Coach Benni McCarthy says soccer players must be savvy with their money

Former Cape Town City coach Benni McCarthy has been unveiled as the ambassador of Nedbank footballers’ financial education campaign that has been running since last year.

Jobless McCarthy, who is also known in football circles by his nickname ‘Ikat’elisdudla’ [fat cat], was unveiled at the second installment of the Nedbank Football and Finance Summit held at the bank’s headquarters on Rivonia Road, Sandton.

The summit is the bank’s retail initiative that aims to help educate current footballers about ways of being financial savvy, taking into consideration that the lifespan of a soccer player’s career is very limited and hence the need for a financial literacy management programme.

The annual summit draws together former footballers and legends of the game to come and share their stories and financial lessons with those players still in the game.

Speaking soon after his unveiling, McCarthy, who’s a former top Bafana Bafana marksman who played most of his career overseas in Portugal, England and Spain, said he used the unsavoury background of his upbringing in the Cape Flats to inspire him to learn how to manage his finances.

“Poverty was the order of the day at our Hanover Park home in the Cape Flats due to a lack of a sustainable income and this inspired me to hold on tight to my money and ensure that I use it wisely to benefit not just myself and the immediate family but my extended family as well,” he said.

“It only takes one person from the underprivileged communities to make it and then a horde of others will follow as they also realise it can be done. My mother was not educated and was a simple hustler that struggled to put food on the table.

“In football, when you’re on top everybody is your best friend. But cruel as the game is, football will drop you and then nobody wants you now because you cannot buy them a drink anymore.”

Other legends who joined McCarthy to share their personal money journeys included former Bafana and 1996 legend of the Afcon Cup Mark Williams, former Banyana Banyana skipper Amanda Dlamini, SuperSport United keeper Ronwen Williams, former Bidvest Wits winger Daine Klate, ex-Mamelodi Sundowns star Thabo Nthethe and former Kaizer Chiefs striker Absolom ‘Scara’ Thindwa.

“For instance, when I started at SuperSport, Gavin Hunt would always say that if a player bought a new car, he would cut them. He always encouraged players to buy property rather than lots of cars,” said Ronwen Williams.

Dlamini said although football wasn’t as lucrative for women as the men’s game, female players needed to learn sound personal finance management as money has started to grow in women’s football.

“We are seeing more sponsorships coming into women’s football, and more South African players are getting lucrative overseas contracts,” she said. “These players can also get trapped by the excitement of new money from endorsements and bigger salaries, but they need to do a lot of work to ensure they save and invest their money wisely.”

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