Stanley ‘Screamer’ Tshabalala’s place in South African football history was firmly cemented more than 30 years ago when he was the first coach of the national team after the country’s return to international competition at the end of the Apartheid era.
But the colourful player and coach had already long written his own folklore, first as founder member of Kaizer Chiefs, then as a cup winning coach at Orlando Pirates and thirdly when he began the creation of the new-look Mamelodi Sundowns in 1986.
PIANO AND SHOESHINE
Tshabalala, who passed away on Thursday, coined the phrase ‘piano and shoeshine’ to describe his team’s style of play and it quickly became part of the local football lexicon.
Tshabalala, who was 75-years-old and originally from Orlando East, died as a result of complications from a shooting at his home in Centurion in March when he was attacked by intruders.
He had been part of the domestic football landscape for more than half century, one of the founder members of Kaizer XI which became Chiefs and playing for them in their first season in the new National Professional Soccer League in 1971. He quickly earned the nickname ‘Screamer’ because of his incessant shouting for the ball.
'SCREAMER'
His career began as a 19-year-old at Orlando Preston Brothers some three years before the NPSL and, after Chiefs, he played for Pimville United Brothers, African Wanderers, Vaal Professional and Pirates.
His coaching career began as far back as 1974 and in the most inauspicious circumstances. He was asked to be player coach of struggling Hammarsdale-outfit African Wanderers at the start of the season and lost his first match in charge 10-1, which is still Chiefs’ record win to this day. He was still Soweto-based and travelling up and down to Durban for training and games quicky proved too difficult to maintain.
He went back to playing at Vaal Professionals and in 1976 joined Pirates, and also briefly went to the U.S to try his luck.
His playing career effectively ended in 1977 with a bad leg break playing for the Buccaneers in a friendly against Alexandra Blackpool a day after Jomo Sono returned home to Pirates from his first season at New York Cosmos.
The next year, when Mario Tuani was fired, Tshabalala took over as Pirates coach and within weeks, he won his first trophy as the Buccaneers took the 1978 Champion of Champions title.
TIME AT SUNDOWNS
But it was to be another eight years begore he landed another high-profile post, this time at burgeoning Mamelodi Sundowns. The club had just been taken over by millionaire Zola Mahobe and the new owner wanted a charismatic figure at the helm of his team.
Tshabalala fitted the bill and immediately got to work as Mahobe’s money brought in a succession of star players. Tshabalala always had an eye for talent, one of the reason he remained on Pirates staff as an advisor for over a decade before his death.
Sundowns quickly emerged as a force in South African football to challenge the likes of Chiefs and Pirates and victory over Jomo Cosmos in the rain soaked 1986 Mainstay Cup final thrust Tshabalala and the ‘Brazilians’ firmly into the spotlight
He screamed with joy, berated doubting reporters and hailed a new era with Sundowns. He was a fascinating personality to follow, sometimes arriving just in time at games with the team’s kit in the boot of his car after it had been for ‘special treatment’.
With Sundowns he won two league titles in 1988 and 1990, although in 1988 a player revolt saw him leave before the conclusion of the season, Tuani finshing the campaign. But it was Tshabalala’s work that put Sundowns on their way to their first ever championship. He came back again 18 months later to win again. There were also several cup successes in his two stints at the club.
TIME AT SWALLOWS
In between, Tshabalala coached at Moroka Swallows when the rugby tycoon Louis Luyt bought the club and moved them to a new base at Ellis Park. He had a brief stint as AmaZulu coach 1994 and in 1996, in the first PSL season, came back to help Sundowns again when Reinhard Fabisch was fired.
Tshabalala’s stint as Bafana coach in 1992 lasted less than six months and it was a baptism of fire at a very exciting juncture for the South African game. The introduction to international competition did not go as smoothly as envisaged but he will always have a place in history, taking charge of the first game against Cameroon in Durban in mid-1992.
He was fired after slapping Sunday Times reporter Sy Lerman, but Bafana had lost their two previous matches conceding four goals in each and this also contributed to his departure.
It later years he worked at Chiefs and then Pirates in an advisory capacity, always with a ready smile, customary chuckle and an encyclopaedic knowledge of the domestic game.