In this edition of My First Pay Cheque, KickOff catches up with former AmaZulu FC striker George Dearnaley.
The retired centre-forward also played for Bafana Bafana and Seven Stars.
He won the 1992 Coca-Cola Cup where he scored one of the goals in the 3-1 win over Kaizer Chiefs.
Who you signed for…
"In 1992 when I came back from America, I trained with AmaZulu for a few weeks, and first friendly we played Jomo Cosmos.
"We won 2-0 I scored both the goals. The next week Junior Njiyela the team manager told me I must come for a meeting in their Durban offices."
How much was it?
"I think the offer was R1000 a month. I didn't know how much money to ask for, I just came from college I didn't know what good money was and what was not good money.
"The advice my father gave me was don't take the first offer. We didn't know what people were being paid in football. My father said, to ask them for R1500.
"I thought hey, that was too easy I should have asked for more money. The truth is we weren't full-time professionals. I was also working at Totalsports and my salary there was R1500 a month.
"I thought I was rich I was getting R3000 a month combined. I was living like a king."
How I celebrated?
"No, when you are young, you don't celebrate with money like that. You take it easy. Maybe I had a nice lunch because we were students in those days, and we were struggling. When you have spare money in your account, you go for a nice meal."
What I bought with it…
"I only bought myself a car at the end of the season with prize money from the Coca-Cola Cup, Golden Boot, runners-up player of the year."
Did it last you the full month?
"Luckily, I got the other pay cheque from my work, and I was still staying with my parents I never paid rent, and I didn't have a car.
"Maybe my money was going to my girlfriend, but I made sure it lasted. I'm not even sure if I had a girlfriend in 1992."