I was fresh from Moroka High School when I arrived in Qwaqwa in 1973. I had come to Qwaqwa for an interview for a clerical position in the then Basotho Tribal Authority which at the time was led by Chief Wessel Mota of the Batlokoa tribe. The Basotho Tribal Authority would later transition to what became the Qwaqwa Government in 1975 and was since led by the late Dr. TK Mopeli until the new dispensation or democratic government of South Africa in 1994.
After securing appointment as a Stores Officer in the Administration of the Basotho Tribal Authority, I settled in Phuthaditjhaba. At the time, Qwaqwa was still barren and Phuthaditjhaba itself was starting to take shape as a modern township in the area.
The main entertainment activities in Phuthaditjhaba were, interestingly music and dance, football and to some other already settled folks, shebeen excursions and other liquor houses.
Having been a soccer player of note myself, I immediately joined Maholosiane Football Club (‘Maholosiane”) as their Midfielder and enjoyed a lot of game time under the captaincy of Zorro Phalo (“Zorro”). Almost all the soccer players working in the Administration of Basotho Tribal Authority were players of Maholosiane and were generally good and talented players. To name but few of that time, names that come in mind are “Page” Seekane, Mokhubo from Ambag School (later renamed Itemoheleng), “Guinny” Kaibe, “Drum” from Zastron, “Zorro” at number 9 position, “Soweto” Moloi (whom I personally named “Terreline” for an incident where his shorts got torn during one of our games), “Wingy” Monamodi from Kroonstad, Java Head “Pro Phakela” from Ficksburg. And of course, myself.
Maholosiane as a football club, were well-organized, disciplined, tough as they come and played well orchestrated football that made them look like the stock birds in attack and all over the field. Their football was amazing and their white and blue colour outfit was wonderful on the players. This club was a pride of Qwaqwa and there were very few clubs at that time that played football like they did. I remember there was a very “poor” club called Hungry Lions from Maqhekung at the time, but they were also no match to Maholosiane in all departments. Further afield, there were long established teams that were in contention for the Maholosiane status as a crowd-puller such as Harrismith Gunners, Bethlehem Terrors, Ficksburg’s Ex-20, Marquard Aces, (I just can’t remember the name of the football club in Senekal that time that was also noticeable in the same league as these that I have named. It was also a tough team in the Free State). To cut the long story short, Maholosiane was a giant of the Eastern Free State football fraternity at the time.
Considering my age at that time, it would sometimes become a problem to us to have me playing in a Midfield position, especially when Guinny shows up for a big competitive match. In order to accommodate me when such a situation arises, Zorro (Captain of the club) would sacrifice his position to let me be on the team sheet. Now, Zorro was in my opinion the best player among all of us in the team. I always felt that, if we ever were going to win against any club at the time, Zorro would be a definite guarantee for us to win such games. Leaving himself out at times posed a risk of losing matches if he were not part of the playing team. On the other hand, our fitness levels were very high and to make space for a player who does not train regularly with the team seemed very odd to me at times. Although Guinny was a talented player, his fitness level never matched that of other players on the field at all times. This situation did not always sit well with me and was never acceptable. So, in the end, I decided to leave Maholosiane to form a new club that would compete for the honours of Maholosiane. This was around 1975.
It was in April 1975 when Briggs Tsunke joined the Administration of Basotho Tribal Authority, that the establishment of the new club received a massive boost. Besides being a player himself, Briggs undertook the task of bringing in some few players who were from Kroonstad and Parys and were teachers in Qwaqwa or studying to become teachers themselves. On my side I had already assembled some individuals that I also knew from Moroka High School, especially Lefa Lebakeng and Tizza Tsoanyane. Although I already had a name for the club, Briggs sold me the idea of Villa Park which would link our football style with Aston Villa in the UK. Aston Villa FC had some wonderful great players in the 70’s and was playing good football. On the local front, Orlando Pirates was playing very good football in South Africa and our mission was to capture these epic performances of the two clubs in the name and style of play in the new club, now called Villa Park FC. This is how Villa Park emerged and started playing football in Phuthaditjhaba.
Three important challenges stood in our way. The colours of the new jersey, sponsorship for the jersey and availability of training grounds. Phuthaditjhaba grounds were already taken by Maholosiane and they were already a well-established club. Further down the Phuthaditjhaba grounds, Hungry Lions were already occupying the space.
As fate would have it. I met and quickly became friends with London Mokoena who had just assumed a position in the Department of Works as a Civil Engineer responsible for urban settlement, roads and infrastructure development. Not only, was London a friend, but he introduced me to one Bomber Motsei who was also a technocrat and a qualified Surveyor. Bomber Motsei was attached to Itemoheleng Ambag School as a Teacher and given his association with the establishment, he negotiated partial use of the Ambag grounds for our training every day of the week, except on Wednesdays. Wednesdays in Qwaqwa school calendar was reserved for sporting activities. I still laud the foresight and administration of Qwaqwa Government on these school matters. The group of Madikoti Poly-Technic graduates boasted the likes of Peter Motaung (Agricultural Engineer), Tshasanyane, London, Masoeu (all Civil Engineers0 and Bomber Motsei (Surveyor). Later on, London arranged for the levelling of an open space down below Tosi Road next to the off-ramp now housing Krok’s Tavern in Mabolela. That open space, illegally belonged to Villa Park and all our training was then done there.
Training of the players was conducted by Bra Search who was also a key player in the squad of Villa Park. I have mentioned earlier on that Bra Search relocated to Phuthaditjhaba after his spell of football career with Moroka Swallows. Previously he had played for Virginia Giant Killers. He started training the Villa Park players when we first started using the Itemoheleng Ambag School playgrounds in 1975. These grounds at that stage, although had the filling of small, crushed stones, were the best in Phuthaditjhaba. Training and playing soccer on those grounds was exhilarating in that the levelling and maintenance were diligently carried out week-in week-out.
Most of the training methods of Bra Search were extreme and perhaps a little bit more to the crude side. Training exercises were forceful and intense. They were focused. They were tough. They were acute. All the steps and variations of the exercises were somewhat vigorous, fierce, absorbing but clearly passionate. We used to train every week from Monday to Friday. However, Thursday and Fridays saw us do a little bit of light exercises and ball playing. We learnt quickly that when Bra Search is done with your physical training for the day, your body would never allow it to be taken to a shebeen for a beer or anything. After that training you would be exhausted that all you want to do is to snug into your bed for the night. This type of training ultimately prompted some of the players to come and complain to me that Bra Search was focusing on tough training methods and that they hardly have enough opportunity to ‘just’ kick the ball!
I went to Bra Search to communicate these complaints from the players. His response was terse: “Cappie, (I was the Captain of Villa Park since inception), when we are playing a match on the playing field, I have never approached you to complain about your job on the field. So when I conduct training on the players, I expect the same spirit of no interference from your side”. The message was clear. I never interfered with Bra Search’s job. What was, however, marvellous was the fact that he himself set an example by going through the paces of that rigorous training program with all of us. We felt the same pain.
Elsewhere in Qwaqwa football clubs were coming to life. There were the Makoane Stars, Boiketlo Moving Spurs, Tabola FC in Phuthaditjhaba and many others that I can no longer remember.
Villa Park FC maintained very few individuals who were very much skilled and talented. Our level of fitness was exceptional and it was for that reason that we were a very tough team to beat in any given day. We could play intense passing game at a very high tempo. Maintain possession of the ball for as long as it is possible. We could play as wide as possible, but our defence and the mid-field worked tirelessly to keep every attack at bay. All the frontline players could score goals from any position at any time and all the time. We had dribblers, shooters, pouncers, decoys and a lot more.
On the other front, Qwaqwa was experiencing phenomenal growth in population, housing, business growth and in other key areas such as education, infrastructural development and tourism. There was at this stage a huge flow of students coming into Qwaqwa for schooling in our primary and secondary schools. Others came into train in after school careers, especially teaching and nursing. At this point, Qwaqwa was boasting and extensive number of schools than anywhere in the Free State and in other provinces. There were, as I recall, two additional training colleges (Bonamelo and Sefikeng) over and above the world-renowned Tshiya Teacher’s Training College.
These developments had a boomerang effect on the state and quality of football played in all these schools and had a significant impact on the then fully established soccer clubs in Qwaqwa. Schools were funding their soccer teams and others had to carry the costs of running their clubs.
The third significant development in as far as Villa Park FC was concerned, was really the relocation of Bra Search to Sasol or Secunda on a job-related move. I also accepted a teaching position in Kwa-Dlangezwa, Public Service Training Institute of the University of Zululand as a Junior Tutor in 1979. With both the trainer and the captain of Villa Park out of side, the Villa Park players started to enjoy separate life from football. They became bulgy and overweight and had a lot of free time to enjoy the free-flowing life of freedom, which Phuthaditjhaba was known for.
Here are the people who played for Villa Park during its existence and before the demise around 1980. Please note that some of the players may have since passed away and some (that I know of) have passed on. May their souls rest in peace!
GOAL KEEPERS Neo * Kgekge
DEFENCE Lefa “Buks” Lebakeng * Briggs Tsunke * Thabo Pebane * Diesel * Tizza Tsoanyane
MIDFIELD Mpho Malekele * Director Mosuhli * Powder (Kroonstad) * Bra Search
FORWARDS “Cutter” Mokhele * Peace (Parys) * Killer (Bhm) * Tokyo Molokoane * Jabu Khumalo * David “Walk Tall” (Vaal) * “Walker” Motsamai * Dalton
MANAGEMENT AND SUPPORT London Mokoena * Bomber Motsei * Tati Molebatsi
OFFICIAL COLOURS Black & White. Black Top. White Shorts. Black socks with white round top stripes
SPONSORS George Toko Molefe – Phuthaditjhaba Butchery
CLUB STATUS Defunct (1980)
