FootieCall: Saffers of old in the EPL

'Sup Footie nuts? Today I thought we'll pay tribute to some of the South Africans who plays or STIIL play in the UK. We all know some of the former famous ex Captains, but what about the less known South Africans? Those are the ones who I thought we'd focus on.

The Recent

Matty

So I thought we would start with someone who recently played for Engen Santos in the PSL. Matthew "Matty" Pattison. The JHB born "Matty" moved to England with his folks in 1997. At the age of eleven Matty joined Newcastle's youth academy. His career never really took off in the UK. Making his debut in 2004 for the senior team albeit a friendly vs Celtic, Matty's memorable performance in a Magpie shirt came against WBA In 2006 where he received his one and only man of the match performance. He never really featured again for the senior team. Most of his appearances were from the Substitutes bench. He later moved on to Norwich city FC before being snapped by Sundowns just before the 2010 World Cup. Coincidence?

Andy

Next up, another JHB born player and current Norwich City midfielder Andrew Surman. His parents fled to the UK in 1995 and shortly after that, he joined the Saints' academy. Not many people know this, but this lad had bags of potential. He was Southampton's youngest ever reserve team player a record beaten by the highly over rated Theo Walcott. Surman went on to make over 100 appearances at St Marys. His highlight was a hat trick against Barnsley in a 5-2 rout. A Mick McCarthy led Wolverhampton Wanderers saw the potential and snapped up Surman for a fee believed to be in the region of £1.2M. He never really got a look in at Wolves making only 9 appearances before being shipped off to (then Championship side) Norwich City. Paul Lambert, played him regularly in their run into the premier league. This season however, he hasn't really started due to a formation change. However, when he does get a run, this chap hardly puts a foot wrong. Surman had the chance to play for BAFANA but turned it down, due to his thinking that he had the talent to make England's senior team. And like I said the potential was there, he was regularly picked for the England u/21's. Andrew... we would welcome you.

Davide

A relatively new boy to The BAFANA set up, ANOTHER JHB born (What is in the water there?!) player Davide Somma. We all know about Davide now, however, what most of us don't know is that he is quite well traveled in Europe and the States. The biggest difference between Davide and the other 2, is that he didn't go directly to the UK. His parents fled to the USA instead. Davide Somma used his Italian passport to good use. He signed a 4 year contract for Perugia but never got a kick as the club went bankrupt after 6 months after his arrival. After that, Davide did "I'll-play-anywhere" tour of Italy and Spain, mostly playing for unpronounceable teams names. It's only when Davide went back to the States, that he signed for San Jose Earthquakes. This is where he met former Norwich City striker Darren Huckerby who encouraged Somma to go and try out in the UK. That's exactly what the American/Italian/South African did. He held trials at Newcastle, Hull, QPR and Leeds United. With the latter signing him on a four year deal. Somma is curently out with a torn ACL.

The not so recent

Gerry

Many people won't know who Gerry Francis is, and what he did for players of colour in the UK. So let me enlighten you a bit. Gerry Francis is credited in the UK for paving the way for people of colour to play in the top division in England. He never really set the league alight with his dazzling displays having only played a handful of games for Leeds before being shipped off to York City.

Fun Fact: He is the first of FIVE South African players to play for Leeds. Can you name the other four?

oh yeah... he was born in JHB

Mark

My second favourite Saffer to play in the UK... can you guess who? I bet you can't. It's Mark Stein. Who I hear you ask? Well, allow me to explain. Mark Stein has played for no less that 11 teams in the UK (9 league teams and 2 non-league teams) Mark's most notable and most famous team that he played for? Chelsea FC. Now most Chelsea fans wouldn't know too much about him, seeing as he did play before Jose Mourinho and Roman Abramovich. But, this JHB born south African once held an English top flight division record for NINE years. He was the first person to score in SEVEN CONSECUTIVE league games. A record only beaten in 2002 by a Dutch superstar Ruud Van Nistelrooy. He went on and scored 25 goals in 63 games for the Blues. Quite a decent return for someone who only cost £1.6M. A far better return than someone else currently in a Blue shirt (Torres) Currently Mark earns the GBP at Crawley Town where is their head physio.

Gordon

Now then, at the risk of sounding like a biased Liverpool FC fan (you know who you are) the next person who I am going to mention is South African born striker Gordon Hodgson. Granted, it was in the 1920's, he went on to be become a legend at Liverpool FC. Currently Hodgson is STILL Liverpool's third all time leading Goal Scorer with 241 goals to his name. His prolific goal scoring was in the wrong time for Liverpool FC, as at the time, Liverpool were nowhere near their best and hardly ever challenged for the top of the league (sort of like now hey) Liverpool FC had 2 other South African born players to turn out in the Red of Merseyside. Can you guess who?

Other players who DESERVE a mention in this feature are:

Lucas Radebe