LISTEN|Milford coach, owner bitten by soccer bug from young age

Xanti Pupuma says had it not been for his mother, he would have had a glorious footballing career. 

Pupuma, the coach and owner of Motsepe Foundation Championship side Milford FC, was thrust into the football spotlight this week after his team’s heroics of knocking out the once mighty Kaizer Chiefs in the Nedbank Cup group of 32.

From an early age, Pupuma participated in development football games as a player.  He played for the under-11s to U17s. He said he was passionate about starting his journey as a professional player after his matric until his mother insisted he get into a mainstream career. 

“I played football a lot when I was still in school. I was in the under-11 all the way to under- 17. When I was getting ready to progress further with the game after my matric, my mother decided to make decisions for me to go and study medicine," Pupuma, a gynaecologist by profession, told Sowetan this week.

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“Around 1996 I started with my studies, and there were no football teams at school, and I had to focus on the medical field because that was what was in front of me.” 

So confident was Pupuma of his footballing skills that he believed he was destined for greater things because he said many football fans would liken him to late Argentine football great Diego Maradona.

“I thought after  I was done with high school, I would be able to dedicate my time to soccer on a full-time basis, but my mother had other plans. She was adamant to put me through medical school,” he said. 

Pupuma said his love for the beautiful game is what inspired him and his brothers to start Milford Football Club in 2012, which is named after his father.  

“I am huge football fan. I grew up supporting Kaizer Chiefs from when I was a young boy, so starting a club was my way of contributing and following what I love," he said.

“It was not easy getting Milford off the ground. Between 2013 and 2014, we tried campaigning to get into the ABC Motsepe League. We then bought the status of Uthongathi FC and played there for seven years before we were promoted to the National First Division last year."

He said, however, that this season started off badly for the club, and they had to let go of their technical team after losing four games in a row. “After we let go of our coaches, my brothers then suggested that I become the coach in the interim. We won all our games after that and still need to win a few more after this,” he said. 

He said that his win against Amakhosi on Sunday has showed him the true potential of Milford. “The aim was always to use this game with Chiefs as motivation, whatever we can try to get out of it. It was to motivate the players to do well in the league so we can secure the status that we have,” he said. 

After eliminating Amakhosi in the penalty shootout on Sunday evening, fans took to social media to blast Chiefs, saying they had been eliminated by second-tier Milford whose players were just part-timers.

But Pupuma said this was not the case.  “Actually, all our players are full-time, from the general manager, coaches to our marketing manager. These claims are untrue. The only people in our team who have other jobs are me and our team doctor... we both run our practices,” said Pupuma. 

With patients coming in during the day, Pupuma said he makes his way to the daily training that starts at 3:30pm.  “I go and work as a doctor in the morning and then go to training after that to be a coach. Luckily, it is a family club, so I run it with my brothers and there are assistant coaches as well.  

“I do not have to do it alone. It is hard most of the time... I must juggle being a doctor, a coach and then a family man. Training usually takes about two hours, I  must then return to the hospital after that to attend to my theatre cases,” said Pupuma. 

“So, there are times where I get work calls while I am on the field; I leave immediately to return to those cases, it happens from time to time.”  

Pupuma wishes his club could reach greater heights and its fullest potential as time goes on. 

ratsatsik@sowetan.co.za