Enter the first mlungu

In 1978, Kaizer Chiefs made history when Stylianou became the first white man to play for the club. The following year he was in the team that won the League under Tuani, with the two developing a close relationship over the years. “I was the only white man in the team,” recalls Stylianou. “I had a wonderful relationship with him. He said to me, ‘ When you came to Kaizer Chiefs, you were under pressure as the first white’, but I told him I wasn’t because the captain made me feel at home. He got on so well with the players and he made me feel good. Tuani made everyone feel at home – he was good at that. He was tactically good. He brought Walter da Silva - who scored 58 goals in one season – along with a tremendous amount of talent to South Africa over the years. But his best quality at Kaizer Chiefs was his people’s skills. He treated everybody as they were – he didn’t generalise or make statements to the whole team. “He knew everyone’s strengths and weaknesses and spoke to them in a correct manner, and players responded to that. The players wanted to play for him. In his first season at Kaizer Chiefs, he walked in and they won the double – how many coaches can they say they won the double in their first season? “He would talk to Teenage Dladla and say, “You know what, when you were born God gave you this wonderful football talent, don’t forget to use that talent on the field”. He motivated the players and he was a pleasure to work with. He never punished players at training – he never made them run like English coaches did back then. Everything was done with the ball, skills and dribbles, everything with the ball. “He was always smiling with a wonderful sense of humour. Even when he was upset, he never showed it. He never got personal and never attacked a player in front of us. He would pull you aside and say, “Last Saturday you made this error and that error, and this is where you must improve”. He was a wonderful coach, he backed the players and not the directors of the club. He was totally involved with the players and not with the directors.” During the 1999/00 season, Tuani made a return and was in charge of African Wanderers.