Football supporters and soccer teams around the Mnquma area will be celebrating and honouring the former National First Division league side, Blackburn Rovers’ soccer legend, Mzothando “Gqudu” Makhala, at Msobomvu sports ground this weekend.
Makhala, who was born and bred in Mnquma, will be celebrated with a Bra Gqudu U/13 Mini Easter Soccer Tournament on Saturday, at the Msobomvu sports grounds.
Bra Gqudu is a well-known footballer who was produced in the Mnquma area, prior to 1994.
He played against the likes of former Bafana Bafana coach, Shakes Mashaba, and some of the other great South African players of the 1980s.
He also contributed to local sport development by developing young players after he hung up his football boots.
Luxolo Matikinca, a manager of Sekhukhune United FC in the Premier Soccer League, and Nkululeko Malgas, Gqudu, the GladAfrica Championship Division side AmaTuks’ assistant coach, are two of the players that Makhala helped develop when they were younger.
Now, in return, some of the former players of Blackburn Rovers, like Wanda Mtwa, who were developed by Makhala, wanted to celebrate or honour Bra Gqudu by hosting a soccer tournament during the Easter holidays because he had contributed a lot to local sport.
Mtwa said another reason for hosting this tournament was that they wanted to leave a legacy so that young up-and-coming players could discover that Mnquma used to have great players.
He concluded by saying the team who did well during the tournament would win a big trophy, gold medals, kit, bibs, soccer balls and other prizes.
