Former Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns star George Lebese has appeared on the Engineer Your Life podcast to give his insights on the topic of loyalty in football.
Lebese joined Chiefs in 2008 from Arcadia Shepherds, and went on to have a fruitful career in Naturena, playing a key role in helping the club win the league title in 2012-13, and 2014-15.
However, after losing his place in the team in 2017, at the age of just 28, Lebese moved on to Sundowns, where he expected to be an important part of an ambitious club. His time there was not a happy one, and after just two years, he left for a spell in the second tier in the United States.
His time with Colorado Springs Switchbacks was brief, and his contract was terminated after one season during the height of the global Covid-19 pandemic. His football career has been in hiatus since then.
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Speaking about loyalty, Lebese urged players to prioritise themselves instead of staying loyal to a club.
“… There is no loyalty in football, nothing. I have seen people who were loyal to a team and they were treated badly when they retire or about to finish their career,” he said on the podcast.
“It is not a good sign. Consider yourself first because it is like that.
“At the end, you just have you. They bring you in the team, play for 10 years, after 10 years they don’t want you anymore because there is exciting talent, they leave you.
“You were loyal to the team, you had all these opportunities coming at you and you rejected them because of being loyal, and at the end of your career, who do you have when those you were loyal to say no to you?
Lebese’s words reflect the changing realities of modern football, where players are learning that loyalty alone doesn’t guarantee security. His experience stands as both a caution and a lesson – that every footballer must take charge of their own path before the game moves on without them.
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