Kaizer Chiefs chairman Kaizer Motaung has named a player he believes remains the best signing for the club in its 50 years of existence.
The Amakhosi boss was answering questions sent directly to him by the fans as part of the club’s anniversary celebrations.
According to Motaung, the late Patrick ‘Ace’ Ntsoelengoe was and still is the best player ever signed by the Soweto giants.
Motaung described the Randfontein-born legend as ‘special’ during his playing days.
“It has to be the late Ace Ntsoelengoe. He was a special player,” Motaung told the Chiefs website.
Ntsoelengoe joined the Naturena-based club in 1971 before securing a move to the US two years later.
Despite spending 11 seasons abroad between 1973 and 1984, Ntsoelengoe could still feature for Amakhosi during the North American Soccer League (NASL) off-season.
He retired from professional football in 1988 and went to be involved in coaching and scouting talent for the club.
Ntsoelengoe was instrumental in Lucas Radebe signing for Chiefs in 1989 after spotting him in action for amateur football club ICL Birds. Ntsoelengoe passed away in 2006.
Meanwhile, Motaung was also asked to name his best goalkeeper of all-time for the club.
And he found it difficult to pick one but made mention of several goalkeepers who served Amakhosi with distinction over the years, including Banks Setlhodi, Brian Baloyi and Itumeleng Khune, who is the club’s captain.
“I can’t single out one but there are few who are unforgettable. I can think of Banks Setlhodi, Brian Baloyi, Itumeleng Khune right now and Peta Bala’c, who has never missed a game because of injury as far as I can remember. It’s difficult to pick one,” he said.
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Setlhodi was a Chiefs goalkeeper for 16 years between 1970 and 1985, and he remains one of the respected legends of the club to date.
Baloyi and Khune are popular among the majority of Chiefs fans even though the former left them for Mamelodi Sundowns in 2004.
The man known as ‘Spiderman’ returned to Naturena as a goalkeeper coach not so long ago to work with Khune among other goalkeepers who were on the books of Chiefs before being replaced by current goalkeeper coach Lee Baxter.
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