Ex-Chiefs striker Manqele explains long absence from football

Once considered one of the best strikers in South Africa with a good eye for goals, Edward Manqele has been missing in the football circles for a while now but has managed to return to the game after signing with GladAfrica Championship side Pretoria Callies. 

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The former Chippa United, Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns, Moroka Swallows and Free State Stars player has been club-less since last year, and says he took a decision to be away from the game in order to fix some personal issues. 

The 34-year old goal-poacher last played for Real Kings (now Royal AM) in the 2019/20 season, before the arrival of new coach Mike Lukhubeni sent him packing at the club. 

As he tries to get his career back on track, Manqele recently signed with Callies and has explained what transpired in the last few months. 

“You know in football there are lots of politics. There was this coach called Mike Lukhubeni, when he came into the club (Real Kings) he had problems with senior players. I remember when we were supposed to go back to the team last year and a lot of us got messages from the club that the coach won’t be working with us. I honestly didn’t understand him and felt that this guy is making me hate football,” the striker explained. 

“I decided against looking for a team at that moment, I just wanted to fix some issues and told myself I will get back to playing. I’m sure a lot of people have been asking themselves “where is Manqele?”. But, I just wanted to keep low and sort out everything so that when I get back to playing, I would be back with a fresh mindset even though I was training and playing amateur tournament to keep fit.”

At Callies, Edward Manqele reunites with a coach he has previously worked with in Joel Masutha. He says that things are going well at Callies, with the club having started with pre-season and wants to help them win the league. 

“I‘ve been speaking with coach Masutha for some time now. He coached me while he was at Real Kings. We talk a lot and even when he went to Callies we kept in contact. I also got an offer from a team in Cape Town, but it wasn’t ideal for me to move down there because of family. I’ve been travelling a lot in my career and I thought to myself let me rather stick in Gauteng, plus Callies is a well structured team with big ambitions. They want to get promoted to the DStv Premiership.”