Where is promotion specialist Joel Mongalo?

Joel Mongalo is a local football coach who will not be easily forgotten. Just like many other football mentors, Mongalo started as a player and later graduated to coach.

His football career dates to the early eighties. The first amateur club he played for was Maletamotse Wedding Bells. After parting ways with Wedding Bells, Mongalo joined Mashamba Flying Gunners in 1983.

The 55-year-old mentor played for the Venda national team between 1985 and 1987 alongside the likes of Ace Kabote, Moses “Shoes” Tshilate and David “Nanana” Masase. A scout from Orlando Pirates saw him while he was playing for the Venda national squad. He played for Pirates for one season before moving to the National First Division side, Ace Mates.

His next stop was at another First Division side, Vaal Reef Stars. He joined the now-defunct Mahwelereng Real Rovers in 1991. Mongalo was an influential figure when Real Rovers gained promotion to the elite league in 1993. Rovers conceded only seven goals that year, thanks to Mongalo’s acrobatic goalkeeping. He enjoyed his stay at Real Rovers until the end of 1995.

Born at Mukondeni village outside Elim Hospital on 10 February 1965, Mongalo was nominated the goalkeeper of the year while at Real Rovers in 1995. In 1996, he migrated to Bloemfontein Celtics in search for greener pastures, where he stayed until his retirement at the end of 1998. His coaching career started in 2002 when he was appointed the head coach for the Vodacom League side, Winners Park FC.

Winners Park were under his guidance when they gained promotion to the National First Division the following year. He moved from one Vodacom League club to the other, including Denga Real Vultures, Mokopane FC, Thembisa Classic and Peace Lovers, between 2006 and 2014. Peace Lovers qualified for the Nedbank Cup last-32 stage while Thembisa Classic qualified for the national promotional playoffs under Mongalo’s guidance.

Mongalo earned himself the name “Promotion Specialist” when he guided Magezi FC to the league championship in 2016. Magezi excelled in the promotional playoffs and ultimately gained promotion to the National First Division. He steered Bellevue Winners Park to the league championship in 2017. He did the same with The Dolphins FC the following year.

His last stop was at Madridtas FC, who finished their 2018/19 league programme on top of the Limpopo Stream of the ABC Motsepe League last year. Madridtas could not represent the province in the national promotional playoffs as some of their points were docked after the league found them guilty of fielding an improperly registered player.

After parting ways with Madridtas FC last year, Mongalo joined the millions of jobseekers. He revealed that he had received several offers from GladAfrica Championship and ABC Motsepe League clubs. He reiterated the fact that he would be employed when the activities for the new soccer season started.

Date:30 May 2020

By: Frank Mavhungu

Frank is a Human Resources Manager at the Department of Public Works in Limpopo. He is the longest serving correspondent of the Mirror, having joined us at the end of 1990.  He mainly writes sports reports and resides at Tsianda Village. In 2004, Frank won the National Castle League Award, an award for the best reporter in the SAB league in South Africa.

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