In this edition of My Locker Room Secrets, former Moroka Swallows fan-favourite Samuel Ngobeni reveals all the behind-the-scenes details during his time at the club.
Whose locker room are we in today?
"To be honest, we had no locker rooms at Swallows [laughs]. We were playing for a very weak team, and we had no locker rooms. We used to get dressed in cars. We used to take our training kit home to wash it ourselves. Things only changed when Bra Junior became our kit manager. That was in the 1998/99 season."
Who was always late?
"You won't believe it but we were a very disciplined bunch, no one came late. The only player who came late was Alfred Phiri in one incident, he came with a lame excuse, I think his girlfriend was giving birth or something. We could have understood if it was his firstborn, but already he had many children before that one."
Any interesting rituals before they played?
"We used to wake up at 12am and bathe. We were all naked, even the pastor Idah Peterside."
Who was the Jokester?
"George Lekgetho. He brought a lot of life into the team. Even the late Scara Ngobese, he was full of jokes, even though he was young then."
Was it a muti change room?
"Yes."
Who was the singer?
"Scara Ngobese. Sometimes they would take 19 players to matches instead of the usual 18, just for him to be there so that he can lead songs."
Who was the best dressed and the worst dressed?
"Junaid Hartley. That boy used to dress only in name-brand clothing. We who were from Soweto couldn't afford the same because of the salary we were getting.
"The worst dressed was George Lekgetho, sometimes he would rock up in boots and over the knees shorts.
"Another worst dresser was Alfred Phiri, you could tell he was from Alexander."
Rate the coach's team talk…
"Gavin Hunt knew how to motivate a player. He would make you believe in yourself. And if he likes you it will show, if he doesn't like you it will also show."