Where to after the fans have stopped cheering?
JOBURG – Former Bidvest Wits player Mike Ntombela launches his book on life after the game.
Ever wondered what happens to football players when the fans have stopped cheering?
Well, all this and other answers to these burning questions are contained in a soon to be published book, After the fans have stopped cheering – moving from the pitch to a balanced life, written by former football star Mike Ntombela, a former Bidvest Wits striker of the late 90s to the early 2000s. Ntombela is now a brand manager for Nike and Mamelodi Sundowns talent scout.
Addressing guests at the book launch held at Bidvest Stadium which coincided with the Clever Boys’ last home match of the 2018/19 season against Baroka FC, Ntombela said the idea for the book was conceived through a WhatsApp group known as Thando Network Forum.
“In the book are the stories of our ups and downs and the rise and fall of players, and the dreaded life after the beautiful game, hence the title of the book which questions ‘what happens to [the life of] a player when the fans have stopped cheering?’
“The books seeks to answer that question and also delves into other related issues, including the hot potato of apartheid’s politics of racial segregation and the fact that blacks and whites were not supposed to mix, let alone play any form of sport together. It also unravels how this hot potato was disregarded by both black and white players,” he said.
Ntombela, known in his hey-days of soccer as Mahlobo (the friendly one) added, “All of us have to stop and ponder at some point about life after the beautiful game.
“We all have to travel down that [football road] and pass the baton to others but I am proud of my journey although the sore point still remains the fact that I never got the opportunity to represent my country.”
However, his scouting ability has unearthed a Bafana player in Ajax Amsterdam star player Thulani Serero whom Ntombela said was ‘fathered and nurtured’ at his Soweto football club, Senaoane Gunners before he convinced former Ajax Cape Town co-owner John Comitis to reach out for his cheque book to sign Serero.
Serero went on to excel at the Urban Warriors and in no time he was snapped up by their sister club in the Netherlands, where he has been banging in goals and has become a pillar of strength not just for his Dutch club but also in the Bafana set-up.
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