Revered keeper led the team to glory
Having written his name into the annals of Kaizer Chiefs history, Amakhosi legend and goalkeeper Matsau Joseph Setlhodi will go down as one of the many players of yesteryear who contributed to what the Amakhosi football institution is today.
The man popularly known today as Banks reveals it never crossed his mind that he would one day play football, let alone become one of the revered goalies of the 70s and 80s.
Growing up in Madubaville in Randfontein, west of Joburg, Setlhodi’s interest in everything sport-related started when he was in his teens, as a golf caddy.
While carrying golf bags for golfers in the late 60s, he says his fell in love with the game, playing during his leisure time.
Setlhodi, 71, started as an infield player in the streets of Madubaville.
“A neighbourhood friend drew me closer to soccer. He was persuasive, at times dragging me to come and play for the local team, Randfontein Young Zebras,” he remembers.
“I used to make a lot of pocket money from being a caddie, in shillings and pences at the time. I felt rich. I loved golf so much that I delayed my career as a soccer player. It was only at
the age of 17 that I started taking football seriously.”
Young Zebras were a third division amateur team when Setlhodi joined them as a youngster of about 13 or 14, but he helped them reach the pinnacle of the local semi-professional football when they gained promotion to the National Professional Soccer League in 1964.
But before joining the Soweto-based invitation side Kaizer XI, as Chiefs were known before soccer supremo Kaizer Motaung formally established the club on January 7 1970, Setlhodi says he had the privilege to be in the Young Zebras team that faced Kaizer XI in a friendly match to raise funds to build a creche in Madubaville.
“Both teams were undefeated at the time. The first match was a 3-all draw. As Young Zebras our pride was at stake. We wanted a rematch and it was arranged, and we beat Kaizer XI 3-1. This was around 1968, if I remember well,” explains Setlhodi.
“After the esteemed Chiefs talent scout, the late Ewert ‘The Lip’ Nene, saw me and Ace [the great Patrick ‘Mabhekaphantsi’ Ntsoelengoe] mesmerising Kaizer XI, he recruited
both of us to join the Soweto invitation side in 1968.”
Setlhodi says one of the reasons he switched to goalkeeping was to protect his “two-bob” (20 cents) he earned from caddying during the street challenges in Madubaville. By the time he joined Kaizer XI he was an experienced goalkeeper, although at 17 he knew nothing about professional football.
With nicknames like Pro and Lefty, as he is left-handed, Setlhodi recalls one of the most epoch- making episodes of his football career, when he had to drag himself out of his sick bed to play for Kaizer Chiefs in the Life Challenge Cup final against Ama- Zulu at Orlando Stadium in 1973.
With a record 14 years playing for Chiefs, Setlhodi coached the Phefeni Glamour Boys for two seasons from 1982 to 83 as a reserve keeper. In the first season they won five trophies –
a record, he says. A legend to be remembered while still alive.
By Xolile Mtshazo
Chiefs banked on Setlhodi
