The Sunday Mail
George Dearnaley
I WAS fortunate in my football career to play with and against some of the best that South Africa has ever produced.
I played for AmaZulu between 1992 and 1995 and then moved to Hellenic in Cape Town in a 1997 loan deal after being out for nearly 19 months with a knee injury.
I then moved to National First Division side Seven Stars, where I helped the team win the 1997/98 league title.
I then spent one more season with Seven Stars in the Premiership before retiring in 1999, when the team changed to Ajax Cape Town and I was not offered a contract.
I scored against Kaizer Chiefs when AmaZulu won the Coca-Cola Cup final in 1992, and as the top scorer in the country that season, I was selected to play for Bafana Bafana.
My teammates included all the South African stars, the likes of Shoes Mosheou, Fani Madida, Lucas Radebe, Chippa Masinga, Neil Tovey and Doctor Khumalo.
I was also fortunate to play with and against some of the best African talent that was playing in South Africa during that time — the likes of Ernest Mtawali, Patrick Mabedi and John Maduka from Malawi; my teammates at AmaZulu Shadrack Biemba and Tennant Chilumba from Zambia, the great striker Bunene Ngaduane from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the midfield general Roger Feutmba from Cameroon, Rafael Chukwu of Nigeria, Sebastian Bax and Jean Marc Ithier of Mauritius and the giant defender Musa Otieno of Kenya, as well as a host of Zimbabwean stars who turned the South African Premiership into a Pan-African Super League.
We were blessed to also have the likes of the Mugeyi twins, as well as John Mbidzo, Innocent Chikoya, Rabson Muchichwa, Edzai Kasinauyo, Alois Bunjira, Ian Gorowa, Tauya “Doctor’’ Murewa, the great Benjani Mwaruwari, the legendary Peter Ndlovu and a host of other Zimbabwe internationals plying their trade in our league.
I even had the original “Jungleman” Bruce Grobbelaar as my coach for one season.
I also played with the likes of Charles Yohane, Stewart Murisa, Engelbert Dinha (He called me Mvuu . . . not sure it was a compliment!), Liberty Masunda, Kaitano Tembo also known as “Ngwenya” and many others that made our league so competitive and added so much value to our football.
But of all the Zimbabwean players that I played with and against, the one that impressed me the most both on and off the field was the late Francis Shonhayi.
I was injured in April 1995 and missed the rest of that season, the season that Cape Town Spurs, captained by Francis, won the league and cup double.
By all accounts it was a glorious season for the team that featured names that would go on to make a name for themselves at all levels.
David Modise would go on to star for Kaizer Chiefs, while David Kannemeyer would become a Bafana Bafana regular and a member of the South African 2000 Olympic Games team that beat Brazil.
Full-back Craig Rosslee would go on to be part of the coaching team at Orlando Pirates that won the treble in 2011.
Cape Town Spurs owner David Rodwell sold the franchise to John Comitis ahead of the 1996 season and sold most of his star players, too.
AmaZulu were quick to sign Francis, as well as Santos star defenders Edries Burton and Kamaal Sait.
I started training again in May 1996 — 13 months after my injury — and joined my new teammates in every session.
I was not allowed to take part in full contact as I was still getting back to full fitness, but in every session, I could see the top professional that Francis was.
His attitude to training, his work ethic, his discipline, his speed and strength in every challenge — all of it combined to make him a great all-round defender.
All of these qualities were combined with a charming smile and a modest personality that made him a favourite among all players in the dressing room.
He was a natural leader of men, and could command the players around him with a quick order to move up, or shift across, or close down, whatever was needed to ensure his defence kept a clean sheet.
I only started playing competitively again in November 1996, a long 19 months since my knee was dislocated against Orlando Pirates, but I remember the encouragement and support I received from my teammates and from Francis.
I spent a lot of time watching that team train and play, and “Bamba Zonke” never disappointed.
One of the best I ever saw, and one of the best men I ever met.
Sadly, I was released by AmaZulu at the end of the year and sent on loan to Hellenic in Cape Town.
I never went back to Durban and finished playing in 1999, when Seven Stars became Ajax Cape Town.
I had lost touch with all my former AmaZulu teammates as I focused on my new life in Cape Town, and one day in 2006, I went to watch Ajax Cape Town at Newlands Stadium and I was in the same suite as the Ajax owners.
One of the guests was former Cape Town Spurs owner David Rodwell.
At the end of the game, as I was leaving the suite, a quiet voice said to me “Hey, Bamba Zonke”. At first I didn’t recognise the thin man that was speaking to me, and then when he smiled my heart broke to realise that this was my former captain.
We hugged and the words were gushing out of me, trying to catch up nearly 10 years of life.
I took down his number and told him that I was going to call him the next week and go for lunch together.
Sadly, Francis died that week.
He went into hospital and never came out.
I mentioned all the great players that I played with and against in my career, including the majority of South African players who would go on to win the Africa Cup of Nations in 1996 (sadly, I was injured), because I have always been a student of the game, and although I never really became a great player, I would like to think I have a great eye for the game.
And out of all the players that I watched and played with and against, Francis Shonhayi was one of the best defenders that ever graced the game in South Africa.
I loved him and I will always remember him.
Rest in Power, Captain.
George Dearnaley is a former Bafana Bafana striker who played for AmaZulu, Hellenic, Seven Stars, and owned his own ABC Motsepe League franchise, The Magic FC, before selling it. He wrote exclusively for The Sunday Mail.
