For most wingers, Thabiso Hlalele was a fullback from hell. Pace to burn, quick on the turn, an engine for days, with a smattering of Kasi Flavour for good measure. Although best remembered for his stint with Jomo Cosmos, whom he represented between 2009 and 2014, it was at Free State Stars where it all started back in 2001. In the 2014/15 season, he decided to pack it in halfway through his one-year deal with Polokwane City, having also been on the books of the likes of Hellenic, Manning Rangers, Golden Arrows and Black Leopards. "I went up to Boebie Solomons and told him I had decided to retire because of an injury that was troubling me at the time," he said.
Thabiso, good to have you again on our pages. We must say Soccer Laduma readers loved your interview that we ran in edition 1356, where you spoke about going from being a footballer to a security supervisor. Now we wanna get funny with you…
I'm glad the people enjoyed reading my story. Yeah, I know the article was trending all over South Africa. Yho! Yho! Yho! People were busy calling, SMSing. You know what monna, they are proud of me, my man. That article lifted so many people even if they were not soccer players before. Even here at work, my colleagues were applauding me and how strong I am. Lunga, well done, my man. I am sure Soccer Laduma sold a lot of copies that week, so I think I must send you my bank account number because I want to buy a bike, ha, ha, ha.
Having played in South Africa's topflight for a decent number of years, you must have some memories to share from your playing career.
That's true. I still remember travelling to Cape Town by train to go for trials at Hellenic. It was me, Kaizer Montsi, James Madidilane and another guy whose name I've now forgotten. Just imagine, from Free State to Cape Town by train, and only having milk and bread as a meal along the journey! All of us, we had one goal in mind: we are gonna stay there, we are gonna sign for the team. When we got there, you could see this was a professional side because the fields were in top condition. One of the grounds was used by the first team to train on, and I'm talking here about guys like Vuyo Mere, (Joel) "Fire" Masilela, the late Joas Magolego, you know. It was professional by that time, I don't wanna lie. We didn't have tracksuits and stuff, we just came for trials. The funny thing, mf'ethu (my brother) … you know when you know football, you know football. Thabiso Hlalele, thank you, my man, ha, ha, ha. I thank myself, my man. It's a pity that I don't come from Jo'burg. If I had come from Jo'burg, I bet I would be in the same league as the likes of Teko Modise… or even above them. Polotiki tsa bolo nhe (Football politics hey)!
For you to have come all the way from the Free State to attend trials in the Mother City, it must mean there were a lot of other hopefuls as well.
Ja, ja. (Players came from) all over Free State. Others were from Limpopo and they were there. There were also some from Nigeria. We arrived there and waited for them to call us onto the field. You won't believe that they played me behind the striker. You know, in five minutes I think I scored two goals.
Come on, those must have been offside goals!
Ha, ha, ha. Pace, skill, taking the man on… yho! Monna, the coach called me in no time and said I must go and sign a contract to play in the PSL. When I got to the office, I was handed a three-year contract. (I was given a) tracksuit, new boots, everything. What a talent (I was), I don't wanna lie! Even when I was in the first team and we played against trialists the one time, I did quite well. I remember we won 3-1 and I scored one of the goals.
So, were you registered with a team at the time, or were you just clubless?
I was coming from a Vodacom (League, now ABC Motsepe League) team by that time called Roses United, which was from Bloemfontein.
We bet you didn't tell them about your journey by train to the Cape…
No, never. It was my secret, my man! When they heard that Thabiso Hlalele had signed a three-year contract with Hellenic, they tried to do moshikashika (funny business), telling me, "We won't give you your clearance." I was like, "You will give me my clearance, you don't know people." Ha, ha, ha. So, after that, we went to (Manning) Rangers. It was trials again. It was difficult, my man. I still remember there were 50 of us in one room. We were just there on invitation by one of the guys from Nigeria who was an agent. He just told us, "My friend, just come here." Again, my mission was to deliver there. They gave me 30 minutes (to play) and after that they said I must go and train with the first team. Even in the first team, they gave me 20 minutes to train with them and then they said I must go to the office. I signed a four-year contract. Then they fired a right winger because of me. They told him, "Your contract is up, you must go because we have Thabiso Hlalele now." Ha, ha, ha. I remember meeting that guy in the lift and he wasn't talking to me. I was like ja nhe, welcome to the big league. Sometimes it's not easy to share a position with someone else, it's tough.
We can tell you really had a good time playing in the PSL.
No, I did, I did. Although I cannot say much about Golden Arrows because I never enjoyed anything about playing for them. I won't mention who the coach was at the time, but he used to play me only in away games because he said I was a hard worker and the team needed to fight for those points. I then asked them to loan me out to any team that was keen on my services, only to find that Black Leopards were interested in having me on board. The funny thing about my arrival there is that… You know each and every senior player has his own designated seat in the team bus.
Yeah, yeah, that was the thing back then.
Well, I didn't know this, and there I was on my first day, sitting in front. Soon after that, I heard the guys speaking in Venda among themselves. They seemed to be in some animated discussion. It was like I was somewhere in Africa but not South Africa with these guys speaking a language I didn't understand, ha, ha, ha. One of the guys then came to confront me, but still speaking in Venda. I could tell this was serious, so I turned to one of the guys and asked him to do the translation. He said to me, "He monna, that's not your seat." Ha, ha, ha. It was my first time hearing people speaking Venda, and from that day I vowed that when in Rome, you must do as the Romans do. Obviously all of this didn't go down well with me, and I silently said to myself I was gonna show them at training what I was made of. I couldn't allow the disrespect to go on like that. When I got to training, I was still the same player. I didn't change my style. Skill, pace, going up and down… you see? It was only after that that I could see them warming up to me. Within no time, we were speaking Venda to each other. They kept saying, "He's a good player this boy." They started loving me and would invite me to spend time with them and their families from time to time.
Now you deserved that front seat…
Ha, ha, ha. Next week I'm going to tell you about a stupid thing I almost did.
By Lunga Adam
STILL IN TOUCH FUN FACTS
First paycheque: R1 500 at Free State Stars
Biggest bonus: R1 000 a game at Jomo Cosmos
Opponent I respected the most: None
Team I'd have loved to play for: Mamelodi Sundowns
Favourite PSL player right now: Mashweu Mphahlele
Best coach I played under: Boebie Solomons Jomo Sono
Craziest request from a fan: None really
