In an in-depth and candid interview in Edition 8 of iDiski Times, former goalkeeper Shu-aib Walters told stories from his past, including how tough his first year as a full-time professional was at Bloemfontein Celtic.
Having signed from Vasco Da Gama, where he was still playing football and working as a technician, Walters says his first year at Siwelele was tough as he made a lot of mistakes and the fans let him know!
“The first year though was a lot of teething moments, I made a lot of mistakes, but they were patient with me,” Walters told Rob Delport.
“The unfortunate part was my supporters weren’t! They were on my case all the time.”
“Bloemfontein is so small, you come across at least 30-40 supporters during a half hour walk in Mimosa Mall. And you’re the only ‘Indian’ in the team, so every- body knows who you are. And I’m not Indian, but they thought I was Indian, and you concede a goal and they’re on your case.”
” ‘You’re not good enough, you’re this, you’re that,’ but I felt it made me grow. And it helped me grow up very quickly. That was the perfect example of when they say you’re either going to sink or swim.”
“I remember that time I was a newbie on all social media and I was excited to be on Facebook, or Twitter, and all I’d see was ‘Shu-aib is not good enough’, I’d even seen it on the websites, I used to go through the comments, ‘Walters is not good enough’ and then I’d look and see it was the main supporter of Phunye Sele Sele!”
“I’m reading it and it’s getting to me, but it’s also given me something to prove, and I don’t know if it’s being coloured, but it’s my nature, to say ‘I’m going to prove you wrong!’ And I learnt a lot and I made a lot of mistakes, I conceded a lot of soft goalsin my rst two seasons, I did, I’m
not going to lie, but it was a learning curve.”
You can read more of Walters interview, and how he eventually won over the supporters in the full interview in Edition 8 of iDiski Times.
