Mpumelelo ‘Daddyboy’ Zwane has become the latest South African to ply their trade in an obscure part of the footballing world after he signed for Armenian side Ararat Yerevan.
The midfielder joined in the January transfer window to help the club in their bid to avoid relegation in the 2018/19 season‚ signing a first professional contract of his young career.
Pretoria-born Zwane was part of the Shield XI that trained at English Premier League giants Chelsea last year and made the Shield Africa XI that played against a Chelsea Invitational side that included former Ghana midfielder Michael Essien.
Ararat are based in the Armenian capital of Yerevan and were promoted to the country’s Premier League in 2010.
They have finished sixth in the 10-team league in the last two seasons.
They have twice before been league champions‚ in 1973 and 1993‚ and one in the last of their seven cup gold medals in 2008.
Although the majority of their squad is Armenian‚ they also have players from Belgium‚ Serbia‚ South Korea‚ Ukraine‚ Russia and Senegal.
Zwane is not the only South African to play in the obscure leagues of Europe‚ with Jaisen Clifford (Stumbras‚ Lithuania)‚ Kabelo Seriba (Metta/LU‚ Latvia) and Mkhanyiseli Siwahla (Partizán Bardejov‚ Slovakia) also strutting their stuff in less glamorous surroundings.
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