Richards Bay FC chairman Sifiso Biyela was full of praise for Spihamandla Mtolo after his tragic passing and insisted his side do not want to postpone matches but get back to playing quickly.
Mtolo sadly passed away on Tuesday after collapsing at training, before being declared dead after arriving at the hospital.
The 29-year-old was the heartbeat of the side when they claimed the Motsepe Foundation Championship last term to gain promotion, featuring in 29 matches, which he all started.
In the previous season, Mtolo also started 29 league matches, an indication that Bay lost a soldier, who covered many grounds against Kaizer Chiefs this past weekend when they played over 60 minutes with a man down after Salim Magoola was sent off for handling the ball outside the box.
That was, sadly, the last game for Mtolo, before his untimely passing on Tuesday. Painfully, Mtolo had just recovered from an ACL injury that he suffered during the off season, missing the entire first round of the season.
He recovered from the injury during the FIFA World Cup break, featuring in his first game post the world’s biggest sporting event against Swallows, where he came on in the second half in December.
Biyela has now opened up on the loss, which has shocked everyone at the club.
“I will miss him as a fighter,” Biyela told iDiski Times, as he is struggling to come to terms with Mtolo’s passing.
“As a leader, he was the strongest player I’ve met. He was a hard working player, a unifier. He was the brother to many players. I liked him the first time I saw him [at Uthongathi FC].
“He was playing with Pule Mmodi, Saziso Magwana, Celimpilo Ngema [at Uthongathi], but I never looked into that direction [in signing those], I liked what I saw in him.
“He provides that defensive line in the midfield. If you saw in our last game, the ground that he covered, you couldn’t tell that we were playing with 10 players with the way he gave us the shape.
“It is very sad because that is one area I never thought I would ever sign a player as long as he is still around.”
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Bay has called a counselling team to comfort his players at the time of need.
“Everyone is devastated and we have arranged some counselling and we have even brought in the pastor to speak to the players,” revealed Biyela.
“We are not saying that will make them feel better, but we are trying our level best for them to feel better.”
Bay’s next game will be against TS Galaxy way on 19 March at Mbombela Stadium.
Biyela said there is no need to ask the league for postponement because that will have a prolonged effect on his players.
“The only thing that will make us feel better is to go back to work at some point, and win games. We know he wanted us to finish in the top eight. We will try our best to achieve that,” added Biyela.
