Eric Ramavhale recalls R750 first salary and battered Adidas boots

Former Black Leopards and Dynamos player Eric Ramavhale has recalled how his football career began with a pair of discarded Adidas Argentina boots and a first salary of just R750.

Ramavhale shared memories from the early stages of his career in the latest edition of My First, reflecting on his route from amateur football in Nzhelele to the professional game.

His first club was Tshisendwa Liverpool, a team based in Nzhelele. He joined the side at the age of 16, around 1994 or 1995.

The defender’s first football boots were far removed from the expensive footwear often associated with professional footballers. He found a pair of Adidas Argentina boots after their owner had thrown them away.

The boots had belonged to an older man who owned the team Ramavhale was playing for at the time. After repairing them with wire around the front, Ramavhale continued to use them.

“ It was Argentina the Adidas. I picked them up somewhere where their owner had dumped them; they used to belong to some old man. He was the owner of the team I played for. I fixed them with a wire up front and never looked back.”

His first team in professional football was Thohoyandou Bluebirds. At the time, Ramavhale said, the ABC Motsepe League was regarded as a professional competition.

He later moved to Dynamos in the first division, with the club owned by former South African footballer Peter Rabali.

Ramavhale received his first football salary while playing for Thohoyandou Bluebirds. It was R750, a figure he remembers as substantial at the time.

His first mobile phone was a Siemens handset provided by Bluebirds. At school, he said, he and the principal were the only people who owned mobile phones. The principal had a Nokia, while Ramavhale had the Siemens.

First PSL appearance

Ramavhale made his first Premier Soccer League appearance for Black Leopards against Bloemfontein Celtic at a packed Seisa Ramabodu Stadium during the 2024/2025 PSL season.

He said he felt no nerves before the match, which was managed by coach Shakes Mashaba. At half-time, Mashaba praised Ramavhale while criticising the rest of the team.

“At half-time, he was shouting at our players, ‘You guys are playing nothing! Except Eric. He is new, but it’s like he’s been there for a long time’.”

Ramavhale was directly involved in a contest with Lebogang Kukame during the match, which ended in a goalless draw.

His first PSL goal came against Mamelodi Sundowns, when he beat goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene. Ramavhale pushed forward during a corner kick and rose to meet the ball.

His first red card came in an incident he believes should have resulted in a penalty instead. Carrying the ball into the box, he was caught from behind by Surprise Moriri.

The referee judged that Ramavhale had dived and sent him off. It was the first and only red card of his career.

“I was supposed to get a penalty, not a red card.”

Ramavhale said he never scored an own goal, crediting his positioning and training with Dynamos coach Mathias Mwenda for helping him deal with incoming balls.

His first car was a brand-new 2005 Toyota Tazz, which he bought for R120,000. He drove it throughout his entire football career.