The Scientist
KICK OFF: Was coaching something you were always interested in? We know you have a family farm as well that you ran for a period …
Owen da Gama: It was not something I thought about so much while I was playing, but when I was at Beerschot in Belgium we would be asked to go on Saturday mornings to coach the youngsters, just to motivate them a bit. I really enjoyed it so maybe that was the start of something for me.
You later became player-coach at NSL side Leeds United. How did that come about?
It was in 1988. I had been at Spanish side Figueres but could not get a work permit due to the sporting boycott of South Africa that was in place because of Apartheid. So I returned home and Leeds United asked me to come and be the player-coach. They were bottom of the league when I joined them but we ended up finishing 14th and made the semifinals of the Bob Save [Super Bowl]. We narrowly lost to Orlando Pirates on penalties. That was my first proper coaching job, but it only lasted a season and I then moved to Moroka Swallows to keep playing.
Were you not tempted to stay and keep growing as a coach?
No, I actually did not enjoy being a player-coach at all. I still desperately wanted to play and the coaching part was a bit of a distraction. It was difficult to give both things all
