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Chiefs mourn the passing of club stalwart Jerry Sadike

Mahlatse Mphahlele Sports reporter
Kaizer Chiefs are mourning the passing of stalwart Jerry Sadike.
Kaizer Chiefs are mourning the passing of stalwart Jerry Sadike.
Image: Jörg Carstensen/picture alliance via Getty Images

Kaizer Chiefs have joined a legion of football fans around the country who are mourning the passing of one of the club’s stalwarts, former attacker Jerry Sadike.

In a statement on their website, Chiefs said Sadike played and scored in Chiefs’ first official league fixture against African Wanderers on March 16 1971 where Amakhosi registered a 10-1 win.

The club went on to remember Sadike, who hailed from Orlando East, as a deadly finisher, winger and a very talented attacking player who left an indelible mark on SA football.

“Not only did Sadike first represent Pimville United Brothers (PUBS) and later on both Soweto giants, but he also played for Swaraj in the Federation Professional League (FPL).

“He was also the first player of colour to play for the revered Highlands Park in the National Professional Soccer League in a trailblazing football career,” said the club.

The statement mentioned that one of Sadike’s defining games for Chiefs was at Orlando Stadium on November 16 1974 when his brace, along with a Patrick ‘Ace’ Ntsoelengoe goal, gave Amakhosi a comfortable 3-0 Soweto Derby win against Orlando Pirates in the final match of the season to seal Chiefs’ first ever National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) title.

Amakhosi scored an amazing 106 goals in 30 games in that record-breaking NPSL season, finishing nine points ahead of league runners-up Moroka Swallows, and Sadike scored 11 goals in that season, including four in a 9-0 league win against Real Katlehong City on November 10 1974.

Sadike was one of many stars of that 1974 squad, including Patrick ‘Ace’ Ntsoelengoe, Herman ‘Pele’ Blashcke, Michael ‘Bizzah’ Dlamini, Abednigo ‘Shaka’ Ngcobo, Vusi ‘Computer’ Lamola, Kaizer ‘Chincha Guluva’ Motaung and Johannes ‘Big Boy’ Kholoane.

“That team could have been the national team, we were so good. We could score and score and score,” Sadike, a straight shooter on and off the pitch and a snappy dresser, told kaizerchiefs.com previously.


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