Stranded players deserve a chance to play  

And all I can think about now is, do they have any plans to secure clubs for next season with pre-season coming up so that they can at least get their careers back on track? I really hope it’s the case.

A lot of names have been running in my mind when I start dwelling about soccer players who had all the potential to become the best in the business with so much talent, but ended up in the wilderness.

It’s not a nice thing to see a player who is still capable of playing and with age on their side struggling to find a team, I still can’t get the reason behind that, it really puzzles me.

Names like Bongolethu Jayiya, Mandla Masango and Roger Majafa to mention a few are just some of the top talents who are left out in the dark and haven’t been playing competitive football for some time now.

We all know what Jayiya is capable of, we saw that during his time at Bidvest Wits, Mpumalanga Black Aces and Cape Town City before  a lack of game time at Kaizer Chiefs saw him leave the club last year.

And from that point, the winger has been lingering at home without a team.

Masango is another player who was explosive during his time at Chiefs especially during his last season with the club which saw him get a move to Randers FC in Denmark in 2015.

He was subsequently loaned out to SuperSport United and after that everything just went south for the Mpumalanga-born player.

Majafa is another example, a hard working  central midfielder with some silky touches and an educated left foot.

The midfielder had stints with the likes of Roses United, Platinum Stars and Orlando Pirates before a short spell with TS Sporting was cut short.

Luckily enough, I’ve had an opportunity to watch him play before the lockdown and the guy still makes the crowds go crazy with his talent.

I recently watched a clip of his trial in Turkey earlier this year, and I’m sorry, but when you got you got it and no one can take it away from you. The boy is super talented and like all of these guys I mentioned in this piece can easily slot in at any team. They have the experience, they have the talent and I’m pretty certain they still have the hunger to play.

I think it’s just a matter of  granting them an opportunity to showcase what they can offer because I really don’t understand why teams are not signing these guys.

I’m pretty sure they can do much better than many of their counterparts who are actively playing.

I wrote this piece inspired by what Lebogang Mokoena and Vuyo Mere have managed to achieve at Swallows FC.

At some point, no one was looking Mokoena’s way or ready to give him a chance, but Swallows did.

I don’t know what these players did to be finding themselves without clubs at the moment, but I would like to say, I think any chairman or coach that will be willing to give these guys and some like them a chance to play, they.  will certainly reap the rewards at the end. They still have much to offer and we should all remember that football is their livelihood.

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