The tough-tackling Gavin Lane made his professional debut in 1989 for Giant Blackpool and was four years later recruited to Orlando Pirates by the late Walter da Silva.
Having gone on to win a lot of trophies and earn a couple of Bafana Bafana call-ups, 'Stability Unit' retired in 2003 while on the books of AmaZulu. "I became involved in an assistant coaching role at the club. I enjoyed my career and I've got no regrets. We worked hard, we played hard and afterwards we partied hard, which is always good," he says.
Gavin, you are a well travelled player and achieved so much in the game. Where did you enjoy your football the most?
Ja, obviously, I've got to say Orlando Pirates. I mean, I was at Pirates for the longest and we won all the major trophies there, obviously the biggest one being the Caf Champions League in 1995. Winning the league in 1994 for the first time in 20 years was also big.
I spent 10 years or so at Pirates, so there are very fond memories. When I started out at Giant Blackpool, I played with guys like Shoes Moshoeu, Fani Madida and Geelbooi 'Gomma-Gomma' Masango. I then went to Moroka Swallows for a while, which I really enjoyed. I helped them out for one season. AmaZulu had a great support base, which was good. But Pirates is where I got all my trophies and things like that, you know.
Who was your roommate at Bucs and what would you get up to before games?
At first I shared with Oupa Mabuza, the right back. Later on Mark Batchelor and I shared a room for many, many years. Then I also shared with goalkeeper Ivo Simunic when we travelled to Africa. You just shared with whoever you were put with. Sometimes the coaches decided they didn't want friends sleeping together.
We were based in Jo'burg and if we had to fly to Durban on the Friday and we were only playing on the Saturday, the coach would say let's have a light run late afternoon and then just go for a walk on the beach or maybe have a swim, for those guys that could swim.
Otherwise, ja...guys used to get into their rooms, play games, go to the masseur and have their massages done. Most of the time we would watch TV and obviously the next morning you have your pre-match meal and get your mind ready for the game.
Tell us about the funny guys...
Yho, we had a whole bunch of them! Bernard Lushozi and Bruce Ramokadi shared a room together and both had a great sense of humour. But the funniest man of all was Edward 'Magents' Motale.
He always had stories to tell and would then say to you, "Serious, my bra! Serious, my bra! That's what happened!" He and Mark Fish used to share a room together. Marks Maponyane also came up with some jokes every now and again.
You know, we had a good team spirit from 1994 onwards. We had a good bunch of guys that always played together, worked together and travelled to Africa together. We got to know each other not just as soccer mates or people that you meet at training all the time.
True. Any funny incidents you can remember?
After matches, we always used to go out and have a few beers. If we were playing in Cape Town, we would go to the Waterfront and Magents would join us and say he wants to be with us. But we always used to come back. The other guys would go to the varsities and they always got some lovely ladies with them and everything. We would gatecrash and party with them, ha, ha, ha...all silly things! You know what happens when you go play away, you're always playing jokes on each other. Although Helman Mkhalele was very quiet, he also had his little bit there, you know what I mean? Somewhere along the line we were doing some nonsense, ha, ha, ha.
Would you also go to the black townships with the guys...
(Cuts in) Oh, ja, oh, ja! I remember once or twice we went to...what's this place where Jerry Sikhosana stays? (Thinks for a while) Ah, dammit, man! There next to Kempton Park...
Tembisa?
Yes, Tembisa! We used to walk there after matches and pop in at a shebeen. Jerry was very well-known there and we used to go and have a few big quarts there. When we were in Pretoria, we'd go with Magents and have a beer somewhere. Going to have a quick one or two somewhere isn't too bad, hey, ha, ha, ha.
Those who've played with you say you were a bit short-tempered.
Ja, you know what happens is that when things weren't going the way that I liked them to go at training or whatever, I needed to sort things out. You've got to get stuck in. We're all there to do a job. When you want to play you must train properly. If you don't like it, then I get a little bit short-tempered, but there was never an incident where I hit one of my teammates or anything like that, ha, ha. When the guys are bugging around before a match, you have to do something, but as I say, nothing too terrible where you're going to hurt anyone. They are all talking nonsense because they all talk sh*t about me anyway. They are all do, china, ha, ha!
What's been your most embarrassing moment?
Geez, my most embarrassing moment? I think there's been a few when you make tackles in the box and you give awaya penalty. But obviously me missing not one but a few penalties... everyone still reminds me about that when I walk into town.
They'll say, "Hey, Stability, remember that penalty you put thereeee, high in the sky?" I just tell them, "Everyone in the world misses penalties." But look, as soon as the final whistle went, all the players would take off their boots and they didn't want to take penalties.
At training they all wanted to take penalties, but when it came to the match, they all ran away! We used to laugh about that. It's part of football. Someone's got to take a penalty and sometimes you score and other times you miss it.
My first game for Pirates was in the Iwisa Spectacular against Kaizer Chiefs and I missed a penalty and I was thinking, "Geez, there are all these Pirates supporters here. If I ever walk out of the stadium, they'll want to kill me." But they were actually very supportive and kept telling me, "Don't worry, Gavin, it happens. Keep your head up." When I missed the penalty, Doctor Khumalo took a penalty for Chiefs and it hit the bar and went in. He was bloody lucky! Mine was nowhere near the goals. I was quite relieved then, because you know the supporters can really destroy if they're not on your side.
Tavern of Legends Fun Facts:
Best player I've ever faced: Too many to mention
Best player I've played with: Shoes Moshoeu
Biggest pay cheque: I can't even remember!
Smallest pay cheque: R1 000
Former team that used the most muti: AmaZulu
Favourite current player: Lucky Lekgwathi
Current occupation: Sales Manager: Gordon Verhoef and Krause
Former teams: Giant Blackpool, Orlando Pirates, Moroka Swallows, AmaZulu
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