A manager with the Midas touch
IN his heyday, club manager Donavan Ferdinand Mudaly, known as “Don”, was known by many as being a super tactician. Speaking about a match that played out in 1976 at Curries Fountain, while he oversaw Berea Football Club, Mudaly gave a blow-by-blow account. “We were 3-1 down at half-time against Sundowns in the 1976 Coca-Cola Cup final. During the interval, I gave the guys a pep talk and some words of inspiration. We tweaked a few things in our game plan and after the full-time whistle blew, we won 4-3. It was unbelievble.” For Mudaly, this was his fondest memory in his managerial career, which started off in 1970. He said the players were more than just a team. “We were a family and the crowds that attended our matches were unbelievable.” Another comeback for Mudaly came in the 1975 Coca-Cola Cup final , where they were 3-1 down against Cape Town Spurs at Curries Fountain with 18 minutes to go. “The spectators began leaving the stadium before the match officially ended, but neither the team nor I gave up. We ended up equalising and some of the people ran back into the stadium. The match went into extra-time and we ended up winning 4-3.” The club also won the Federation Premier League in 1976, to add to his two cup triumphs in his 12 year stint at Berea. Mudaly’s playing days started while at St Aidan’s Primary and he went on to play for Warrickshire Football Club, Carlisle United and D’Alberton Callies. He later started Brothers Football Club, while he was the vice-president of the Asherville Football Association. Daddy Reddy, a board member at Berea Football Club, then offered him a managerial post which he could not turn down. He spent 12 years at the club before joining Manning Rangers from 1985 to 1992. While there, the club won the Osman’s Spice Cup beating Blue Bells 1-0. After a few years away from the field, Mudaly was appointed general manager of SAFA (South African Football Association) KZN. He served as manager from 1994 to 1997 and there after he became the head of competitions at SAFA. “I was in charge of various competitions like the Coca-Cola and the Nike cups.” He left SAFA in 2006 and played an integral role in starting the SA Federation Soccer Legends. “My two good friends, the late Scampy Bissessor and Ficky Vallie, and I joined forces to start this organisation that brought together and honours those who played during apartheid.” Some of the members include Daya Maistry, Garry Naidoo and Ronnie Moodley. Mudaly, who is now semi-retired, works as a sales agent for Fedfan sports that sells sporting attire. In June, he and his wife, Faith, will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. “My wife has always been my backbone. I could always rely on her to ensure our two children were taken care off.” His son, Delon, works for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in Pretoria, and his daughter, Tanya, is an evaluator and writer for the KZN Film Commission.