It was in the year 1995 that Papi Khomane made his debut at Jomo Cosmos in the last season of the old NSL Castle League first division after winning promotion with the club from the second division.
Khomane turned 20 that year and had been with Pimville Cameroon in the amateur ranks prior to being at Cosmos.
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The Cosmos squad had from that year featured Edson Sithole, Samkelo Jam-Jam, Meck Mwase, Thamsanqa Mtsholomgo, Clifford Moleko, Kennedy Nagoli, Godfrey Sapula, Arthur Zwane, Lebogang Morula, and Vusi Mncwango.
So effective as a man marker was Khomane that he quickly established himself at Ezenkosi.
Khomane played 25 games in the inaugural PSL season (1996/97) after having started 28 games in the period from the day he made his top league debut in 1995 through to the middle of the following year.
Then in his final season at Cosmos, Khomane delivered 30 appearances and immediately won himself a deserved move to Orlando Pirates in June 1998 by which time he had also featured for the national Under-23 squad.
In December 1998, Khomane made his Bafana debut against Egypt in the Nelson Mandela Challenge and had a few effective tussles in taking good care of the legendary Hossam Hassan.
At the end of that 1998/99 season, Khomane had won five Bafana caps and put in a solid shift of 31 appearances at Pirates.
His game count for the 1999/2000 season then dropped to 21 but added another three caps for Bafana including an appearance at the 2000 AFCON finals.
Then for the 2000/01 season, Khomane played 30 games at Pirates including every minute of the Rothmans Cup final defeat to Aja Cape Town before winning the last of his nine senior national team caps against Romania.
Pirates were league champions at the end of that season.
Khomane also played in a training match against Lesotho in March 2001 which was categorised as a South Africa B game.
In the 2001/02 season it was 20 games at Pirates as Khomane surpassed the 100 appearances mark for the club.
When the 2002/03 season ended it was another league title delivered with Khomane playing 17 games through a campaign disturbed by injuries.
For the 2003/04 season, Khomane played 35 games as he was handed the armband again after Mbulelo Mabizela left for England.
In the 2004/05 season, Khomane played nine times before his last two appearances in the 2005/06 season.
Though he was registered for the 2006/07 season, Khomane never played and is largely remembered for being battle hardened yet soft spoken.
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After eventually calling time on his playing career in 2007, Khomane spent time as an assistant along with Chris O'Loughlin to the late Bibey Mutombo before he spent time working as a television analyst.
Khomane was born on January 31, 1975, and was son to Pirates great Johannes 'Yster' Khomane.
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