Liberian international Terrence Tisdell has revealed how his six-month stay at Baroka turned into a sour experience.
It was midway through 2019 after Tisdell had spent a year with Portuguese lower division club Sanjoanense that the option of coming to South Africa was motivated by his agent at the time.
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"I had this agent that I was working with and when I left Portugal, I knew about BidVest Wits and Baroka plus another club in the Portuguese second division," Tisdell tells KickOff.com from Liberia's team hotel in Sandton.
"However, this agent was connected to the chairman of Baroka and didn't take the option of BidVest and that of the club in Portugal.
"He probably chose Baroka because he benefited something for himself.
"I didn't know anything about Baroka when I signed for them.
"It all happened fast because I got the offer from the club, signed and within two days I had my flight ticket to travel from my country.
"Everything was quick, and, in the end, it wasn't really a nice experience," says Tisdell.
Troubles at Baroka
"There were a lot of problems at Baroka and that experience taught that I shouldn't go to places that you didn't the background," he says.
"But then such experiences toughen you up in your career and maybe in future I might come back to another team here.
"Being at Baroka was a lesson that I had to take.
"They are not a bad club, but it is just that there are some things that weren't okay.
"At that moment the club didn't have a training ground with showers which meant after training you were supposed to just walk away like that.
"So, it wasn't a good experience and for me to get out of there was the only option that I had after having been there for a few months.
"There were a lot of little problems that you couldn't control.
"In football, you need to relax.
"You need to be calm.
"Worse was that the training ground was out of town, and you needed to drive every day from Polokwane to that place (Lebowakgomo) for almost an hour which was quite complicated.
"It was difficult.
"I say complicated because I had to travel on my own and had to use the rental cars which would cost you a lot every month because you had to pay extra for certain kilometres.
"That wasn't a problem if it was paid but for a player to get proper when travelling there twice a day is hard.
"The distance was long and worse was that the place was hot.
"Really hard for me and I couldn't stand all of this but then you cannot take away the fact that they were okay people at the club.
"The traveling was an issue for me, and I don't if all teams travel like this by road for such long distances.
"I mean from Polokwane to Durban you will be in the bus for more than 11 hours.
"Even though you then sleep and play the next day I thought that was a bit of a punishment for an ABSA Premiership but then that is part of the experience.
'From such experiences you take the positives and learn from the negatives because this is all part of the journey of life," details the 25-year-old who now plays his football for Sumgayit FK in the Azerbaijan Premier League where he has already come up against Bafana Bafana international Siyanda Xulu of Turan Tovuz.
"I joined the club in Azerbaijan at the beginning of the year from my previous club in Romania FC Botosani.
"When I joined, I signed for a season and a half but then just before I came here for the national team camp, I extended for another two years so I now have three and a half years on my deal meaning it will be a long journey.
"The good part with Azerbaijan is that the players there receive their money without any problems.
"Everything arrives on time because it is the federation that pays the money," he explains.
Bafana Bafana match
"I have played in South Africa before and have also come up against Siyanda Xulu in Azerbaijan.
"South African players have good technical players who are good with the ball but then I don't know because the intensity wasn't so high compared to Europe when I played here.
"Back the tempo wasn't the same as Europe, but the individual quality is there because I know of how South Africa has of good individual players.
"Technically, they are really good," says Tisdell.
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