Wayde Lekay (born 9 May 1997) is a South African professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for the

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

club

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers Futebol Clube de Goa (simply known as Churchill Brothers) is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League, alongside the Goa Professional League (reserves). Founded in 1 ...

Career

He started his senior career in the Second Division with Tygerberg and Atlantic Nacional. In 2017 he was on trial at

Bidvest Wits Bidvest Wits Football Club, (simply often known as Wits University F.C. or Wits) was a South African professional football club from Johannesburg which played in the Premiership the first-tier of South African league football system. It was ni ...

. He ended up joining

SuperSport United SuperSport United Football Club (often known as SuperSport) is a South African professional association football, football club based in Atteridgeville in Pretoria in the Gauteng province. The team currently plays in the South African Premier Di ...

and played for their reserves. He moved on to

National First Division The South African Championship, officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African football after the South African Premiership. Both the South African Championship and ...

outfit Steenberg United before joining his first Premier Division club in 2020, TS Galaxy. Stating that his goal for the 2020-21 South African Premier Division was to score 20 goals, he made his first-tier debut in October 2020 and also scored his first goal in that match. During the summer of 2022, he was on a much-publicized trial with

Kaizer Chiefs Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) is a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premiership. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Kings" or "Chiefs" in Zu ...

and also Royal AM, before joining

Cape Town City A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used thr ...

. He played several league games before the World Cup break in late 2022. In the spring of 2023, he was released after Cape Town City brought in Juan Zapata and Bertrand Mani. Lekay first trained with

Cape Town Spurs A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

. In the summer of 2023 he went to Sweden, first on trial with

Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs Idrottsförening, commonly referred to as Helsingborgs IF, Helsingborg or (especially locally) HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan, following releg ...

, where the manager Stuart Baxter was intimately familiar with South African soccer. Lekay ended up joining

FC Trollhättan FC Trollhättan is a Swedish football club located in Trollhättan currently playing in Division 1. Background The club was founded in 2001, when the old rivals Trollhättans IF and Trollhättans FK decided to merge. In their first ever le ...

in the Ettan. There were significant weather and cultural differences in this environment.

References

1997 births Living people South African men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Steenberg United F.C. players TS Galaxy F.C. players Cape Town City F.C. (2016) players FC Trollhättan players National First Division players South African Premier Division players Ettan Fotboll players South African expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden South African expatriate sportspeople in Sweden 21st-century South African sportsmen {{SouthAfrica-footy-forward-stub