In this edition of Locker Room Secrets, KickOff has the hilarious former AmaZulu FC and Bafana Bafana striker George Dearnaley regaling us with stories from the good old days.
Dearnaley will always be remembered for destroying a star-studded Kaizer Chiefs side in the final of the Coca Cola Cup in 1992.
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Who was always late?
"It was normally Joe Mlaba and even maybe my friend Patrick Gumede. Most guys those days didn't have their own cars. With most guys relying on public transport those days, it was never easy."
Any teammate with interesting pre-match rituals?
"I don't remember any player doing anything specific, but George Dearnaley used to wear the same red underpants every match in 1992 and 1993. Even when they had holes in them, I was wearing them.
"The reason is I wore them in the first game of the season in 1992 and we beat Rangers 2-0, I scored both goals. And because of superstition, I thought I should continue to wear them in every match."
Who was the jokester?
"We had lots of funny guys. We also had the team manager, Junior Njiyela, and our coach, Clive Barker. Those two were always joking. Shadrack Biemba also had a good sense of humour.
"And some guys, like Sazi Ngubane, were very serious. You made a joke about him and he would want to kick you. So, ja, in a good team you need a good balance."
Was it a muti change room?
"When you need luck, you must do anything [laughs]. I remember in one game against Moroka Swallows in 1992, we had a new guy who came into the dressing room. He had candles, and he switched the lights off, and he was speaking so fast in Zulu, and we were all standing in a circle.
"Sazi Ngubane was next to me, and he was shaking. He was making us nervous, and we couldn't make sense of what he was saying.
"Then, after 10 minutes, the guy spoke in a deep voice, saying: 'From tonight, AmaZulu will never lose another match again'.
"We then went out to the Ellis Park pitch. We were wearing that long-sleeved white kit, and in the first 10 minutes, we were playing unbelievable football. Simon Magagula scored, it was 1-0, and that guy ran across the field celebrating Simon Magagula's goal. AmaZulu fans were going crazy, and guess what? We lost that match 4-1. And we never saw that muti man again!
"And the joke was, his muti was powerful… but only for 10 minutes!"
Who was the singer?
"Junior Njiyela was the singer. In fact, if I close my eyes, I can still hear him singing. It was the first time I was singing Mshini Wam. I didn't know the words. And we were also singing Congo Mame! Junior was always the first one to start the singing."
Who was the best- and worst-dressed?
"The late Joel Faya always wanted to look smart. He always looked like a million dollars. There were some stylish guys, and we also had some township tsotsis, the pantsulas.
"The worst-dressed, I think it was me [laughs]. Before matches, we would wear the club's tracksuits, but if we did well, Clive Barker would allow us to wear our jeans and whatever, and go and have a beer.
"There was this mlungu Shaun Dafel, we used to hammer him. We used to give him hell about how he was dressing. He used to wear light-blue jeans, white shoes, and a collared shirt and put gel in his hair.
"Clive used to tell him: 'Dafel, you're not Robert Redford, my boy [laughs]. Another one who thought he was well-dressed though he wasn't was Norman Steenkamp."
Who never showered?
"Everyone showered. Otherwise someone would tell you: 'Hey, you are stinking, man! Go and shower!"
Rate the coach's team talk
"I was very lucky to have good coaches – Clive Barker, Jeff Butler, Gavin Hunt, Screamer Tshabalala, and Bruce Grobbelaar. So, everyone had good team talks."