When the clock ushered in a new millennium in 2000, a natural left footer named Japhet Zwane was turning heads at Manning Rangers.
It was always obvious that Rangers would soon become way too small a stage and a few years later he was enticed to Johannesburg, from where he went on Russia.
READ: From bad to worse for Chiefs striker
Along the way, he earned Bafana Bafana caps, before ultimately hanging up his boots in 2010.
Zwane – who is now 50 – gave KickOff.com blow-by-blow details of his career, touching on the sensitive subject of earnings.
"I started out on R500 per month at Royal Tigers in the First Division in 1996, which I would get in cash," discloses Zwane.
"After the salary, there was winning bonus of R150, but that was only for the players in the match-day squad.
"The money wasn't a lot, but you could cover the grocery at home for about R350.
"It became the same when I went to Phoenix City, where the difference was that the winning bonus was R200.
"Those days, it wasn't so much of a contract but a registration for the season.
"Before I even went to Rangers in 1999, I was at Chiefs for about two weeks after they spotted me in the BOB Save Super Bowl when we beat Vaal Professionals with Phoenix City.
"The issue at Chiefs was that just before I signed, I had a deep conversation with my father about this move.
"My old man understood the game well and so asked me about my chances of playing ahead of Robson Muchichwa, who was already well established under Paul Dolezar.
"He wanted to see me playing.
"My fear was that my career would crumble before it even starts, so that is why I then ran away from Jozi and came back to Durban.
"I was going to sign at Chiefs, but the thought of not playing got me concerned.
"I had serious doubts about playing at Chiefs, where I thought the competition would not be fair.
"My gut feeling was that I wasn't going to be a regular at Chiefs, so I just disappeared.
"After I had signed for Rangers, Screamer Tshabalala (then director of soccer at Chiefs) wrote a letter that I'm their player.
"Chiefs had booked me at the White House Hotel in the Johannesburg CBD, but I ran away the day before I had to sign my contract.
"Rangers had already been engaging with my club boss at Phoenix City, so it was smooth because Innocent Chikoya had left for Pirates.
"What is crazy is that when I was leaving Rangers, Chiefs wanted me again just like all other teams, including Black Leopards.
"There was no team that didn't call me to express their interest of all the teams in the league.
"The Swallows offer was irresistibly at R18 000 because I had started out on R1800 at Rangers, which was a case of me being underpaid.
"Pitso Mosimane wanted to pay me a stipend while I sit at home waiting for the season to end so that I can then move to SuperSport United.
"I stayed at home but didn't take money from Pitso.
"Rangers then threw a party to announce that they are giving me 100% increment to R3600, which I turned down.
"I eventually moved up to R6000, which is when I bought a Toyota Tazz because a car was a necessity since we played our games on Friday night.
READ: Chiefs swallow bitter pill ahead of new coach appointment
"Do you know that the club transport didn't get into Umlazi, so I had to drop off on the road and walk home?
"Imagine running home at 11 at night wearing a club tracksuit with a Man of the Match trophy and carrying my bag.
"I had to run because I feared being mugged because that part of Umlazi was dangerous.
"Do you know that Shakes Kungwane and Bruce Ramokadi used to laugh at me at Rangers because of the little money that I was earning," explains Zwane.