"Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates said I was too old to play for them" - Delron Buckley

27 March 2017 - 12:14 By Marc Strydom
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73 CAPS: Delron Buckley pictured here on 17 November 2007 during the Nelson Mandela Challenge match between South Africa and United States held at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. Buckley made his international debut in a friendly against Zambia on 20 May 1998. He has played 73 games and scored 10 goals for the South African national team. Buckley represented his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2002 FIFA World Cup and the 2004 African Nations Cup.
73 CAPS: Delron Buckley pictured here on 17 November 2007 during the Nelson Mandela Challenge match between South Africa and United States held at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. Buckley made his international debut in a friendly against Zambia on 20 May 1998. He has played 73 games and scored 10 goals for the South African national team. Buckley represented his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2002 FIFA World Cup and the 2004 African Nations Cup.

Delron Buckley says Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates said he was too old to play for them when he returned from a 13-year career in Europe in 2012.

Former Bafana Bafana winger Buckley said he contacted Chiefs and Pirates when his contract ended with Karlruher in Bundesliga II at 34 years of age‚ but they were not interested in the services of the ex-VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund player‚ who had been one of South Africa's most successful football exports.

Buckley also expressed frustration that‚ having signed for Maritzburg United in 2012‚ his career ended at 35 in April 2014.

Buckley was released by United after a fallout with then-coach Steve Komphela.

Ex-Bafana team-mate Mark Fish has said that he believed Buckley should have continued playing for at least another two years.

"When my contract finished at Karlsruhe in 2013 I contacted a few clubs like Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates‚ because I was interested to come back and play for them.

"But I was told that I was too old and I wasn't good enough.

"But then I got a phone call from Ernst Middendorp‚ because he knew I was a free agent‚ and he asked me if I was willing to go and play for Maritzburg United.

"And I said‚ 'Ja‚ of course. Definitely. I want to come home. I want to finish off my career at home'.

"Which I did‚ and I came back and played two years."

Buckley (39) was speaking at the launch of his book‚ "Delron Buckley‚ My Life"‚ in Durban.

- TMG Digital/TMG Sport

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