Two's company but three's a party! The trio are back together again - Ace, Banks and Peter. Let's travel back in time to on-the-field victories, off-the-field parties, beautiful women … and cool clothes. It wasn't enough to be successful - you had to look the part. This week we find out about the trendsetting Kaizer Chiefs players and how Banks and Ace dressed for success.
Peter: Ace! Banks!
Ace: Cool and howdy!
Banks: Alive and kicking, man!
Peter: Gents, a regular Soccer-Laduma reader, Mr Dinwayo, has an interesting question about the 1975 Chevrolet Champion of Champions Final against Hellenic. He says you, Banksie, were singled out after the game for inciting the fans.
Ace: Remember we beat Hellenic 2-1 that evening at the Rand Stadium.
Peter: We won't remind you about the first leg score in Cape Town.
Ace: Ja, please, no!
Banks: But, no, if my memory serves me correctly, people never understood what really happened.
Peter: So tell us, Banksie, because there was a massive hold up when Hellenic scored.
Ace: Let's not forget that it was a tense evening. It was the first time a top White side, and Hellenic was the best White side in those days, was playing a top Black side. It was a huge game with a massive crowd...the atmosphere was tense and electric.
Peter: Yes.
Banks: Let me remind you guys, Hellenic scored, in my opinion, a blatant offside goal. The ref and the linesman were White and I think they thought that we didn't know the rules.
Peter: Actually, the ref was Jack Taylor from England, he reffed the World Cup final the year before. He was a great ref.
Ace: Ha, ha.
Banks: Ja, but his linesman was still out of order. Listen, I believed the goal was offside and no one can tell me differently. I went up to the linesman and the ref, and said, "Hey, guys, I know the rules, that was a big offside!" You know it was the first time I had ever protested a decision. The whole protest lasted about five minutes, but the officials still didn't listen. It was my way of showing them that they mustn't think we knew nothing and that they could just get away with it.
Ace: Still it was a great game in the end. Very exciting and with brilliant football from both sides.
Peter: One of the best...
Banks: Despite the Hellenic goal, yes it was. We showed the White media that we really could play. It was a hellava important victory for all of us.
Peter: The next question the reader poses is a great one. It takes us right back to the good old days. He says Chiefs players were trendsetters with Kaizer sporting a USA styled Afro and there were shebeens for Afro guys and others for those with clean shaven heads and some Shebeen Queen refused to allow guys with turn-ups in their trousers in as well.
Ace: Ah, those were the days.
Peter: Gents, for the younger readers, take them into the shebeen lifestyle in those days and for our older readers, make it a trip down memory lane.
Banks: He's right, this reader. Truly speaking, Kaizer Chiefs players were tops in fashion and style. We were all very social, more than any other professional team. Everyone called us hippies...
Ace: That's where the Kaizer Chiefs 'Love and Peace' motto comes from. Kaizer and Ewert Nene were our role models in everything, especially when it came to clothes and style.
Banks: Man, we were the first guys in Soweto to wear shirts without pockets and trousers without pockets. We were washing three times a day... People who were jealous of us said we were like ladies.
Ace: Ha, ha, but we played like men.
Peter: Oh yeah!
Banks: You know, one day I left Kaizer's place in Phefeni, Soweto to go back home to Randfontein. As I got off at the station, I saw some of my buddies, my homeboys from Randfontein. I was dressed in the latest fashion that all the Chiefs players were wearing. I said, "Hey, guys, where are you going?" They said, "Banksie, we are going to the shebeen for a drink, but you can't come." I said, "Hey, why not?" And ha, ha, they said, "No, Banks, you have no money, you have no pockets in your shirt or trousers. So no pockets, no money."
Ace: Ha, ha.
Banks: Can you believe it? I just called them to come and look at my belt. There was a zip in it. I pulled open the zip and showed them my money. They couldn't believe this fashion - a belt was a pocket with a zip as well!
Ace: The latest style at Chiefs in those days. The women loved it. But also certain shebeens wouldn't let you in if your appearance didn't fit in with their ideas.
Banks: Ja, some shebeens were Tsotsi shebeens, there you could only go in if you had turn-ups in your trousers and a clean shaven head. Your attire was your passport. Some shebeens would only let guys with Afros in and no one with a shaved head or turn-ups because they said they were Tsotsis.
Ace: Obviously, not everyone who wore turn-ups was a Tsotsi but the way you dressed was very important because it identified you.
Banks: And at Kaizer Chiefs, we were the trendsetters. We took the country by storm on and off the field. That's one of the reasons why Kaizer Chiefs got so much support. We were hot on and off the field. Beautiful women wanted to be associated with us and you know if men know that beautiful women are going to be around, then they want to be there as well. The guys came to see us play and to see the women who were all in short, short miniskirts.
Peter: Sounds good, very good. Pity there was no TV.
Ace: That's also how Chiefs got the name 'Glamour Boys'. It was because of our look.
Banks: We were glamorous, like film stars … ha, ha …
Peter: Well, guys, you were beautiful on and off the field … ha, ha, ha. Pity about age, hey. Time waits for no man.
Ace: Ja … so maybe that's why now is a good time to take it easy like Sunday morning.
Banks: Right on!
Peter: Love and peace, ha, ha …
