In the latest edition of My Locker Room Secrets, KickOff rolls back the years with former, Mpumalanga Black Aces, AmaZulu FC, and Silver Stars player Stanley Kgatla.
Kgatla reveals how Emeka Mamale refused to shower as he feared it might remove muti from his body.
Who was always late?
"My teammate at Silver Stars, Elvis Mashao, took advantage because he was a policeman.
"He would drink until 2 a.m. and wake up late the next day, and wear his police uniform and rush to the club's training grounds pretending he was from work doing the night shift. He'd come to training carrying his firearm, handcuffs, pepper spray, and everything, only for us to find out he was off duty that day [laughs]."
Any interesting rituals before they played?
"The only rituals I remember happened at AmaZulu FC, before each game a muti man would put muti into a chicken that all players would eat before a match.
"But because those days AmaZulu were red hot, the muti man would be celebrated after every game by the management thinking it was muti that made us win when in truth it was the player's efforts."
Who was the jokester?
"At Silver Stars, we had Lovers Mohlala and Junior Khanye. They were always on each others cases, they once argued from Joburg to Venda. Lovers would say to Khanye I have a farm and you have nothing (laughs). It was a mess.
"We got to Venda, and to everyone's surprise, Junior Khanye was not in the team and had to sit in the stands. So on our way back from that match, it became a huge issue. Remember he was from Kaizer Chiefs and thought he was this big player [laughs]. To say that boy was angry that day is an understatement."
Which club used the most muti?
"Silver Stars took the cake. I remember at one stage we were playing Benoni United, and our club boss Larry Brookstone went to our dressing room and came back running after finding a muti man dressed in a sangoma attire sitting there [laughs]. That muti man looked scary."
Who was the singer?
"The late Oscar Ntwagae and Michael Khaile, not forgetting Tshepo Ramokala. We used to call him Lundi because of his fondness for Gospel songs."
Who was the best dressed and the worst dressed?
"At Platinum Stars, I would say the best dresser was Steve Lekoelea. He was into fashion. He'd go for any latest trend. He was always smart. Remember he had played for a big team. So he was a big player.
"Eddie Ngalo was the worst dressed. He was always in the club's uniform. He stayed in the club's house, he never moved [laughs]. He was very stingy, with him a loaf of bread would last three days."
Who never showered?
"Emeka Mamale who had come at Silver Stars for assessment would tell us straight, I'm not gonna shower, it's going to ruin my muti. I don't know how he never got to sign with the club but that guy he was a star my brother."
Rate the coach's team talk
"Owen Da Gama doesn't like long team talks. He preferred encouraging people instead.
"Steve Komphela and Miguel Gamondi did proper team talks those two. Steve was good with team talks, it's just that he overdid it.
"So I'd go with Miguel Gamondi, he made things simple. Nice and short. He doesn't repeat one thing over and over again.