Helman Mkhalele had an eight-year spell in Turkey and it did not go without its challenges, but he fought through some of the toughest periods to earn himself the honour of being one of South Africa's finest ever exports.
During his time in Turkey, the man famously known as 'Midnight Express' played for four clubs and he spoke to Soccer Laduma about the time he spent at each one.
Kayserispor
The first club I played for in Turkey was Kayserispor. I went there in 1997. They were playing in the Super Lig. It was my first encounter of playing overseas and obviously there were high expectations. When I got to Turkey, the first thing that shocked me, I would say, was the infrastructure. I was expecting that when you go overseas everything is colourful and there are modern buildings, but to my surprise, the infrastructure was not of a good standard. Even the club I joined...the clubhouse was there, but it was not of a good standard. I was a little bit disappointed because it's not something I expected. When I went there, I was accompanied by Dr Khoza to ensure that I got a better deal, or a good deal. This is because I had another offer from PAOK in Greece. There were two options that were on the table that I needed to choose from. Even though I did not know initially, when I was flying to Turkey, there were people expecting me in Greece. I don't know what was happening. But I made the move to Turkey and I had to remain behind after signing.
They took me to a hotel and the following day I went to the clubhouse. When I joined the team at the clubhouse, the team had left for Austria for pre-season. I was left alone there and it was very difficult because I was at the clubhouse and no one could speak English. I had a bible and a Kickoff magazine. Those are the two books I had because I was anticipating that I would buy more books in Turkey. But, to my surprise, there were no shops selling English books. So, I only had the bible and the Kickoff magazine. I don't know how many times I read that magazine. It was like I was going to write an exam. The team came back after two weeks and I joined them. I remember before our first game, I got injured. I was out for two weeks.
Fortunately, the late John 'Shoes' Moshoeu was in Turkey and whenever he called to check how I was doing, we would speak for three hours. I would not want to end that call. He played a big role in helping me understand the culture. I had a coach who could not speak English and we had to have meetings where he would have to explain what we were going to do. In a day, I would have almost three meetings, with the coach, management. I remember this one time it was snowing and I thought we would not be training. I got a call and they asked where I was and I told them it's snowing. They said 'we are about to train'. I told them I would not be able to drive in the snow and they had someone who came to collect. It was the worst day in my entire football life. I couldn't even kick the ball properly and I couldn't run. But I told myself that I wanted to play overseas and I started pushing more. Walking on the streets was also difficult because I was probably the only black person. It was even worse with my complexion. People would want to touch me and all that. The team got relegated at the end of that season though. They were even accusing me that I was always away with the national team.
Ankaragucu
I was scouted while I was I was at the (1998) FIFA World Cup and it actually denied me a chance to go play in the Premier League. What happened is that while we were in camp in German (before the World Cup), Ankaragucu came. They were smart. They made sure that I signed a contract before the World Cup. We played the World Cup and when we came back, I needed to go join my new team. On my way to the airport, I got a call from Kevin Keegan. He was coaching Fulham and he said 'Helman, I want you'. Because there was a time he came to South Africa and coach Clive Barker allowed him to run an exercise in the Bafana Bafana squad while we were preparing for a game. He called me on my way to the airport and he said he wanted me to come to England. They were not in the topflight and he said 'we will give you 400 000 pounds annually'. That was a lot of money back then. With the lack of knowledge and understanding, I told him that I signed with Ankaragucu and I told him that I would go cancel the contract. Then he said 'it does not work like that'. He thought I hadn't signed. That's how I missed out on the opportunity, but I was also happy with the offer I got in Turkey. But playing in England would have been in a better league.
I played for Ankaragucu for two years. I was used to the culture in Turkey and things were much easier and I could visit places alone. Towards the end of the (second) season, the club hired a new coach while I was in South Africa (with Bafana Bafana). We were playing a World Cup qualifier against Zimbabwe. What they did in Turkey was that they said I should be in Turkey on Monday, when Bafana Bafana were playing on Sunday. That was impossible. On that Monday, we were flying to South Africa from Zimbabwe, but they were saying I should be in Turkey. They said if I don't come, they would cancel my contract. And I said 'that's fine'. I didn't play for a season and a half and I was back home just training with Orlando Pirates. I had to fight to get my clearance through FIFA. That's why I was out for a season and a half. It was frustrating, but I was able to win the case.
Goztepe Malatyaspor
I went back to Turkey to play for Goztepe and after playing there, I played for Malatyaspor. I played there until 2005. In 2005, I could feel that I could not take it anymore. I just wanted to come back home after playing for four teams in Turkey. So, I took the decision to come back. So, that's my journey in Turkey. I was happy with my time in Turkey, but I would have loved to play in a bigger league, because there was an opportunity to play in England and it did not materialise. The good thing is that the Turkish league was very strong at the time.
