In the latest edition of Negotiating Behind The Scenes, KickOff catches up with former Bloemfontein Celtic and Orlando Pirates player Jorry Merahe.
The retired former footballer reveals how the Buccaneers offered him a contract with strange figures when he joined them from Siwelele in January 2007.
Who I signed for?
"I was so happy when I signed with Celtic because it was my first PSL contract. They got me from Classic Chiefs who are from Welkom, they were impressed after my good performance in a local tournament that had teams like Celtic. I was 18 years old at the time."
How did you find out?
"We played against Bloemfontein Celtic in that tournament's final, bra Styles Phumo the head coach at Celtic at the time, approached me immediately after the final whistle and asked me to join them.
"He approached me and Kleinbooi Taaibos and told us how much he was interested in us. That was on a Saturday, he told us we should report for training on Monday.
"And indeed on Monday they came to Welkom to fetch us and we we left for Bloem where we met Dr. Petrus Molemela. He was very happy to see us. He had heard a lot about us. We only trained for a week, after that, we were signed."
Where did you meet?
"At his petrol filling station. The negotiations took place at his filling station's offices.
"But the actual contract was signed at his hotel. Remember he also owned a hotel, that madala had money. His hotel became our new home, that's where we were accommodated. We stayed there up until Jimmy Augusto took over the club.
"Nothing excites like signing a professional contract with your childhood favorite team, I found myself training with the likes of Ace Gulwa, and Siphiwe Mkhonza, guys just a few days ago I was only seeing on TV."
Who was there?
"Molemela, Styles Phumo and his two assistants Benjamin Reed and David Modise."
What surprised you?
"Remember I was from the amateur level where we played football for fun, and now I was going to get my salary.
"R2 500 a month, that was a lot to me, and those days Celtic were playing in the NFD. We only got promoted to the PSL in the 2001/02 Season."
Did you get what you wanted?
"I got everything. We signed on a Friday and Sunday we played against Pillars and I scored two goals. That was my first game."
Did you see out the contract?
"I signed for two years and yes I did see out my contract. In the 2002/03 Season, we were in the PSL, and we renegotiated our contracts, I signed for three and a half years, and my salary jumped to R25 000.
"That contract ended in 2005, I negotiated another one that took my salary to R33 000.
"In 2006 that's when Pirates started to show an interest in me, but I only joined them in 2007."
What you would change?
"Regrets only hit me after signing with Orlando Pirates. I thought I had realized my childhood dream of playing for my favorite team, but the salary Pirates offered me was disappointing, it was not that much man. It was not what I expected.
"I left Celtic earning R33 000, so I expected Pirates to at least take my salary to R42 000, but all I was offered was R35 000. It was not much. They improved my salary by only R2000."