The all-conquering Mamelodi Sundowns team that many football lovers know of today started from humble beginnings.
The team was originally formed by a group of soccer-loving boys in the slums of Marabastad in Tshwane in the 1960s and was known as Pretoria Sundowns.
It then relocated to Eersterust, and in 1979 it was purchased by Mamelodi medical doctors Motsiri Itsoeng and Bonnie Sebotsane, together with businessman Fish Kekana, and was brought to Mamelodi where it was renamed Mamelodi Sundowns.
The team played for several years in the lower professional division known as the Zambuk League as it failed twice in succession to gain promotion to the professional ranks known as the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL).
In 1980 Sundowns was pipped to the post by rival Mamelodi-based team Mamelodi United, which was affectionately known as Mams, aka The Heroes, via a controversial penalty decision by the referee.
In 1981 it was beaten for promotion by PG Rangers, a team which was introduced as Sundowns’ opponents at the proverbial eleventh hour from a whites-only professional football League.
Sundowns had won outright promotion to the NPSL echelons, but the powers that be in the NPSL at the time, like George Thabe and Cyril Kobus, decided that the team had to engage in a play-off tournament against the said PG Rangers which was a fully-fledged professional team in its own right, and there was no way Sundowns would stand a chance against it.
Amid all these unfortunate events preventing Sundowns from ultimately playing in the professional ranks, many of the team’s players stayed on patiently and faithfully at the team until it gained promotion in 1983.
One of those faithful and patient players was David Matsemela, commonly known by his nickname Soweto.
Before he joined Sundowns in 1979 when it was relocated to Mamelodi, Soweto Matsemela was a star in his own right in the township of Mamelodi and was already famous for playing for local Mamelodi semi-professional team Saints and also for playing for the Mamelodi High School soccer team, where he was a student.
“I would have loved to play for Moroka Swallows but my mother and elder brother were against the idea because joining Swallows meant I had to relocate to Johannesburg, which they both considered to be a rough place full of criminals,” said Matsemela in an interview with Tshwane Talks last week.
Matsemela was a dribbling wizard during his playing days and he sustained many injuries at the time due to rough tackling and off-the-ball physical attacks by jealous opponents.
“I embarrassed my opponents with my dribbling skills and subjected them to laughter by the crowds,” he said.
His most memorable match is against Jomo Cosmos at the HM Pitje Stadium in 1985 in a game he scored a goal and helped Sundowns beat Cosmos 3-0.
Due to an Achilles tendon injury, Matsemela had to quit playing professional soccer actively in 1986.
“I am very proud about the fact that I am one of the players who turned Sundowns into what it is today and if we had quit the club to go and play for professional Joburg teams like Swallows, Chiefs or Pirates, then Mamelodi would not be having one of the best teams in South Africa today, so our sacrifices were worthwhile,” he said.
Matsemela’s teammates who helped Sundowns gain promotion to the professional ranks included Panyaza Chitja, Jeff Mothoa, Walter Kutumela, Loloman Masango, Go Mabusela and Philemon Mogola.
At the moment Matsemela is head coach of the Pretoria University/ Amatuks under 11 development team and is in possession of a SAFA D License coaching qualification.
He has been at the Amatuks development team since 2015.
He recently returned from Sweden with his Amatuks team where they took part in a 100-team international under 11 tournament and lost in the quarterfinals.
Matsemela has already produced several soccer stars in his coaching career and one of them is playing in the reserve league of a professional team in Spain while others play for local team Dondol FC which performed well in the Nedbank Cup a few years ago, as it gave professional teams like SuperSport United and Orlando Pirates a torrid time in the tournament.
He started his coaching career at q local Mamelodi Extension 4 team called Happy Hunters where he was in charge of 5 different divisions of the team and managed to help the senior division of the team to gain promotion to the local Super League.
At Amatuks development academy, Matsemela has won various tournaments with several divisions of the team from the under 11 to the under 15 category.
“Football is in my blood and I will always be involved in it for as long as I can,” he said enthusiastically as he urged up-and-coming soccer players not to rely on their talent only, but also train hard and be disciplined on and off the field of play.