Farook’s choice team has eyes on trophy
IN 1979, an eager 19-year-old, fresh from matriculating at Raisethorpe High in Pietermaritzburg, got involved football administration.
Four decades after sinking his teeth into the beautiful game, Farook Kadodia, the owner and chairperson of PSL club Maritzburg United, is all set for his big day in the sun.
The Team of Choice, as they are also known, will play Free State Stars in the Nedbank Cup final in Cape Town on Saturday. It is their first major cup final and the biggest game in the history of the club, which was formed in 1981.
“It has been a long journey for my brother Imran and me,” he says. “We have invested a lot of money, sacrificed time for the club. We have been through a lot but we love football and the community.”
Born and bred in the Kwazulunatal capital, Kadodia is one of the most hands-on administrators in top flight South African football.
After finishing school, he opted not to study further, took a leap of faith and focused on football and business instead.
A former central defender for amateur outfit, Maritzburg Santos, he now runs a successful wholesale commodities company in the city.
Kadodia built the business over the past 20 years while obsessively pursuing his drive to bring professional football to the region.
“A close friend, Brain Rupram and I were approached by the Federation to start a club in Pietermaritzburg. Those were the humble beginnings of Maritzburg United,” he recalled. “We ran it for a few years but life takes over at times. I returned in 2001 to the First Division but that did not work out for us,” he said.
But he jumped at the opportunity, in 2005, to buy the PSL status of Tembisa Classic.
Since then, Kadodia, his brother, and board members (Abu Khatib and Bashir Moosa) have endured a roller-coaster ride, almost giving up on their dream at times.
With no commercial sponsor, the board had to bankroll the club over the years.
“Two years ago we managed to survive relegation in the last 10 minutes of the campaign by beating Jomo Cosmos. It was a year where everything went against us until those final moments.
“One of our options at the time was to sell up and walk away.”
Beating relegation has injected new life into the club.
Their dream of returning with a major trophy to the City of Choice is well and truly alive.