Soccer Laduma readers, why did coach Joe Frickleton promise to run naked down Commissioner Street in Jo'burg? Maybe some of you Golden Oldies out there remember, if so you'll also know that Joe has still not paid up. Well, there's a great story behind that one. This week Banks also shares the tale of how Pele Blaschke tried to stop Jomo Sono. Eish … he should have known better. But let's not give the game away, read on for the full details of both these stories from our soccer legends, in this week's 'episode' taken from Soccer Laduma edition 219 of 17 May 2001.
Peter: Alive and kicking, gentlemen.
Ace: Cool and howdy.
Banks: Cool, howdy, alive and kicking.
Peter: Ha, ha, good. Ace, a question for you. A reader, also named Ace, Ace Nkopodi of Groblersdal asked an interesting question. He says, if his memory serves him correctly, that you got married in 1982 to your former wife. And because of your famous number 12 jersey, you had your wedding on the 12th of the 12th (December) 1982. Also, and this is unbelievable, that your celebration started at 12 noon. Is this correct?
Banks: Ha, ha.
Ace: Yes, sure this guy is spot on, 12 is my number so we planned everything around it. Ey, Peter, we had a good time, I can tell you.
Peter: And Banks, a quick question for you. A reader wants to know if you are giving your son, Bruce Ramokadi, any advice at the moment because he's not playing at Manning Rangers regularly.
Banks: Look at it this way, Bruce is a good player but this season he has been unfortunate with injuries. I advise him but I can't make him change his way of playing. He always wants to be in the thick of things and sometimes he gets injured because of this.
Peter: Another reader, Eugene Khanyile of KwaMashu asked about the time in 1972 when Pele Blaschke tried to stop Jomo Sono.
Ace: Ha, ha, yes, that was brilliant.
Peter: Why, what happened?
Banks: We were playing Pirates in Durban and Pele Blaschke was our right wing, number 7, and he was very fast. He was from Namibia and only spoke Afrikaans and English. Anyway, Jomo got the ball and Pele ran full speed to try and tackle him.
Peter: Mistake...
Ace: Oh, yes.
Banks: Correct, because Jomo was too clever. Jomo just feinted one way and Pele went the wrong way. He spun around and tried to tackle Jomo again. Then Jomo just started to dribble Pele non-stop. He toyed with him. It seemed like almost 45 seconds, which is a long time on the soccer field, that Jomo was dribbling and teasing Pele.
Ace: It was brilliant.
Peter: The crowd must have loved it.
Banks: Yes, the crowd started singing a song in Zulu saying "Jomo is playing with Pele". It became a big song for the supporters and they always sang it.
Peter: And what did Pele Blaschke say?
Ace: We joked with him afterwards, but what could he say? Jomo was magic.
Peter: Those were the days. Another reader whose name and address didn't come out in the fax asks about that very famous victory of Kaizer Chiefs over Lusitano. He says that Joe Frickleton said that if Kaizer Chiefs beat Lusitano, he would streak naked down Commissioner Street in Johannesburg.
Ace: Ha, ha, ja. Unfortunately I didn't play that day, because I only came back from America the next day. On the Sunday everyone was talking about how brilliantly Kaizer Chiefs played. Computer Lamola was brilliant that day I was told. Maria Maria ran the show...and yes, Joe still owes us a strip.
Banks: Actually, let me correct something. Even though the official score for that game was 2-1 to Chiefs, the real score was 3-0 to Chiefs.
Peter: What do you mean?
Banks: The fact of the matter is that we had a free kick and Bull Lehoko scored. The ball bounced out of the net, to Peta Bala'c, who was playing for Lusitano at the time. Peta caught the ball and just booted it down the field.
Peter: Did he know it was a goal?
Banks: Yes, he wasn't cheating. You know keepers get cross when a team scores against them, so he just kicked the ball away. All our players were still celebrating. The ref didn't blow his whistle and the crowd made so much noise that we would never have known whether the ref blew his whistle or not.
Peter: So, what happened next?
Banks: Malcolm Filby controlled Bala'c's clearance and started dribbling towards our goal. It was only me and Chris 'Rollaway" Ndlovu at the back. He beat Chris and put his shot past me, and the referee allowed the goal.
Ace: Crazy.
Peter: Yes, what did you do?
Banks: I went mad. I ran to the ref and said, "What the hell was that, ref?" He said it was a goal. So I said he was wrong because if Bull Lehoko's goal was offside or a direct free kick, or if his shot went behind, then Bala'c would have had to take a place kick. Yet Peta Bala'c kicked the ball out of his hand.
Peter: So what did the ref say?
Banks: Nothing, he just looked at me, speechless. I think he knew he was wrong.
Peter: And what happened to Joe Frickleton after the game?
Ace: Ha, ha.
Banks: We went to the Lusitano dressing room but he was missing. In fact, to this day, Joe still owes us his naked streak.
Peter: Well, if Joe's reading this, maybe he'll contact us and tell us when he's going to pay up...ha, ha.
Ace: Yes, Joe, we're waiting. Until then, let's take it easy.
Banks: Like Sunday morning.
Peter: Sure …
