Fresh from the Moroka High School in Thaba Nchu, I arrived in Qwaqwa in 1973 and settled in Phuthaditjhaba after securing the position of store officer at the then Basotho Tribal Authority (BTA) administration. The authority was led by Chief Wessel Mota of the Batlokoa tribe.
The BTA became the Qwaqwa government in 1975 with the late Dr Tsiame Kenneth Mopeli as the chief minister until 1994, when the South Africa democratic government took over.
Qwaqwa was still barren and Phuthaditjhaba was taking on the shape of a modern township. The entertainment activities were mainly music, dance, and football. For others there were shebeen excursions and liquor joints.
However, football grew to become the main attraction with the formation of clubs, and an influx of people, investors, jobs and students came for schooling. This was due to Qwaqwa’s phenomenal growth, its business and infrastructural developments and tourism along with quality education.
I joined the Maholosiane FC and enjoyed significant game time under the captaincy of Zorro Phalo, a fine striker in position nine. In the blue and white jersey, the Maholosiane was the football giant in the eastern Free State, enjoying large fans due. They all worked in the BTA administration.
There were other established clubs competing for Maholosiane’s status as a crowd-puller. They were the Harrismith Gunners, Bethlehem Terrors, Ficksburg’s Ex-20, and Marquard Aces.
However, its noteworthy to mention that Villa Park FC, which I was a founding member of, became a force to reckoned with from 1975 to 1980 among later emerging teams such as the Makoane Stars, Boiketlo Moving Spurs, and Tabola FC. I left Maholosiane to form Villa Park in April 1975 with other players. Briggs Tsunke took on the task of recruiting talented players he knew from Kroonstad and Parys. They were working as teachers or studying to become teachers. I also recruited former schoolmates Lefa Lebakeng and Tizza Tsoanyane.
The idea of the name Villa Park and football style was inspired by Aston Villa FC in the United Kingdom, which had great players in the ’70s. It was also influenced by Orlando Pirates, who ruled football in South Africa then. We made it our mission to capture these epic performances and styles of playing of these two football giants. We even opted for black and white as the official Villa Park colours.
We struggled to find a home ground given that most sport fields belonged to Maholosiane and the Hungry Lions, which were well-established in the area.
As fate would have it, Villa Park was granted permission to use the sports field of the Itemoheleng Ambag School (for artisans and apprenticeships) with the help of London Mokoena (a civil engineer responsible for urban settlement, roads and infrastructure development in the Department of Works) and Bomber Motsei, a technocrat and a quantity surveyor attached to the school. Later on, Mokoena arranged for the levelling of an open space along the Tosi Road, and it became Villa Park slaughter house.
In no time, we competed with the Maholosiane for the bragging rights. Our level of fitness, passing game and high-tempo playstyle made Villa Park tough to beat in any given day. All our attacking players could score goals from any angle.
Unfortunately, Villa became defunct in 1980 following the departure of excellent players who pursued their careers. Others indulged in the free-flowing life of freedom owing to Qwaqwa’s economic boom.
- The highlights of Qwaqwa football are the achievements by two defunct clubs, the Free State Stars (Qwaqwa Stars) and Ratanang Maholosiane, gaining promotion to the Premier Soccer League (PSL). Joe “Director” Mosuhli is the founder and captain of the, now defunct, Villa Park FC.
