Former Pirates and Chiefs striker recalls PSL breakthrough
Growing up in Aliwal North in the Eastern Cape, there weren’t many opportunities for aspiring footballers like Bongani Ndulula to pursue a football career.
Bongani Ndulula of Kaizer Chiefs. Pic Sydney Mahlangu/ BackpagePix
But, thanks to school sports, the striker was able to realise his dream when he was selected to go to England following a Coca-Cola Cup school tournament where he excelled.
It was at that point that Ndulula joined a local side playing in the third tier before going through on to play for Blackburn and eventually making it to professional football for Bloemfontein Celtic.
“It was really tough because there weren’t many opportunities out there for us. Again, at that point, I wasn’t really thinking about playing professionally. But everything soon changed when I was selected to be in a squad that was going overseas after a school tournament. One of the players I remember who was in that team was Mandla Masango. Everything just changed from that point,” said Ndulula.
“I think another thing that helped was because my uncle Simon Ndulula played for Bloemfontein Celtic and that’s how I ended up playing for the club. Plus it was the closest professional team from where I come from, just about two hours drive from Aliwal North.”
The 30-year old Ndulula is currently without a club after having also played for Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs, and AmaZulu FC in his career.
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