Lucas Radebe
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Lucas Valeriu Ntuba Radebe OIS (born 12 April 1969) is a South African former professional
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
who played as a
centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...
. He began playing in the than known Bophuthatswana Soccer league (BOPSOL) playing for Stocks Birds in Lehurutshe closer to Zeerust(North West Provence) before being scouted by Kaizer Chiefs in South Africa, before transferring to
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
, where he played 262 matches for the Yorkshire side. During his spells at these clubs, he picked up the nicknames "Rhoo" and "The Chief". He became captain of Leeds United and also of the South African national team, most notably at
2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
.
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...
said of Radebe: "This is my hero." He also captained Kaizer Chiefs during his time at Chiefs.


Early life

Radebe was born to Emily and Johannes Radebe in the
Diepkloof Diepkloof is a large zone of Soweto township in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is also sometimes referred to as Diepmeadow, if considered as a single township with the nearby Meadowlands (although there is Orlando in between). Diepkloo ...
section of
Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...
, near
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
, as one of 11 children. He attended the local Bopasenatla Secondary School until he was 15 years old. His parents sent him to one of the former homelands in Grade 10,
Bophuthatswana Bophuthatswana (, ), officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana (; ), and colloquially referred to as the Bop and by outsiders as Jigsawland (In reference to its enclave-ridden borders) was a Bantustan (also known as "Homeland", an area set asid ...
, as a way to keep him safe from the violent neighbourhood of Diepkloof Zone Four in Soweto. There he attended Ngotwane High School near
Zeerust Zeerust is a commercial town situated in the Ngaka Modiri Molema district of North West Province, South Africa. It lies in the Marico valley, approximately 240 kilometres northwest of Johannesburg. It lies on the N4, the main road link betwee ...
.


Club career


Kaizer Chiefs

After playing for amateur side ICL Birds in the now-defunct Bophuthatswana Soccer League, and was spotted by Patrick Ntsoelengoe who recruited him to one of South Africa's top clubs, the Kaizer Chiefs, in 1989. Radebe originally started his career with the Kaizer Chiefs as a
goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
, and then switched positions to central midfield and then finally to central defence.


Leeds United

In 1994, Radebe and another South African player, Philemon "Chippa" Masinga, moved to
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
for a transfer fee of £250,000. Radebe was only included in the deal to keep Masinga happy; as it turned out, he became the more valuable investment. Initially the move was not a success; Radebe did not agree with then Leeds manager Howard Wilkinson, and suffered injuries which prevented him for earning a regular first team place. Radebe returned to the goalkeeper position in March 1996, replacing John Lukic in the position after he suffered an injury in the second half of a defeat to
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
. Radebe would again play in the goalkeeper position the following month when goalkeeper
Mark Beeney Mark Raymond Beeney (born 30 December 1967) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is a goalkeeping coach for Premier League side Chelsea's reserve and youth teams. As a player, he was a goalkeeper from 1986 to ...
was sent off for handling the ball outside his area in the 17th minute against
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
. Radebe was brought on as a substitute in place of Mark Ford, and despite Leeds losing 1–0, Radebe earned 'cult-hero' status at the club due to his performance. However, when Wilkinson was replaced by George Graham, his career flourished and Radebe was made captain of the team for the 1998–99 season. Whilst he was captain, Leeds enjoyed a period of relative success; in the 1998–99 season, they finished fourth in the
FA Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football ...
, qualifying for the
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
. During the 1999–2000 season, Leeds finished third in the Premier League and qualified for the following season's Champions League, where they eventually reached the semi-finals. During this time, Radebe turned down the chance to move to
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
,
AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...
and Roma.
Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former professional football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as the greatest manager of all time and ...
commented at the time, "Everyone should be interested in Lucas." In 2000, he was awarded the FIFA Fair Play Award. However, in 2000 Radebe sustained serious
knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...
and
ankle The ankle, the talocrural region or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joint. The ...
injuries, which kept him out of the game for almost two years, and subsequently found it difficult to regain his form and his place in the team.


International career

Following the end of
apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English:  , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
, Radebe made his debut for South African national team in their first international match on 7 July 1992 against
Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
. Having recently recovered from a long-term knee injury, he was a member of the South African team that won the
1996 African Cup of Nations The 1996 African Cup of Nations, also known as the Coca-Cola 1996 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 20th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by South Africa, who rep ...
. Radebe was also the captain of the South African national football team during both the
1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...
and the
2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
. South Africa failed to reach the knockout stages on both occasions; however Radebe did get on the score sheet in 2002. He earned 70 caps for South Africa and scored two goals during his international career, with his last match being against
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
on 22 May 2003. After retiring, Radebe was influential in South Africa's successful bid to host the 2010 World Cup. He could also be seen working as a pundit for South African television, and during ITV's coverage of the tournament.


Style of play

Thebe Mabanga, a Mail & Guardian journalist, wrote that South African fans remember Radebe in his Kaizer Chiefs days as "a lanky, flamboyant central midfielder who switched to central defence with ease, snuffing out any opposition threat with exquisite, acrobatic scissor kicks and diving headers, and man-marking the most lethal strikers into silence".


Post-playing career

At the end of the 2005 season, Radebe retired from professional football. Leeds held a testimonial for Radebe at
Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...
on 2 May 2005 attended by a crowd of over 37,886. Radebe also held a retirement match in
Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
between a South African Invitation XI and Lucas Radebe All Stars at Kings Park Soccer Stadium. The proceeds from both of these matches were combined with other money raised and donated to charity. On 28 August 2006, Radebe announced that he was going back to
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
after failing to secure a job with the
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...
hosts to be involved in the set-up of
Bafana Bafana The South Africa national soccer team represents South Africa in men's international soccer and is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for soccer in South Africa. Nicknamed Bafana Bafana (The Boys in Zulu), the ...
. He said he was "tired of waiting for unreliable people" who had allegedly promised him a role in the national team set up as the
South African Football Association The South African Football Association (colloquially known as SAFA) is the national administrative governing body that controls the sport of football in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and is a member of the Confederation of African Footbal ...
prepared to host the next World Cup in 2010. In 2008, a local Leeds brewery asked for suggestions for a new beer; the most popular suggestion was ''Radebeer'', showing the Leeds fans' admiration of Radebe. On 8 October 2009, The English Football Association announced Radebe as an ambassador to help boost the 2018 World Cup bid. A biography, ''Lucas: From the Streets of Soweto to Soccer Superstar'' by Richard Coomber was published in 2010. In May 2010 he won the PFA Merit Award for his contribution to football. During the
2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...
, Radebe was a pundit for ITV's match coverage and also a columnist for ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
''. Radebe revealed in September 2010 that he would like to manage
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
in the future and also manage the South African national side. He said both jobs were the only coaching jobs that he would consider. In July 2012, it was announced that Radebe had accepted a position as team manager with the South African national side. In October 2013, Radebe announced that he was set for another emotional return to the Elland Road ground at Leeds, to be presented to the crowd on Sunday, 30 October 2013. On 23 January, it was confirmed that Boxer Josh Warrington would fight IBF world champion Lee Selby (26–1) in his first world title fight on 19 May at
Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...
with Radebe joining Warrington for the ringwalk. On 19 May, Warrington secured a split-decision victory over Selby to claim the title. With Radebe as part of Warrington's ringwalk and band
Kaiser Chiefs Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who originally formed in 1996 as Runston Parva, before reforming as Parva in 2000, and releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their cur ...
also played songs at the event.


Personal life

In 1991, he was shot whilst driving with his brother Lazarus to buy drinks for his mother but was not critically wounded. When
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
confirmed their interest in 1994, Radebe's decision influenced in part by an incident that had taken place three years previously. Radebe was shopping for his mother, accompanied by his brothers, one of his sisters and her baby. While walking, they heard a gunshot, but didn't pay it much attention because, says Radebe: "In Soweto you heard shots all the time". He felt a pain in his back and he was bleeding, and his left leg went limp. Radebe was rushed to hospital but nothing vital had been damaged. The bullet had entered his back and exited halfway down his thigh. The culprit is still unknown, it is suspected that someone was hired to shoot him rather than allow him to switch clubs. He was voted 54th in the Top 100 Great South Africans in 2004. His wife Feziwe died of cancer in October 2008. In December 2008, Radebe was treated for a heart complaint after collapsing while at the gym. Radebe married his second wife at the end of 2015.


Legacy

Kaiser Chiefs Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who originally formed in 1996 as Runston Parva, before reforming as Parva in 2000, and releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their cur ...
, a British indie/
britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...
band, whose members are all Leeds United supporters, chose this name because Radebe is a former player of Kaizer Chiefs. Radebe has been an ambassador of
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
for
SOS Children's Villages SOS Children's Villages is an independent, non-governmental, nonprofit international development organization headquartered in Innsbruck, Austria. The organization provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to families facing difficultie ...
; he also received the
FIFA Fair Play Award The FIFA Fair Play Award is a FIFA recognition of exemplary behaviour that promotes the spirit of fair play and compassion in :association football around the world. First awarded in 1987, it has been presented to individuals (including posthu ...
in December 2000 for his contribution in ridding soccer of racism as well as for his work with children in South Africa. In April 2003, for recognition of his efforts both on an off the field, Radebe was given the Contribution to the Community Award in the Premier League 10 Seasons Awards. On an official visit to Leeds,
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...
said of Radebe: "This is my hero."


Career statistics

:''Sources'': Soccerbase :::lucasradebe.com
# More detailed statistics for Kaizer Chiefs games for this period are not available. # "Continental" includes
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
and Champions League appearances.


International

:''Scores and results list South Africa's goal tally first.''


Honours

Kaizer Chiefs *
National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...
: 1989, 1991, 1992 Leeds United *
Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...
runner-up: 1995–96 South Africa *
African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...
:
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...


References


Further reading

* Graeme Friedman '' Madiba's Boys: The Stories of Lucas Radebe and
Mark Fish Mark Anthony Fish (born 14 March 1974) is a South African former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Club career Born in Cape Town, Fish started his career in his native Sout ...
'' Comerford & Miller, United Kingdom . Foreword by
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...


External links

*
A short documentary following Lucas back to his home town in Umlazi Township
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radebe, Lucas 1969 births Living people 1996 African Cup of Nations players 1998 African Cup of Nations players 2000 African Cup of Nations players 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Soccer players from Soweto Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in England South African men's soccer players South Africa men's international soccer players South African expatriate men's soccer players South African shooting survivors Men's association football defenders Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga English Football League players 20th-century South African sportsmen