The beauty about football is that it brings fame and fortune, yet it can also be the source of misery when the relationship goes south.
This is what Goodman Mazibuko experienced at the end of his time at Moroka Swallows, where he served as an assistant coach in the years when money issues led to relegation in consecutive seasons.
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Mazibuko was with Swallows throughout their best years as a top-half club that won the Absa Cup and the Nedbank Cup, down to the worst years when they dropped from the DStv Premiership to the then GladAfrica Championship (now Motsepe Foundation Championship).
At that time, it was a daily shower of financial challenges at the club, which ultimately led to Mazibuko leaving after Swallows was relegated to the ABC Motsepe League.
"I even worked underground in the mine as a contract worker at a mine in Secunda after I left Swallows in 2016 since I didn't have any other income anymore," says Mazibuko.
"At that time, I told myself that I will rather people laugh at me and say whatever they want than to let my pride sink me.
"I had bought another house in Johannesburg at that time, which I was renting out to make ends meet, when all the issues at Swallows started.
"Upon arriving at the Sasol Mine in Secunda, I had to wear an overall and have a light on my head as I went underground into the mine.
"As I kept going underground as weeks passed, I would frequently hear people talking about an uneducated former player that they were now working with.
"They only knew my name as being Goodman Mazibuko that they used to watch on television and didn't know me facially, so they just spoke even when I was there.
"I would just listen and not say a thing while praying for a better opportunity.
"My job was to pump water underground as a contractor.
"It was perseverance that pulled me through because at that time, my house was almost repossessed since I was only earning R2000 per month.
"From that R2000, R800 was for petrol because I had to drive about 60km to get to work.
"Luckily, I was able to pay for the house and rescued it and after that I applied for a post at the University of Free State, where the salary offer was the same as what I was getting at the mine.
"At the interview, I impressed until they realized that they had to make a better offer than what that they had initially offered.
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"At that time, my contract at the mine was coming to an end and so fortunate for me was we eventually negotiated a package with medical aid and housing allowance, which ultimately made me come back here to UFS.
"I'm still here up to now since 2018 and glad I left the mine where there was always fear that you might go underground and never come back," says Mazibuko.