Premier Soccer League and Orlando Pirates chairperson Dr Irvin ‘Iron Duke’ Khoza and Thembinkosi ‘Tiger’ Matholengwe have many things in common.
They both come from Alexandra and are a product of the unforgiving environment of grinding poverty in the country’s oldest township. They both owned and ran football clubs at the tender age of 15. And like Khoza, Tiger who is now 18, has also exhibited astute administrative and leadership qualities, coupled with the kind of intelligence that bamboozles those in authority and radiates a kind of awe to those close to him.
Like Khoza, who ran the affairs of Blackpool [football club] when he was 15 years old, Tiger has set the soccer scene and the football fraternity ablaze, not just with his kind of intelligence that provides for critical and considered thinking on crucial matters, but with his depth of understanding issues and being able to dissect them for discussion.
Tiger radiates unprecedented respect, not just from his peers in Alex, but his stature commands authority to those far beyond his age group, just as Khoza did.
So, it can be safely said that Alexandra is at it again, cloning another shrewd administrator in Tiger who is set to fill the big shoes that were left by Bra Irvin, as Khoza is known to those close to him or ‘chairman’ as the media refers to him.
Tiger, an avid Christian, was born in a house on 5 – 8th Avenue and sadly his mother died just three days after his birth. He finds solace in the photographs of his mother and attributes his strength to his faith and the harsh realities of growing up without a mother figure. He attended Gordon Primary School.
“I am the youngest owner of a sporting club [Alex Royal Tigers] in Alex and also the youngest coach to win the league with my U13 boys, and in the first year of participation in the league,” said Tiger, a Grade 11 pupil at Minerva Secondary School.
Outlining how he came to be the youngest club owner, Tiger said three years ago he saw some youngsters idly sitting around and he realised that this was a perfect environment for breeding young soccer stars.
“I decided to do something and what came to my mind immediately was to occupy these youngsters with what they love most – the beautiful game. A year later in 2013, I approached Alex football with intentions to register the club but was denied the opportunity because of my age.
“In 2014, I then partnered with Leonard Ramofu who owned Leonard FC but we parted ways at the end of that year, and Nkani Dube [of Alex United] came into the picture and helped me to register Alex Royal Tigers, and everything else is history.”
In his first year, Tiger managed to take all the five divisions of his club to the finals of each cup competition of the respective leagues, but was unfortunate to lose in the finals of all of them.
“This is no mean achievement considering that I have no prior coaching skills, and my age being part of the odds stacked against me, let alone financial resources.
“Next season I hope to take off from where I left and prove that it was no fluke. The exploits of this season were just a mere statement to say the Tiger has arrived.”
