Lungisani Ndlela was one of the most difficult strikers to play against in the PSL. After finishing matric, he moved to Vaal where he played for an amateur team, Real Rangers, alongside the likes of Solomon Mathe and Papi Zothwane. After spending two years at Maritzburg City and University of Pretoria, he joined Moroka Swallows where he helped the Dube Birds win the 2004 Absa Cup. The lanky striker went on to play for SuperSport United and Mamelodi Sundowns before returning to Swallows at the twilight of his career. He had a short sting with United FC in the National First Division before retiring in 2011.
Archa Man, thanks a lot for taking time to talk to us. Just take our readers to the beginning of your professional career, how did your move to Moroka Swallows come about?
I was playing for an amateur team called Colombia. Colombia was a team made up of former professional players and few young players from Tembisa. So, we were playing a friendly match against Moroka Swallows, and I gave their defenders, Gary McNab and Mohammed Ouseb, some hard time. I think I played well and the guys who were there can attest to that. After the match I went to Gavin Hunt and asked him if I could train with his team. But he didn’t recognise me because I was wearing my private clothes, he asked me: ‘Who are you’. And I told him in my broken English that: ‘It’s me Lungisani, the guy who was disturbing your defenders a few minutes ago’. He laughed and said: ‘Oh son, no problem, come to our training ground in Germiston.’ I did as he told me, I went to Germiston and had a few training sessions with the team before I was signed. I was very skinny, but Gavin loved the fact that I was a typical target- man, which suited his style of play.
