Chris O’Loughlin

CHRIS O’LOUGHLIN Chris O’Loughlin first appeared on our radars as assistant coach at Orlando Pirates. Now he is proving himself as the main man in a top European league.

An ex-Pirates coach making his mark in Belgium

KICK OFF: Tell us more about your background ... CHRIS O’LOUGHLIN: My mom grew up moving between Botswana and South Africa, so even though my dad was Irish and my brother and I were born in Ireland, we first moved to Botswana and then South Africa at a young age. I lived in Hout Bay in Cape Town and went toWynberg Boys High School and Rondebosch Boys High School before finishing my Matric at Abbotts College. I played as a left-back for Meadowridge, Rygersdal and Tramways, but I was quite small and so moved between the ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams. I was actually then the first white player to sign for Santos in their Under-19 Caltex Colts side. I left Cape Town around 1998 and have only really been back for my brother’s funeral – he passed away in a car accident. Do you consider yourself South African? I always say I have the best of both worlds – my nationality is definitely Irish, I met my wife in Ireland, my kids and I were born there, but I grew up in South Africa and I love the culture of the country. I went to the second ever Bafana Bafana game at the Goodwood Showgrounds [July 1992] as a 14-year-old. I told my mother I was meeting people there but I wasn’t … I was just so desperate to go and support the country. I used to go watch Santos and Cape Town Spurs at the Athlone Stadium ... those are all great memories. How did your playing career develop? There is not much to report! At Santos I got the opportunity to go for trials in England and trained with a few clubs. I played one game for Millwall Under-18s against Tottenham Hotspur, and I might have signed for them but the club was in financial trouble. I then went to Ireland and signed for Cliftonville. I briefly came back to play for Santos, but that was discontinued and so I played for a few more Irish teams and some London clubs in the Rymans League. I came back to South Africa in 2001 and played for Spartak Johannesburg in what was then the First Division, but there was not much of a future there. Players were paid late, some didn’t come to training because they hadn’t been paid, and the organisation was poor. I went back to Ireland a year later and that was pretty much it. I worked as manager of a local nightclub until my first child was born, but football was my passion, so I turned to coaching, and finished my Uefa ‘B’ Licence. Is that when you returned to South Africa? Yes, it was around the middle of 2005. From there it was two years of really hard