Not many players can boast about turning down an opportunity to play for Soweto giants Orlando Pirates and choose to remain at a relatively smaller club. Such is the tale of Mark Mayambela's journey to become a Buccaneer.
Mayambela holds the status of being among the South African players whichever team you support, you might find it hard to not appreciate the skill and talent he displayed in his heyday.
The now retired Mayambela featured for Pirates between 2010 and 2013, winning the famous double treble under Ruud Krol and Julio Leal.
However, Pirates needed to move some mountains and redirect rivers before Mayambela could sign on the dotted line.
At first, he rejected a contract offered to him by the Soweto giants, stating his love for Bloemfontein Celtic as part of the reasons why he was not keen to move to Soweto.
It turned out that Soweto was not the problem, but Mayambela was more attracted to the gold and black side of Soweto.
"I didn't want to go to Pirates. I wanted to stay at Celtic, but also, I wanted to go to Chiefs because I was a Chiefs supporter. But it happened as a young boy."
“We played SuperSport United in Bloemfontein, and I was on the bench, I did not play. After the game, they (Celtic management) told me that me and Tlou Segolela have to stay in Gauteng because we were meeting the chairman of Pirates on Sunday. I was angry and I told them that I am not going (to the meeting),” Mayambela said on Izinja zeGame.
“I went to the bus and I called my agent (Tim Sukazi) and I told him what they said and that I said no. He said ‘okay, stay in the bus’. While sitting in the bus the manager came and said they are calling me. I got to the dressing room and there was Demetri ‘Jimmy’ Augousti (former Celtic owner) and David Modise.
“Jimmy said I need to go and I said I’m not going (to Pirates). They called the late Stanley ‘Screamer’ Tshabalala (former Pirates technical director) and I also told him ‘I am not coming, I did not prepare for this’. I went back to the bus and we went to Bloemfontein. The next game I was in the stands because I refused to go.
“Few weeks later, they called me and I flew to Jozi and I met Floyd Mbhele (former Pirates administration manager) with Tim. I did not sign… I went back to Bloemfontein.
“In pre-season of 2010, we went to Pretoria for camp, then Tim called me and said we have a meeting with the chairman. We went… and I went there for a meeting but I left the boardroom as a Pirates player,” Mayambela explained.
Coming from a family that supports Amakhosi, Mayambela was eager to present the Glamour Boys, but that never materialised as he today enjoys the status of being one of the most celebrated figures to have donned The Ghost’s colours.
“I wanted to play for Chiefs but also I knew that Pirates people loved me, even when I was at Celtic – I remember we played them and we lost 2-1.
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“I scored and then Mickey Modisane came running straight to me, holding a microphone and mummering ‘this boy is good’. You could see the influence that Pirates had in the national team and for those reasons I wanted to join because it was an opportunity to grow,” Mayambela recalled.
In a professional career that begun in 2007, Mayambela turned out for the likes of Matsatsantsa A Pitori, Chippa United, Ajax Cape Town (now known as Cape Town Spurs), Swedish side Djurgårdens IF, just to mention a few, before he enjoyed the twilight of his career at Cape Town City and Cape Umoya United.
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