Steve Komphela

South African soccer player and manager

Steve Komphela
Personal information
Full name Steven Mbuyi Komphela
Date of birth (1967-07-01) 1 July 1967 (age 56)
Place of birth Kroonstad, South Africa
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1989 Klerksdorp City 80 (4)
1989–1993 Free State Stars 136 (14)
1993 Kaizer Chiefs 34 (5)
1993–1996 Gaziantepspor 86 (2)
1996–1997 Çanakkale Dardanelspor 17 (0)
Total 353 (25)
International career
1992–1995 South Africa 24 (0)
Managerial career
2002–2003 Manning Rangers
2003–2004 Dynamos
2004 South Africa U-20
2006–2007 Maritzburg United
2005–2008 South Africa U-23
2008–2009 Free State Stars
2009–2010 Platinum Stars
2010–2013 Free State Stars
2012 South Africa (caretaker)
2014–2015 Maritzburg United
2015–2018 Kaizer Chiefs
2018–2019 Bloemfontein Celtic
2019–2020 Golden Arrows
2020–2023 Mamelodi Sundowns
2023-2024 Swallows
2024-Present Golden Arrows
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Steve Komphela (born 1 July 1967) is a South African football coach and a former player who is the manager of South African Premier Soccer League club Lamontville Golden Arrows F.C.[1]

Early life

Steve was born in Golden Valley farm, 20 km outside Kroonstad to Jack Koyi Koyo and Nomalanga Komphela as the youngest of 11 children.[2] Politician Butana Komphela is his brother.[3] Komphela became a teacher by profession after he got his teacher's diploma at Tshiya College in Free State.[2]

Club career

Komphela started out at NSL Second Division side Klerksdorp City[4] and later Qwa Qwa Stars where he earned promotion to the National Soccer League. He made his NSL debut on 9 February 1986 in a 4–1 win over Witbank Aces.[5][2] In 1992, Komphela helped his team to a third-place finish in the league and was voted the NSL Players' Player of the Year. He later joined Kaizer Chiefs where he played all 34 league games and signed a contract overseas on 16 August 1993 moving to Gaziantepspor for the second half of 1993/94 season alongside fellow South African Teboho Moloi.[6] He retired in 1997.[7]

Outside football

Komphela is married to Mamoepi Komphela, and together they have three kids: Nombuyiselo, Nomalanga, and Noxolo. He taught at the Johannesburg Secondary School but apart from being a life orientation teacher and a professional footballer, Komphela was also a TV presenter. He hosted his own talk show on Çanakkale Dardanelspor's television channel.[2][8] Komphela was approached by SABC to be the host of a football talk show but rejected this opportunity. Steve also tutors the Mamelodi Sundowns youth team. He said the youth need brains to play football because "without brains a footballer is just a headless chicken chasing a ball".[citation needed] He also takes part in many youth uplifting programs.[2]

International career

Komphela is a founder member of the new national team of South Africa. He made his debut on 7 July 1992 in a 1–0 win over Cameroon. On 24 October 1992 against Congo, his 7th cap, he captained the team in its second World Cup qualifier. He played every minute of the first 22 internationals. He captained the team for the 18th and last time in a 2–2 draw against Zambia on 22 November 1995 which was his 24th cap.[9] Having played almost half of the team's internationals up to December 1995. He was not selected for the 1996 African Cup of Nations for obvious reasons.[2]

Coaching career

Komphela began his coaching career with Manning Rangers F.C. in 2002. Between 2002 and 2015, he coached several clubs, in which he all worked for a single season.

In 2015, he joined Kaizer Chiefs F.C. on a three-year contract. Kaizer Chiefs won the Maize Cup in 2017, the Macufe Cup in 2017, and two Carling Black Label Cups (in 2016 and 2017) under Komphela.[10] He resigned as head coach of the club with immediate effect following a 2-0 Nedbank Cup semi-final loss to Free State Stars in April 2018.[11]

In July 2018, he joined Bloemfontein Celtic which was undergoing financial struggles at the time.

Shortly after he started his new career with Bloemfontein Celtic, he started the 2018-19 Premier Soccer League league with a huge surprise. He won the first six consecutive league games and got a 2–2 draw against Kaizer Chiefs, after which his team was down to 2–0 at one point later in the second-half. He also beat Orlando Pirates in that first leg of the season. He managed Golden Arrows but resigned a day before he was announced as the new Mamelodi Sundowns coach. He was announced to coach Mamelodi Sundowns on the club's Twitter on Monday 12 October 2020.[12]

References

  1. ^ Vadien, Tashreeq. "Veteran coach Steve Komphela back at Golden Arrows with another rescue job required". Sport. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Steve Komphela is made of stern stuff". News 24. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  3. ^ "Former Free State MEC Butana Komphela dies after Covid-19 hospital admission". Sunday Times. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Soccer - SportsClub". SportsClub. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  5. ^ "Kickoff". December 2015 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Gaziantepspor (93/94)". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Steve Komphela". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  8. ^ Gleeson, Mark. "Homeboy kicks off new Chiefs era". The M&G Online. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  9. ^ "South Africa - International Matches 1992-1995". RSSSF. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  10. ^ "Resilience: The Ernst Middendorp Authorised Biography Facebook page".
  11. ^ "Steve Komphela resigns as Kaizer Chiefs coach". Sport. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  12. ^ @Masandawana (12 October 2020). "Coach Steve Komphela joined the Brazilians at training this morning" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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South Africa national soccer team – managers
(c) = caretaker manager
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Kaizer Chiefs – managers
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Moroka Swallows F.C. – current squad