The perils of switching between Chiefs & Pirates…

Crossingi theh flfloor between b arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates was never easy, nor probably ever will be. The first time it happened, it led to an almighty a punch-up and, although violence is no longer an issue, there is always an air of tension when a player moves from one to the other. Some haveh doned so ini headlinehdli fashfh ion; others slipping under the radar. But when the split from Pirates first happened, it caused tumult in the Sea Robbers’ camp. Percy ‘Chippa’ Moloi and Alfred ‘Russia’ Jacobs led a party of players who went to the house of Edward ‘Msomi’ Khoza and beat him

and the other original rebels up, warningi themh againsti plansl to break away and form a new team. It was a beating that obviously didn’t get the message across. Chiefs were born on the back of defections, but once the split had settled and Chiefs were formally created, it was always an eyebrow raiser when a player left one club for the other. The first post-NPSL

Did you grow up supporting either Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates?

Funnily enough, I didn’t. Honestly! People don’t believe me when I say that, but I was much more about looking up to individuals than supporting a particular club. There were great players at Chiefs and Pirates that I admired, but also at Pretoria Callies and Benoni United too that I would follow. I was never behind one team, but I suppose it was inevitable that I would end up at Chiefs because my father was a card-carrying member, so I had no choice! Many people don’t know that I was actually training with Moroka Swallows for a week before the Chiefs guys came to me and said, “What are you doing? You have to come with us.” Both clubs had spotted me playing amateur football and I was really just enjoying playing the game, I had no real thoughts of being a professional footballer.

Once you joined Chiefs, what was the reception like?

As a youngster, when you work around senior players who are welcoming, it makes such a big difference to your career. All of the senior players at Chiefs, guys like Ryder Mofokeng, really looked after me and made sure that I settled in. The big advantage for me was that I was playing in a team that was winning. That makes it so much easier for a coach to play young players, and I was able to mature quickly because I got a lot of game-time in a side that often found itself 3-0 or 4-0 up in matches. When you are trailing and there is pressure, coaches tend to hold the youngsters back. So, for me, it was the perfect time to join Chiefs.

You had a stellar 10 years at Chiefs and are still the club’s top scorer with 85 goals. What prompted you to leave?

I think the time was right for me to go. You know, everything happens for a reason, I truly believe that. I was 31 and I had scored many goals for Chiefs and helped them win a lot of silverware. It came time to negotiate (a new contract) and, from my side, I was trying to do it in good faith. I think they were negotiating on the basis that they had seen everything I could do anda they had given me all this success. So, we could not agree a deal. The chairman (Kaizer Moaung) told me, “Look, this is the best I can do. I can’t move from where I am. Go away and think ab bout it and come back with your de ecision.” I went straight to the of ffice on the Monday and said, “ThanksT very much, this is my resignation letter.” Emotionally, after that I felt so empty, but I had to do it.

Emotionally empty how?

How could I imagine myself not in the Black and Gold? It was a part of me, I had given so much of my career and life to the team. People associated me only with the club. I think even today people say, “That Marks guy, oh, yes, the one from Kaizer Chiefs.” Wearing the Black and Gold was in my nature and I had loved it. That is what made it such a difficult decision to leave.

You say you had to do it. Why was that?

I will tell you a story to illustrate, and this also tells you something about the Chiefs fans. You know, every club has this ‘Grandma brigade’, the old ladies who are like mothers to the players and always look out for them. I will never forget this group of ladies – they were standing around my car at the FNB Stadium after I had left and they were asking me why I had gone. So, I told them. I told them that it was not like when I was 17; I now had a family to feed and bills to pay. I must look after my family. I will never forget… it was drizzling and they started to dry

llaunchh crossingi came at theh endd off the h first season in 1971 when Alfred ‘Bomber’ Chama, although by then a 35-year-old veteran and on the fringes of selection in the Chefs squad, moved to the Buccaneers. He was the first to go in that direction.Six months later, in mid-72, Gabriel ‘Tikkie’ Khoza, the former Pirates captain, signed for Chiefs after a frustrating time spent on theh Buccaneers’’ bench.bh Thereh was thenh the h occasional switch through the 70s, 80s and 90s, but there have a lot more in the modern era. None, however, have been as emotive as that of Marks Maponyane, pin-up boy for many years for Amakhosi and the only player to win three Footballer of the Year titles. His story of crossing the floor is exclusive to Soccer Laduma… my car with their handkerchiefs. They totally accepted what I was telling them and they knew that I had done the right thing. Being mothers, wives and sisters, they understood my situation. Some guys, you know, they give you a hard time for leaving because they don’t try to understand the whole picture. But these ladies understood. They just told me they would miss me.

You went to Dynamos and then, a year later, signed for Orlando Pirates. How did that come about, and did you hesitate, given your Chiefs connections?

There was no hesitation. They said to me this would be a way of bringing new energy into my career and you know what, they were 100 percent right. I went on to become Footballer of the Year at Pirates, something I never thought could happen in my career. There were maybe some people who thought that I was finished or my best years were behind me, but Pirates gave me the chance to prove them wrong. It had not been an easy decision to leave Chiefs, but it was an easy one to join Pirates.

You know, when you join any other team after having played for Kaizer Chiefs, there is an expectation that you will deliver. Chiefs is a massive club with top players, and I think there was this expectation on me. A lot of it is how you start. My first week at the club, Walter da Silva was the coach and I had only trained four days in the lead-up to the BP Top Eight quarterfinal against Jomo Cosmos. He says to me, “You are in the team.” I could not believe it, I had barely trained. It felt odd, wearing that colour jersey and the first 45 minutes it was hard to get used to, I promise! We were 1-0 down and then something just clicked, I scored two goals in the second half and we won the game 3-2. When you do that on debut, you win a lot of people over … teammates and fans. It was the perfect start for me and set the tone for my stay.

So, you slipped into the side easily?

Well, it helped that I joined about the same time as the late Marc Batchelor, who was also a former Chiefs player. We vowed to each other that we can never lose to Chiefs and you know what, we didn’t! From the start it felt natural, there were guys like Bashin Mahlangu and Nick Seshweni, who were really looking forward to having me in the side, so they made me feel welcome. I think they knew my winning mentality from Chiefs and believed I could bring that to Pirates. They didn’t feel threatened by me, they saw me as an asset who could help them be successful. I was made to feel very welcome. There was genuine warmth there.

And then you scored against Chiefs in a 2-0 win in 1994, just the fourth player at the time to net for both Chiefs and Pirates in the derby …

Yes, it was a penalty and I wanted to take it. When I scored, I just ran to celebrate with the Pirates supporters. This was not about me showing any malice towards Chiefs, nothing like that. The opposite, in fact. I had no enemies among the Chiefs fans and I wasn’t about to go and create them by getting carried away. I didn’t want them to say later on, ‘Remember how arrogant he was when he went to Pirates and scored against us.’ Because other players have done that, scored against their former team and then riled up the opposition fans on purpose, trying to prove a point or something. To me, that is wrong – you do your job in a respectful way and just get on with it. I had no beef with Chiefs.

How did the Chiefs players react to you and was there any bad blood there?

Not at all. You know, we are all in this industry for the same purpose. I learnt over the years, even while at Chiefs, that when you play an opposition, you give them respect. You win your tackles fairly and play the game in the right way. You never look down on another man, because you might need his help soon or, in a football context, be a teammate of his in the future. And I think I did that – when I was at Chiefs, I always treated Pirates players with respect, and when I changed colours, I did the same. You don’t try and pick fights, call people names and that stuff. Imagine if I had been like that at Chiefs and then gone on to join Pirates? It could have been a very different story for me.

So, you have no regrets about how things turned out?

None at all. I had some great seasons at Pirates and became top scorer and Footballer of the Year. Some people may have thought I had become a bad player and that’s why I left Chiefs, but I got the chance to prove them wrong. It was maybe the change of environment that I needed at that stage of my career.

Does it give you a sense of pride that you have played for both Soweto giants?

Pride is not the right word. Fulfilment is more what I feel. I was given a talent by God and I was able to manage it and turn it into a career in professional football, one that took me to some great clubs. Managing your talent is perhaps the hardest thing to do, and I feel fulfilled that I was able to do it at both Chiefs and Pirates, as well as my other clubs. ❐