Opinion / Columnist
Douglas 'British' Mloyi, a true Bosso legend
13 Oct 2014 at 11:18hrs | Views
One of the finest ever defenders produced by Highlanders, a legend in his own right Douglas "British" Mloyi is a name that will forever be remembered and will appear in Bosso's history books.
Gifted with a talent of using both feet, a never-say-die spirit, and a defender who took no prisoner, Mloyi made Highlanders a formidable side that would collect any silverware on offer.
Mloyi played for Highlanders from the juniors up to the first team. He made his debut for the first team at 19 in 1974 and he never looked back until he retired in 1987.
Playing alongside football legends like goalkeeper Peter Nkomo, Barry Daka, Josiah Nxumalo, the then young Madinda Ndlovu, Dumisani Nyoni, the late Tymon Mabaleka, Willard Khumalo, Mercedes "Rambo" Sibanda, Alexander Maseko, Titus Majola, Tito Packeth, Bruce Grobellar among many others during Highlander's heydays, he won so many accolades before and after independence.
He won the league title, Chibuku Trophy, BAT Cup, Independence trophy, the Castle Cup and so many others that were there in his era.
Mloyi was given the moniker "British" by one of his teachers at Magwegwe Secondary School, who was impressed by his ball control.
"Whilst at school at Magwegwe Secondary there was a school teacher Albert Bhule, who was our school coach and he is former football referee in the Premier League," recalls Mloyi.
"Buhle admired my type of play, aggression, tackling ability and good ball control. He then said ‘Mloyi you resembled a British type of footballer'.
"That's how I got nickname ‘British' and it stuck with me up until this day."
After school, Mloyi started to make a name for himself at Bosso where he joined forces with Alexander Maseko to form one of the best central defensive pairing the country has ever seen.
Those days Bosso were the pride of Matabeleland as they competed with the other traditional giants like Dynamos, CAPS United and Zimbabwe Saints.
Mloyi is disappointed with the both Highlanders and state of the game in this day and age.
Bosso have failed to win the league title since 2006 and have played second fiddle to DeMbare in recent years.
"Players are no longer selected on merit but because there is money. Those with clever managers get contracts," he says.
"I also believe it's now about ‘who you know' not about ‘who plays better than who'.
"It's all about money these days. Some of us would go to work first before training but our performance compared to what I am seeing now was better.
"Professionalism somehow brought money but not talent identification. Some of these players play like they are playing social soccer and it is sad."
After his playing days, Mloyi got into coaching and he took charge of a number of lower division clubs.
Except for a short stint as Madinda Ndlovu's assistant at Bosso, Mloyi is one person who was never attracted by coaching in the op flight league.
"I decided to coach small teams because I have seen that our football is lacking in terms of development," he says.
"We need to nurture and develop talent at the lower leagues so as to have a good and proper supply in the Premier League.
"I believe I will rise from the bottom and be a great coach because I know and understand football from the lowest to the highest level."
Gifted with a talent of using both feet, a never-say-die spirit, and a defender who took no prisoner, Mloyi made Highlanders a formidable side that would collect any silverware on offer.
Mloyi played for Highlanders from the juniors up to the first team. He made his debut for the first team at 19 in 1974 and he never looked back until he retired in 1987.
Playing alongside football legends like goalkeeper Peter Nkomo, Barry Daka, Josiah Nxumalo, the then young Madinda Ndlovu, Dumisani Nyoni, the late Tymon Mabaleka, Willard Khumalo, Mercedes "Rambo" Sibanda, Alexander Maseko, Titus Majola, Tito Packeth, Bruce Grobellar among many others during Highlander's heydays, he won so many accolades before and after independence.
He won the league title, Chibuku Trophy, BAT Cup, Independence trophy, the Castle Cup and so many others that were there in his era.
Mloyi was given the moniker "British" by one of his teachers at Magwegwe Secondary School, who was impressed by his ball control.
"Whilst at school at Magwegwe Secondary there was a school teacher Albert Bhule, who was our school coach and he is former football referee in the Premier League," recalls Mloyi.
"Buhle admired my type of play, aggression, tackling ability and good ball control. He then said ‘Mloyi you resembled a British type of footballer'.
"That's how I got nickname ‘British' and it stuck with me up until this day."
After school, Mloyi started to make a name for himself at Bosso where he joined forces with Alexander Maseko to form one of the best central defensive pairing the country has ever seen.
Those days Bosso were the pride of Matabeleland as they competed with the other traditional giants like Dynamos, CAPS United and Zimbabwe Saints.
Mloyi is disappointed with the both Highlanders and state of the game in this day and age.
Bosso have failed to win the league title since 2006 and have played second fiddle to DeMbare in recent years.
"Players are no longer selected on merit but because there is money. Those with clever managers get contracts," he says.
"I also believe it's now about ‘who you know' not about ‘who plays better than who'.
"It's all about money these days. Some of us would go to work first before training but our performance compared to what I am seeing now was better.
"Professionalism somehow brought money but not talent identification. Some of these players play like they are playing social soccer and it is sad."
After his playing days, Mloyi got into coaching and he took charge of a number of lower division clubs.
Except for a short stint as Madinda Ndlovu's assistant at Bosso, Mloyi is one person who was never attracted by coaching in the op flight league.
"I decided to coach small teams because I have seen that our football is lacking in terms of development," he says.
"We need to nurture and develop talent at the lower leagues so as to have a good and proper supply in the Premier League.
"I believe I will rise from the bottom and be a great coach because I know and understand football from the lowest to the highest level."
Source - dailynews
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
