They wanted to see me and Lucas Radebe play together: How Mark Fish nearly joined Chiefs

Former Bafana Bafana star Mark Fish has recounted how he almost joined Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs before signing for their rivals Orlando Pirates.

Fish joined Pirates from Jomo Cosmos in 1993, where he spent several seasons and made over 100 appearances before heading overseas.

But the player who was part of the golden era in SA football, winning the African Cup of Nations and qualifying for the 1998 Fifa World Cup, nearly joined Chiefs instead.

Speaking to MacG on Podcast and Chill with MacG recently, Fish said after Cosmos were relegated, he met club boss Jomo Sono after meeting a Kaizer Chiefs representative, who told him the outfit were keen to sign him.

“Whether he was telling the truth or not, he said Chiefs’ fans had been writing to him [to say] they would like to see me and Lucas [Radebe] play together.”

The pair played together in the Afcon-winning squad.

“He [Sono] said if you sign for Kaizer Chiefs I will make sure you never play football in this country again, so I found myself at Pirates.”

He said he had no regrets about joining the team.

On joining Jomo Cosmos as a youngster, Fish joked about his first pay cheque bouncing.

“There was no money. At the next training session the players all said: 'If you get a cheque from Jomo, make sure you are the first one at the bank because you are not sure how much money is in the bank.'"

Speaking on the state of football in SA, Fish said if the country wants to progress as a football nation, it needs to develop young talent quickly.

Fish left Pirates for Lazio in Italy after meeting Manchester United representatives. Thereafter, he moved to Premier League side Bolton Wanderers.

After three years there he transferred to Charlton, where he spent several years, accumulating more than 100 appearances for both clubs.