Kaizer Chiefs were the inaugural winners of the Charity Tournament in 1985. The Glamour Boys went to win it a record of five times in a row from 1986-1990. One of the players who was instrumental in those victories is the current SABC Sports presenter and Kaizer Chiefs legend, Marks “Go man Go” Maponyane.

In this edition of memoirs, the NSL Player of the Year 1981 and 1987 shared his memories with kaizerchiefs.com, “The competition was new and we were told that we were going to play two games in one day. This had never happened and it was something new for all of us. We had a great side then, Chippa Molatedi, Trevor Mthimkhulu, Wellington Manyathi, the list goes on. We brushed off our first opponents and beat Bloemfontein Celtics in the final.

“You will recall that then we never had camps as we would meet the day of the game. Players today are lucky because they have camps and training methods have obviously changed as players are getting conditioned better these days. The second game is obviously the most important but you have to win the first game first. As a team we were very united and all we were thinking about was winning, winning and more winning” recalls Marks Maponyane who still holds the record of 85 goals as the all time goalscorer for Kaizer Chiefs.

Marks attributes Kaizer Chiefs victories, five years in a row to concentration, consistency and cooperation, “We all believed in our abilities and mentally we were very strong as playing two games in a day requires more that just physical fitness. The wins early in the season obviously brought confidence in the team as you would see that over the years after winning the Charity we would go do well in the Top 8. The Kaizer Chiefs team then was all about winning the same as Manchester United is today,” he said.

“Go man Go” left Kaizer Chiefs in 1990 but continued playing and joined Dynamos and later archrival, Orlando Pirates. He regards the 1994 final against Chiefs as one of the games that sticks out in his mind. Kaizer Chiefs beat Orlando Pirates 5-4 on penalties, “but sadly, I will always remember my last appearance in the Charity I damaged my ligaments playing for Orlando Pirates. Our coach, Mike Makaab encouraged me to continue playing until the end of the game. That happened to be my last appearance in the tournament” he added.

Marks said the tournament evokes lots of memories and remains a platform for, in particular, new players to get an opportunity and express themselves in front of a packed stadium.

“I am looking forward to the games in Mafikeng, the game between Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns is going to be an interesting one” he said.