Soccer Laduma's 'In Touch' 'Still In Touch' feature has been a fan favourite for almost two decades in Soccer Laduma's weekly newspaper.
Millions of readers turn to it first each week to read the crazy stories that Mzansi's former players tell and to see current soccer stars dish the dirt on their teammates and coaches.
Over the years, together with our readers, we have laughed uncontrollably and gasped with disbelief at stories that have never been told before!
Due to the incredible success and reading pleasure over the years and the timeless nature of this incredible content, Soccer Laduma has dug through the archives to bring back to life some of the gems you may have missed, or simply want to re-read and share with your friends.
This week, we look back to 19 December 2012 in issue number 802, where Peter Matshitse detailed life as a Moroka Swallows player in the old days. He recalls some funny stories, among which is one about the club's merchandise stolen by girls they had picked up in Long Street, Cape Town, as well as all the escapades of his then teammates. Enjoy!
Yeah, I spent a lot of time there and I played with some good players as well. The spirit was always fantastic. I shared a room with Peter Rabolele and I guess it was a case of 'two Peters' having something in common, ha, ha, ha. The two of us clicked and he was a nice person who was down-to-earth. We had a lot of funny characters in the team, but I have to make special mention of the Lekgetho brothers (George and the late Jacob). I used to travel with them from Soweto to training every day and they were very funny. Even in camp, they always had a way of making us laugh!
I remember the one time we went to play in Cape Town. It was a night game, so we were going to sleep over and then come back the next day. After the game, the coach gave us freedom to do whatever we wanted. We went out as a group, did a bit of partying and then came back to our hotel rooms to sleep, and some of the guys came back with girls. I was driving one of the club's kombis. Around 04h00, I was woken up by a knock on my hotel room door. It was Jacob. I asked him, "What's the matter?" and he told me, "I've lost my club merchandise! It must have been stolen by the chicks we brought to the hotel last night." Ha, ha, ha, I woke up, took the kombi and we went to Long Street and searched for those girls and we just couldn't find them. Ha, ha, we searched really hard and, looking back, that was really funny! Jacob got into trouble with the management after that, but he ended up telling them the truth!
You know, after games, you want to be free, you want to be yourself, and that's when you do all those funny things. We were always busy with training and games, and whenever we got some time off, we'd make sure we enjoyed ourselves. Samuel 'Sea' Ngobeni was also a crazy guy and he was the funniest in the team kombi on our way to training and games. We'd have to listen to him teasing the other players all the way. That was before the guys bought their own cars and he brought a lot of entertainment into the team. We sneaked out a lot when we were playing away games, but after games and training, I preferred chilling with the guys I grew up with. The thing is, as people we have different personalities and ways of behaving and then if one player does something wrong off the field, we all get painted with the same brush. I tried by all means to avoid bad publicity.
I think it was when I couldn't play games or attend training because I refused to have my skin cut with a razor in the club's muti rituals. Jacob and I refused to do it and we got suspended. That felt bad, but how could they suspend you for refusing to take part in muti? Yes, we used muti at Swallows, everyone was part of it, but I wasn't comfortable with having my skin cut. Muti has always been part of the football culture in South Africa, but there were times when we used it and then went on to lose 5-0! We would have a sauna the whole night and then lose the next day, while we could have used that time to relax. We'd be tired come match day!
But those were the days, man. Marc McVeigh was a wonderful boy. He interacted with everyone and also had his funny moments. When he saw you doing a skill, he would want to learn that skill and use it in the game. Naughty Mokoena lived up to his name...wherever he was, there was trouble! hehe. Jokhonia Cibi was a good player but very stubborn, ha, ha. That's why he was nicknamed 'The Bull'. We were coached by Viktor Bondarenko and he was forever making jokes with the players, ha, ha. He would be very serious leading up to the game, studying the opposition and so on, but after the game he would be in a jovial mood, especially if we had won. I remember the one day we played in Cape Town or Durban, I can't really remember which. It was an afternoon game, so we flew back on the same day. On the way back in the plane, he had some shots and then started singing some of the songs we used to sing. We then joined in and made a lot of noise and the other passengers weren't impressed, ha, ha. What this showed us was that 'Bondas' used to listen to us every time we sang in the dressing room. You'd find yourself laughing when he spoke because he had his own way of speaking English. He used a loudspeaker at training and that was quite funny. When you made a mistake, he'd just let you know through the loudspeaker!
Ja, it happened kakhulu, bhuti wam (a lot, my brother). At Zulu Royals, we used to get paid on the 9th or 10th of the following month. If you had debit orders, that meant you were in trouble. You never knew your exact pay date and all you knew was that you would get paid any day after month-end. Sometimes when the money was deposited into your bank account, it would be short and that would really break your spirit as a player. We know it's not all about money when you are playing football, but you need to survive. When such things happen, you can't just shut up, you need to say something to make the management aware that the treatment they are dishing out to you isn't good. It's not nice to get paid late or not to get paid at all.
Best player I've ever faced: Roger Feutmba
Best player I've played with: Jabu Pule
Biggest pay cheque: R15 000
Smallest pay cheque: R4 000
Former team that used the most muti: Moroka Swallows
Favourite current player: Sifiso Myeni
Current occupation: Teacher at Altmont Technical High School
Former teams: Orlando Pirates, Moroka Swallows, Tembisa Classic, Lehurutshe Stock Birds,
Kaizer Chiefs, Zulu Royals, Black Leopards, Jomo Cosmos
