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Chiefs Star: I Was A Late Bloomer In Football

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Dillan Solomons during the Kaizer Chiefs media briefing at Moses Mabhida Stadium on 4 August 2023 in Durban, South Africa.
Dillan Solomons during the Kaizer Chiefs media briefing at Moses Mabhida Stadium on 4 August 2023 in Durban, South Africa.
Photo by Darren Stewart/Gallo Images

Kaizer Chiefs defender Dillan Solomons recently spoke about what it means to represent the Soweto Giants and an alternate career path he almost pursued.

Check it out.

What's the story?

Kaizer Chiefs right back Dillan Solomons sat down with a prominent club sponsor for a Q&A session, where he discussed the magnitude of playing for the Glamour Boys.

It's no secret that Solomons is living out his boyhood dream of playing for the Soweto Giants but it almost didn't materialise, as Solomons had the option of taking on a different career path.

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Let's take a closer look...

Solomons on Chiefs & alternate career 

Right-back Dillan Solomons was featured in Vodacom's latest episode of their "Know Your Khosi" series, where Solomons spoke about his career, football memories from his childhood and his answered questions about his teammates.

The ex-Moroka Swallows baller, who has made 12 appearances for Amakhosi in competitions this season, got candid about just how much it means to him to represent a club of Chiefs' stature:

"It feels great to play for Kaizer Chiefs, I'm very privileged to be here. Big moment for me, and of course my community. Nobody from my community has ever played for such a huge club yet. So, I have a responsibility to inspire and help my community that they can also be in a position that I am in," said the Steenberg-raised star.

Along with revealing his pre-match meal, a simple mince pasta and his ideal roommate during Chiefs travels, which is Yusuf Maart, Solomons spoke about how his football journey started:

"I started playing football at a very young age, I think six-years-old I started playing. I used play in a local team in my community and I used to play under-nine when I was six-years-old, so from that time, I fell in love with the sport," he said.

One of Solomons' earliest football memories was of him scoring a volley in his own goal as a six-year-old, after confusing his own goal with the opposition's.

Solomons may be  one of the fastest players in the DStv Premiership but he's also a late bloomer. The 25-year-old had the option of pursuing athletics over the beautiful game.

"I was a late bloomer in football. I was focused on athletics when I left school, at that time I already sport is something within me you know and there was nothing else I wanted to do besides sport, whether it's athletics or football. At 18/19, I really became serious about [pushing for a career in] sport," revealed the Chiefs paceman. 

As a young player, Solomons was also involved in athletics, in the sprints, long jump and triple jump events. According to the World Athletics website, he recorded a number of placements between 5th and 8th at South African age-group championships, and finished 12th in the long jump at the 2016 SA Championships and surpassed the 7-metre barrier in that same event!

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