive when they join new teams. Modise’s claims were also backed up by Marco Mthembu, who said he was also on th

This month’s Secret Footballer explains how some players can be viewed as outcasts when they join new clubs, with teammates purposefully making it difficult to settle.

When I went to play in Switzerland, it was an extremely difficult experience. I’m a black man who went to a white country, at a white club and I was the first black player – I think – to move there.

There were lots of challenges I encountered because I was about to take someone else’s position. This problem is not just a local South African problem, it happens everywhere.

My teammates used to go out clubbing together and they were one big family without me. They would intimidate me. As soon as they realised that their friend’s position, who was a Swiss and not a foreigner, was in danger, they made my life a living hell.

They used to kick me at training sessions. My first two weeks while I was on trial, they wanted to break my legs, I was dribbling trying to dodge everything. Those were career ending tackles!

And then the coach came to my hotel in the evening and asked me out for dinner. We went out and he asked me directly and said: “Can you kick?”. I looked at him and answered, “of course I can kick”.

And then he explained that the following day he would be doing the same training sessions and I want you to kick back when people kick at you. You must train with six studs, he told me.

The next day, I went to training and broke my teammate’s leg. His group rushed towards me and I said to them: “did you see that he was doing the same thing to me?”. I was seen as a threat and that’s what happens when you move to a bigger club, but it’s just that supporters don’t get to hear about these things.

People think, ‘you are coming here to take bread out of my mouth’, I’m not going to allow that to happen. The Swiss are not so extrovert and their racism is more inside than obvious and blatant. They play mind games with you.

I was alone there, I had no one to talk to or spend time with. It was just the coach, and there were few people who could speak English. The coach knew what it was like to be a foreigner at a new club because he was also well travelled as a player.

He knew how to handle me as a player. He used to come and see me every night at my hotel, sometimes with his friends and sometime with his wife. He gave me the support I needed.

But on the field, it was nothing but competition, I had to impress. Your new teammates are never going to make it easy for you. If they have a chance, they will break your leg.

After a while, I earned their respect. When they approached me, they approached with caution, they were careful with what they were saying. But in the first few days it was all stupid jokes because I couldn’t understand the language.

I used to depend on a few guys to translate, but even then if what was said about me was nasty, they wouldn’t tell me. Sometimes the jokes were too nasty, and I could see that it was so even though I couldn’t understand. I had to man up and stand up for myself.

But in matches, there were never any problems. After a while they accepted me because they didn’t have a choice. The leader of the clique left and things became much better, and I could focus on my work. The coach would tell me in English what he was going to say in pre-match meetings so that I didn’t feel left out.

This happens at local PSL clubs as well, even though I never really experienced it myself. But I’ve seen with someone like Jimmy Kauleza when he joined Orlando Pirates from Free State Stars. He was a top goalscorer at Stars.

They never passed him the ball, when they did the passes were always awkward. It was tough for him and I could see from

“THEY MADE MY LIFE A LIVING HELL.”

the outside that they were not doing justice to the guy. There were groups. Cliques are everywhere and when you join a new team, you have to fight – if you don’t fight the coach will take you out and you will be sidelined.

Benedict Vilakazi was one of top goalscorers and I said to myself, ‘how can this be when he was playing in midfield’? And the top striker that joined from another club couldn’t score goals. I said to myself, ‘no ways, something must be wrong here’.

These things are done, and you have to monitor so that you can see the pattern. Sometimes you only get passes when your teammates are under pressure and when you are in a position to score, they ignore you. You have to stand up for yourself.