CHAT CORNER ON THE ROAD TO FAME & QUINTON FORTUNE

ON THE ROAD TO FAME AND

BY HAPPY MASANGO

Quinton Fortune remains the only South African footballer to win the English Premier League. His 15-year-long career abroad - filled with both highs and lows - will arguably go down as one of the best exports South Africa has ever seen.

Born and bred in gangster-ridden Cape Town during the apartheid era, Fortune was handed a lifeline in 1991 out of a lifestyle which saw the majority either end up in jail or killed. The midfielder was scouted by Tottenham Hotspurs and formed part of their youth academy between 1991 and 1995.

FORTUNE

Fortune also had the privilege of featuring at two FIFA World Cups for Bafana Bafana in 1998 and 2002 while plying his trade for European big guns Atlético Madrid and Manchester United. In 1996, Fortune joined Atlético Madrid. He later signed for Manchester United for a fee of £1.5 million on 1 August 1999, it was at the Red Devils where he made over 80 appearances for the club. Fortune’s move to United came out the blue. Originally, he was brought in as cover on the lefthand side for Giggs, and a direct replacement for the injury-ridden Jesper Blomqvist. The South African was thought of as an attacking winger, but during his fairly lengthy spell at Old Trafford, he became a utility player, playing in all sorts of positions. Manchester United manager Sir Alex depended mostly on his

defensive strengths, and Fortune often played in central midfield or at left-back.

Following his retirement as a player, Fortune returned to United to train with the reserve team while working towards his coaching badges, which he completed in 2013. In the summer of 2014, he was appointed manager of Cardiff City’s development team - working under former teammate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - before leaving in February 2019 to rejoin Manchester United as the U23 head coach.

Q: How was life growing up in the notorious Cape?

A: “My life growing up was brilliant in terms of the football, but in terms of the [overall] environment, it wasn’t so good because of the high rate of crime, gangs, drugs and alcohol which you didn’t want to be around.

“Right next to where I lived we had a stadium – and every kid around played football. It was in Cape Town, the Cape Flats, it was like the ghettos. I just wanted to get away from the crime and was lucky not to have been involved in that side of life. Even so, it was inevitable there would be fighting or cross-shooting whenever you just went to play football.

“I remember everything so clearly: there were big tanks and tear gas (being sprayed) because students would be fighting against the police, and it would happen three or four times a week - I would just run home with my brothers after school. People would be throwing bricks, the tanks and army would

I JUST WANTED TO GET AWAY FROM THE CRIME AND WAS LUCKY NOT TO HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THAT SIDE OF LIFE. EVEN SO, IT WAS INEVITABLE THERE WOULD BE FIGHTING OR CROSS-SHOOTING WHENEVER YOU JUST WENT TO PLAY FOOTBALL.

be there. This is the growing-up environment that’s all I ever knew and to be honest I was okay – there was food on the table and I was playing football.”

Q: When did your passion for football begin?

A: “I played for everyone, I was that kid! I just loved playing football and I’m just glad I did because if you weren’t playing football you ended up doing something really bad, simple as that. I played for my local team but not for my school team as my first language was Dutch, and depending where you were born, you had to play rugby and I couldn’t play it to save my life! I got hurt playing my first game, went home and told my mum. Bless her! She then came into school, took me out placed me in another, purely for football reasons. It was opposite the house and that changed everything when I started playing for my new school team.”

Q: How did you end up in England?

A: “I got a place with the provincial team and things changed after that. Firstly I had a white coach, Colin Gie, which was the first time I’d had any interaction with a white person. Our team was the first multi-racial team. Before, I had only played with black players. When we had a mixed team, we were allowed to play with white players. We were 13 or 14 years

old and it was totally natural for all to play together. There was no issue about race or anything - it was amazing and we ended up winning the national tournament together!.

“My coach Colin came to me after a tournament and asked if I would like to go to England. I said yes, of course. It was like a ticket out of the ghettos, I was like ‘let’s go!’ He had to get permission from my parents as I was a minor but mum and dad signed the paperwork for him to be my guardian. Colin was just a local South African guy who took me out of school at 14 before I came to England. He trained me for six to eight months, three times a day at his house, on my own.

“He saw something in me, helped build me up and get me ready for the competition that was to come when I came to England. This time was probably the biggest test of my career, but I was so desperate to get out of the country. That’s what kept me going. I never wanted to go back to life before that. I saw so much I didn’t want to see – the drugs, the fighting, the shootings . . . no kid is supposed to see that. So in the back of my mind when the opportunity came, I had that fear of not wanting to go back and that drove me on. That fear kept me going.

“The contact Colin had in England was Terry Venables and when we came over around 199, that’s how it all started. When I look back now, I don’t know how I left everything I knew - my family and friends - but coming to England to play football was what I imagined

sitting on the side of the football field in South Africa. Everything was different when I came over and I remember meeting Terry, seeing Gazza and Gary Lineker and I was like ‘wow’! I even joined in with first-team training at Tottenham when I was 14, it was mad! The Sun newspaper ran a story on the front page labelling me the first million-pound kid! It was crazy. It was Christmas for me every day just being in England. I went home once a year for two weeks and it was always great to go back. But once I got the taste for life and football in England, my determination to succeed was even bigger.”

Q: In 1995 you move to Mallorca> You described this as the lowest point in your life due to racial abuse. Talk me through the experience?

A: “I actually signed with Atletico Madrid but they loaned me out to Mallorca. I didn’t speak Spanish which was already depressing and then my own team-mate racially abused me in training. I didn’t know what to do. I was 17 or 18, I didn’t know who to turn to, I didn’t speak the language, and on top of that, the manager didn’t

communicate with me. I had no support. I was just told to sit on the side of the pitch.

“I never prayed so much in all my life just to get away from that club. I’m sure many players went through worse experiences, but that for me was the lowest point because I had no mum, dad or brothers or anyone to turn to. This guy is a senior player in the team and he was saying all these things to me. Luckily, I got out of there. When I went back to Madrid, I was so happy I made some very good friends there and carried on with my football.”

Q: You’ve now returned to Manchester United as the Under-23 coach, how is life treating you there?

A: “My dream is obviously to coach the first team. I thought about my next move a lot but I’m working my way up here. Of course, I’m starting now with the U23s and learning a lot. I want to learn as much as possible because management changes so much in the game today. I want to take what I learn learn and just try to help young players get better. That’s the main thing now for me. Yes, we want to win games of course, but the aim now for myself is to get the players to the first team. That’s the most important thing. And from there you learn how to adapt to different situations and pressures.”

Q: What are the long-term coaching plans for you?

A: “Look, I may have to go out and learn somewhere else and become a manager. But the dream, the ultimate dream, is to come back and be the manager of Manchester United. From what I’ve been through, I’m going for the highest level. I want to be given the job because of my ability. I want to always be judged

because of my character and what I can bring to the team, not because of the colour of my skin. When you look at the game, you see a lot of black players but why are there not many black managers? I don’t know what the reason is. I think if I go too deep into that it will block my way of thinking but I’m also all for that. You have got to put in the work. You have got to be a great manager. I want to be given the chance because of my talent. I like to think I am going to work as hard as I can, get all my qualifications, prepare myself and not let that barrier stop me. And if there is a system put in place, great, but regardless of that I’m going to go and work anyway.” Ù

WHEN I LOOK BACK NOW, I DON’T KNOW HOW I LEFT EVERYTHING I KNEW - MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS - BUT COMING TO ENGLAND TO PLAY FOOTBALL WAS WHAT I IMAGINED SITTING ON THE SIDE OF THE FOOTBALL FIELD IN SOUTH AFRICA.