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 07 December 2011 in issue number 750, where Sydney Moshikaro let us into the behind-the-scenes happenings at his former clubs Dynamos, Ria Stars and Kaizer Chiefs. The former beanpole striker has stories on the likes of the legendary Jacob Sakala, Joel Seroba, Patrick Mbuthu, club boss Pat Malabela and others. Enjoy!
Okay, man. First of all, I want to have a bit of a go at Mpho Dagada, who killed me in his Still In Touch. He said I was always late for training during our days at Dynamos. I remember one time he had bought a new car and used to stay with Tonic Chabalala and another boy from Mafikeng in the same flat. We used to train at 08h00 and he would wake up at 05h00 to wash the car. If his two housemates hadn't woken up early, he would leave them behind and head for training. Inside Giyani Stadium where we trained it was a bit dusty and Mpho would drive slowly from the gate until he reached the parking lot near the dressing room. It would take him 30 minutes to reach the parking lot, ha, ha, ha. After training, he'd make sure to polish the car.
At Kaizer Chiefs there was Patrick Mbuthu. He was something else! After he and Jabu Pule pulled a disappearing act when the club was contesting for the league title, just before a crucial game against Free State Stars, he once came to training, only to find that Jabu wasn't there. So since people were saying that it was him who was making Jabu disappear, he was busy asking the other guys, "I want an answer. Where is Jabu, huh? People say I'm the one who's leading him to disappear. I'm here now and he's not." Ha, ha, ha. Then there was Jacob Sakala, my former coach.
One time at Ria Stars we were training in Jo'burg. The club's director Sello 'Chicco' Twala stayed in Bassonia and we were based at a hotel in South Gate. So we decided to go and visit Chicco at his house. We parked the team bus in front of the gate and someone answered from inside the house, saying, "Chicco is not around." We then decided to go back to the hotel. But we told Sakala, "Coach, that person is fooling with you. That was Chicco's voice." He then told us, "You know what, I'm going to beat him up, I'm going to beat him up. He's a young man." While he was busy telling us this, his phone rang, and guess what? It was Chicco on the line! Sakala immediately said to us, "It's the boss calling me. Shut up!" Ha, ha, ha. Yhoo, we gave him a hard time about it, saying that if he's scared of Chicco while he's so far away from him, how much more when he's next to him? Ha, ha. Another funny coach was Shepherd Murape. I remember one time at Real Rovers we played Bloemfontein Celtic and our goalkeeper was Sam Banda from Zambia. Celtic scored from a corner kick and after the ball went into the net, Sam stayed inside the goalposts and didn't move out. Someone had to come and fetch the ball for the restart. At halftime in the dressing room, Shepherd didn't say a word for about 10 minutes. He was just walking around behind us. We were so scared of him and we were asking ourselves, "What's he going to say?" Then out of the blue he said to Sam, "You, son, these boys are giving their all, while you stand inside the poles, doing nothing! You are a criminal, son!" We didn't laugh at that moment but when we thought about it after the game, it was very, very funny!
We (Dynamos) were playing Zulu Royals in Durban and I was on the bench. I was about to come on in the second half and was busy doing warm-ups behind the bench. But the embarrassing part about it is that our boss Pat Malabela was watching me. He was busy telling me, "Legs up! Legs up!" Ha, ha, ha, I mean, you don't often find that the boss of the club is the one helping you do warm-ups! Talking about Pat, I remember we were paid by cheque at Dynamos. We were staying in Tzaneen and had to cash the cheques in Tzaneen or Louis Trichardt, which was a long distance away. The players who were well-paid and had cars would quickly drive to the bank and when those poor ones using the bus arrived later, their cheques would bounce, ha, ha.
Let me also tell you about Lucky Lekgwathi. I was staying with him at Ria Stars. The club was sponsored by Kappa, while Tembisa Classic were also sponsored by them. We had one pair of socks that had 'Tembisa Classic' written on it and I don't know how it found its way to our camp. But we used it without any problem. For example, in one game I would use the pair of socks and in the next game someone else would use it. But one time, when it was Lucky's turn to use it, he said, "No, I can't play with this pair of socks." We asked him, "What's the problem? We've been using it for some time now." We had to beg him...you know how fragile Lucky is. Eventually we lost the fight and the pair of socks was given to someone else, ha, ha.
Joel 'Fire' Seroba was another character. I remember one time in the dressing room at Dynamos he threatened to beat our coach Steve Komphela up! He told him straight, "I don't like you." Pat Malabela was there, but he said nothing. What a nice guy, Fire, but he could turn into something else when he was angry. The thing is, he was a 'Super Sub' at the club. He never started the game but would finish it, because he had the ability to change the complexion of the game. But that day he couldn't change the complexion of the game and after that he said, "No, I want to start. I don't want to be a 'Super Sub' anymore."
Best player I've ever faced: Jacob Lekgetho
Best player I've played with: Thabo Mooki
Biggest pay cheque: R18 000
Smallest pay cheque: R1 500
Former team that used the most muti: Kaizer Chiefs
Favourite current player: Andile Jali
Current occupation: FC United of Mahwelereng head coach
Former teams: Real Rovers, Ria Stars, Kaizer Chiefs, Dynamos
