Willard Katsande

After a successful decade at Kaizer Chiefs, Katsande has started afresh with newly-promoted Sekhukhune United.

Former Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Willard Katsande feels that the commitment he gave during the decade he spent at Naturena has earned him the right to be called a club legend. The veteran midfielder might have now switched to new boys Sekhukhune United, but he will ultimately be remembered for his time at Chiefs. He spoke to KICK OFF’s Lovemore Moyo about his stay and departure from Naturena, where he won the league, MTN8 and Nedbank Cup.

KICK OFF: How have you been dealing with all the changes that have come from leaving Kaizer Chiefs following a decade long stay at the club? Willard Katsande:

You will obviously feel the change from the first day. Spending 10 years at Chiefs and getting familiar with the daily operations, to then be moving to a different team, brings about different dimensions. As a professional you need to learn to be able to adapt to any situation and conditions, but these are changes that you will feel considering you will no longer be seeing the faces that you were seeing for the past 10 years on a daily basis. But a change is always good in life for the sake of growth. Nature is such that we meet to part and then part to meet, so it is a matter of accepting your next step and the minute you accept this is the new life, you are bound to start enjoying everything around you.

How did you digest your departure from Chiefs, considering how long it takes to process a separation from a club that you have been with for so long?

You got to have it in you in terms of mental strength. It is easier for me now because I am matured, wiser and older, unlike when you are young and it takes time to accept some decisions. I came to South Africa young and had to adapt to the food, environment and culture, so now I am used to the country. Yes, I am new where I am [at Sekhukhune] but the faces in football are not new to me, and our main song is football. In terms of engaging, it is not difficult because it is people that I know from the football circles.

“RONALDO ALWAYS SAYS, ‘HATE ME OR LOVE ME, MY NUMBERS NEVER LIE’.”

It is rare to find a player staying at Chiefs for 10 years and averaging over 30 games every season. For six years in a row between 201419 you played at least 34 games. How much pride do you take in the contribution you made at Chiefs?

[Cristiano] Ronaldo always says, ‘hate me or love me, my numbers never lie’. I always knew what I wanted and why I came to be at Chiefs, which was to earn a living through football. I came to the biggest team to leave my mark. What I am grateful for about during my time at Chiefs was that my first game was a Soweto derby [the 2011 MTN8 final], which made me aware of the environment that I was getting myself into and how much of a monster I needed to be at that age. When I came on in that game it felt like the stadium management switched off the lights only for me, because I saw nothing. I was falling all over the place with the fans on my case. The fans were busy whistling and complaining about why I was signed when I wasn’t even playing at Ajax Cape Town. That time I had replaced fan favourite Shaba [Siphiwe Tshabalala] on the pitch as an unknown. I give reference to that game because it built my character and got me prepared mentally, emotionally and physically for what was coming ahead. I had played football but never for a big club so that nightmare debut opened my mind. I sat down afterwards and told myself that, ‘yes, I messed up in that game, but I can be a better player tomorrow’. From then on, I started grafting because I knew that I was limited in terms of talent, but my commitment carried me through until the Chiefs fans fell in love with me. From that day until now, in every game that I play, I might not be on

“THAT NIGHTMARE DEBUT OPENED MY MIND.”

top of my game, but you will never falter my commitment towards defending the badge.

We hear you …

That was what carried me through every season at Chiefs, plus I was hungry and never let fame get into my head. I never expanded my circle just because I was at Chiefs, like what happens with some players. It is an achievement that I wasn’t a benchwarmer and never became a one or two season wonder like some players, who expand their circle to include people who always tell them lies, even on days that they will know they played badly. Some players want friends who always tell them how good they are so that they then buy them alcohol in return. For me, my secret to staying that long at Chiefs was in keeping my circle that small, focusing on the next game without dwelling on what happened in the previous match. Whatever I did in the previous game was already history because I was looking forward to the next and working towards taking my family out of the poverty that my dad left us in. Football gave me an opportunity to look after my family and my boy Kelvin, who I call my son, is already having his own company after graduating from school. I also have my niece who is also graduating. All my nieces went to school because of Kaizer Chiefs, so this is something I am proud of when I look back at my time at Chiefs. I was limited in terms education but my kids, nieces, nephews and my sisters got to have a bite of the cake that I brought on the table. My main goal was to make the people around me happy. If I had started out against a so-called smaller team maybe the journey wouldn’t have been the same.

The process of being appreciated at Chiefs was a rough ride for you considering that you are not about dribbling.

The hardship that I grew up facing in the rural areas, where you had to use strength to get firewood in the mountains, get water from a borehole two kilometres away using a wheelbarrow, and to get food you had to work the fields. The hardships that I grew up facing made me strong mentally. The only things that ever moved me in my life was the passing away of my parents. All else that people said couldn’t have the same effect, even when some said I wasn’t good enough for Chiefs. ‘Bobsteak’ [Chiefs Football Manager Bobby Motaung] took a gamble on me when nobody knew me and gave me an opportunity when people were hammering him left, right and centre. The situation even got worse after my first game against Pirates but then deep down I wanted to work hard and repay the people who gave me my breakthrough. My agent at the time was the late Edzai Kasinauyo, who was a straight talker and told me to my face when I played nonsense as a way of encouraging me to do better. He wasn’t an agent that waits for commission but wanted to be there for my own growth because he believed in me. After playing against Pirates, I sat for months without playing again until I was a right-back against Free State Stars.

“ALL MY NIECES WENT TO SCHOOL BECAUSE OF KAIZER CHIEFS.”

Continue …

My mental strength is such that I can take all that is thrown in my face in the toxic social media space. I never respond to negative comments, no matter how nasty they get, because I choose to respect the fans with all their opinions. I cannot fight with fans, and this is the biggest weapon for me. Many players nowadays fail because they read too much into social

media praises, forgetting that from being celebrated one day they will be attacked by the same fans when they play badly. Because you don’t have character you get drawn in. It took a lot of courage for me to develop the thick skin that I have now. At times I irritate the hell out of those that come aiming to get me to respond and catch feelings.

In the last six years that you spent at Chiefs you won no silverware and that must have really hurt …

That barren spell was painful considering how we came close on several occasions, losing cup finals and the league on the last day. We never stopped pushing all the same and always tried to support, keeping the squad together. Last season we reached the final of the Champions League after a poor league run so that shows there is something to work on going forward. I think at some point the fans, who are the bosses of the game, put us under so much pressure that it stuck in our heads, we ended up not pulling in the same direction. They [the fans] even became more abusive on social media towards certain players, and you should know that those players have families who also read these things. As Willard, I might not read what is said but a family member will screenshot and sen nd it to me. When you play for Chiefs, there wasw never an easy game because all oppon nents are after your job, so much that they y double the effort on that day, yet you ha ave the stress of social media abuse and d trying to win trophies for the club. If that sticks on you then you become an averag ge and an ordinary player. It takes somebody with the kind of mental strength like min e to roll up his sleeves and say, ‘let’s rumble’, ’, but then some of the teammates are not strong, so they get worked up in a bad way. We were never as bad a team as som me people made us out to be at Chiefs. It wasw just minor moments that let us down and at times fans didn’t help the situation by booing our own players, which meant we played with one man less. Glory days can only come back at Chiefs when the team is being supported. When you choose to keep criticising and abusing the players that have been chosen, then success will not come anytime soon.

What was your highlight at Chiefs?

Winning the league in the 2014/15 season when I played a lot of games. The first two years were challenge as I was still trying to find my feet with some sections doubting me, but when I got into groove with Bra William [coach Stuart Baxter] teaching me how to play defensive midfield in a modern way by being important yet not fancy, that knowledge has carried me till today.

Since we are in a space where there is an obsession of judging players based on age, do you think this kind of judgement is always fair?

That is the problem here in South Africa, and Africa for the matter, because the moment you reach a certain age, they start wanting to push you out, yet in Europe they appreciate you more. If a 37-year-old like [Giorgio] Chiellini can get a two-year contract extension at a club like Juventus, it means he is trusted. Fans look at the age instead of the performance and commitment playing as a defensive midfielder. My job is to keep the balance intact and not be scoring goals and dribbling people. An older player is an easy target for blame, which frustrates the older players out of the system, leading to them saying ‘to hell with football’. Who is going to help the younger ones without the experienced chaps? Age is just a number and I still feel good about myself on the pitch.

What made you decide to join Sekhukhune United and what do you want to achieve with this team?

I have a personal friendship with the CEO Mr Jonas [Malatjie] and he made clear the team’s ambitions to me. I could see that this team is new and has ambitions, and want to be part of the start of the process of staying in the PSL for years to come. I want to be part of the team beyond my playing days as well in the coaching space. The knowledge that I gained through all the years playing will come in handy when

“WHEN ZIMBABWE QUALIFIES FOR THE 2026 WORLD CUP, I WILL BE THERE COACHING.”

I start coaching and these are somes of the things that we spoke about wiith the club bosses.

Your international career hash been on and off, so much that it h as led to confusion for a while now…

If my national team still feels I can be of use I remain available. I signed for Chiefs because of the national team sos I owe the national team a lot and if t hey feel Katsande is still needed in the set-up, I will join. If not, I can support aand give players advice from a distance. Even though I haven’t played for the national team since 2017, I have remained part ofo the team. When Zimbabwe qualifies for the 2026 World Cup, I will be there coaching.