Nicknamed 'Soweto' in his heyday, Mark McVeigh began his career at English club Queen's Park Rangers in 1996, before joining SuperSport United a year later. It's been four years since he last kicked a ball in the professional ranks and he says, "I felt it was time to venture into another avenue. I had to look beyond football and try to get into the corporate world."
Mark, thanks for speaking to us. Let's get right into it. Where did you enjoy your career the most?
It was definitely at Moroka Swallows where I was sharing a room with either Ivan Winstanley or Gary McNab, depending on who made the squad. Those were fun times. You know how white boys are. They just watch TV and then go to sleep, ha, ha.
Those were the days under our chairman David Chabeli when we used to sleep in Formula 1 hotels. Gavin Lane would be on the top bunk while Jorge Fernandez and I would share the double bed underneath. I was the younger of the guys in the room and they always used to take advantage of the situation.
Tell us about the funny characters back then.
It was only me...everyone else was miserable, ha, ha! Although Ivan was a bit quiet, he used to joke here and there. We used to have a bit of a giggle together. Daniel Matsau, the little fat gummy bear, was also a naughty guy who used to poke fun at others at every given opportunity. He was a good guy.
We used to camp at the Birchwood Hotel and for four years we always ate the same food on Fridays. The guys got tired of eating chicken, potatoes and the other stuff all the time, so one Friday Gary and Warren Lewis sneaked out after camp to get burgers, a large Coke and fries and then went back to the room. Out of the blue, our coach Gavin Hunt walked in, shook his head, turned around and walked away. He wasn't impressed. Ha, ha, ha.
Did you ever sneak out of camp?
Not really. Even though we were naughty, we were real professionals. The one funny thing is that at Maritzburg United they used to take our cell phones in camp, where they would be kept by the coach in his room. A lot of the guys were using Nokia 3310 cell phones back then.
What we as players used to do was to set alarms on our phones for different times, so that every half an hour the phones would ring and the coach would have to wake up, ha, ha, ha. I would set my alarm for 03h30 and another player would set his for 04h00 and so on and so on. So the coach would be woken up throughout the night, ha, ha, ha.
Ha, ha... what's the craziest thing you've ever done?
Geez, that was so long ago! Let me think...you make me sound like Paul Gascoigne now! I think it was when I first started out at SuperSport United. I was asked to go to a matric dance. I was never in the squad as I was still young and had just broken through to the professional ranks. We were going to play Orlando Pirates in the BobSave Super Bowl. I went to the matric dance and got home at 03h30! I then travelled with the squad to FNB to play Pirates.
Terry Paine and Shane McGregor put me on the bench and introduced me in the last 20 minutes of the game. Oh, I had a great game! The following week I told myself, "This seems to work for me." Then I went to a nightclub and came back at 00h30 before a game! I started the game and was taken off in the first half, ha, ha, ha. It backfired on me.
Your most embarrassing moment?
I think it was in the national U23 and we were playing Colombia at Milpark Stadium. I can't remember whether the coach was Shakes Mashaba or Mich d'Avray. He told me to go and warm up and I did that. Then he called me up so that I could get ready to go in. I took off my tracksuit and then a minute later he told me, "No, put your tracksuit back on, you're not going in. Sit down." Yhoo, the whole stadium had to see that. It was very embarrassing.
Have you ever seen teammates fighting?
Players were always fighting because everyone wanted to play, but we were a squad of about 28 players and only 11 could play. One of the funniest incidents was when Carlo Scott and Lungisani Ndlela had a fight. Carlo's arms were 10cm long while Lungisani's were 3m long, ha, ha, so Carlo stood no chance! Carlo tried his best but Lungisani was busy nipping him, while we stood there laughing at them! Gavin was also laughing, ha, ha.
When he joined us, Lungisani used to toe poke the ball and we always laughed at him, but he was a cool guy who liked to eat. But the one who ate too much was Elasto Kapowezha. Never invite Elasto for dinner at your house or else you'll have to go to the Spar the next day. We'd have our pre-match meal at 08h00 and you'd find Elasto still eating at 09h00.
Who was your funnies coach?
It was Gavin Hunt for his reactions on the touchline. He used to flipping tell me what he thought of me. I remember one time when I was doing my tricks on the wing and he kept on screaming at me to kick the ball down the line. I told him, "I'm going to kick it down the line. Easy!" I then mistakenly kicked it out and 20 minutes later I was sitting next to him on the bench, ha, ha, ha.
Professor Ngubane was another funny coach. He should stop coaching and become a comedian. Another one was Vladislav Heric at Maritzburg. We never understood a word he said.
You must have used muti.
Under Chabeli muti was a big thing at Swallows. Please tell the kit manager, Junior Molefe, that I know he's still using muti. See me now, see me no more, ha, ha, ha. Ah, Junior, the fat man! I haven't spoken to him for four years but I know he's using muti. Swallows kits were white but at the end of the season they had brown stains because of all the muti.
Ha, ha, ha, thanks for your time, Mark.
Sure, Lungs!
Tavern Talk Fun Facts:
Best player I've ever faced: Franklin Cale
Best player I've played with: Alfred Phiri
Biggest pay cheque: Gavin Hunt gave me a lot of money to leave Swallows!
Smallest pay cheque: R4 000
Former team that used the most muti: Moroka Swallows
Favourite current player: Mthokozisi Yende
Current occupation: Self-employed
Former teams: Queen's Park Rangers (England), SuperSport United, Bush Bucks, African Wanderers, Golden Arrows, Ria Stars, AmaZulu, Moroka Swallows, Mpumalanga Black Aces, Maritzburg United
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