From prostitutes to pastor
You could see within the first 10 minutes of watching Chancy Gondwe just how gifted he was as a footballer.
He was blessed with a crisp first touch and an immaculate ability to pass both short and long with the outside of his foot from any position on the pitch.
The proof to how good he was came from the way he fitted in at Mamelodi Sundowns after arriving from Malawi’s flagship club Bata Bullets in April 1993 just a few games into the season, back in the days when domestic football was played on a full calendar year.
In Malawi he was already worshipped having spent nearly a decade at Bullets, winning over a dozen trophies. But unfortunately, behind all the talent on the field lived a flawed character who failed to handle all the fame he enjoyed in his prime.
“IT WAS LIKE I WAS POSSESSED BY SOME EVIL SPIRIT THAT I DIDN’T KNOW.”
“Most of the times I just didn’t even understand myself why I did all the bad things in my life,” recalls Gondwe. “It was like I was possessed by some evil spirit that I didn’t know. I was naïve. As a little boy I spent some years living in the rural areas, then left my parents’ home when I was 16 to join Bullets in Blantyre.”
Gondwe is so forthcoming and captivating in the way he talks as he regularly mixes it up
