Gary Goldstone and Excellent Walaza during the Absa Premiership match between Bloemfontein Celtic and Orlando Pirates held at Seisa Ramabodu Stadium in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Photo by Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images
Goldstone holds a BTech in risk management and has just completed a degree in fire technology. The defender says his personality would not suit that of a coach, which is why he took up a career outside football.
He started studying while playing football and recalls some of his team-mates ridiculing him for being a student while they were in camp. The 43-year-old works as a risk-consultant for Hollard Insurance, a job which sees him travelling across the country and sometimes into Africa.
“My education prepared me for life after football. Not all players can be coaches, and if you don’t fall into the 0.1% the club decides to look after, then you need to make sure you plan properly for your life,” said Goldstone when explaining his decision not to coach.
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The 43-year-old says the success of each team lies not in the coach that has been employed by the club, but in the amount of resources that have been invested in the team.
The Bloemfontein-based former footballer says his transition into a life of the retired player was made simple by him sticking to the lifestyle he was raised in the township of Winston Park in KwaZulu-Natal.
Goldstone believes some of the players in the league are not mentally strong, which is why they look out of sorts when they move to big clubs after shining as a key player at a lesser team the previous season, and says changing our way of thinking will trickle into the national team and see Bafana Bafana competing in big tournaments.
“Some of our coaches’ game plan is to out-run the opposition, that’s what I have seen in my experience. Coaches who are more scientific in their method will get more positive results than coaches who use the old method of running every day.”
The former firefighter has urged club bosses to assist promising local coaches by replacing key players in the team with those who can fit in to keep the club performing at the same level.
Another observation made by Goldstone on why teams don’t grow to rival the brands that Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns have become off the field is club management’s relationship with the supporters.
He believes making the club part of the community makes it attractive to prospective sponsors which in turn changes a club’s financial status and increases their options when it comes to recruiting personnel, as well as running the club.
“I will speak about my time at Celtic, you look at a boss like Jimmy Augousti who would be accessible to everybody, even when we went into the township he would be there.
“They loved the club, his family backed him, they backed the players, there was a fantastic relationship between the club, players fans and the city, so that made the club attractive to sponsors and maybe that is what some teams are missing – they need to build a brand.”
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