In 1978, football player Lucky Stylianou made history and became the very first white man to play for popular soccer team Kaizer Chiefs. Stylianou, who previously played for Lusitano and Wits University bridged the racial divide between black and white players just as the apartheid regime began to crumble.
While he has been happily retired for many years, he is as big a soccer fan and still spends a lot of his time weighing in on the soccer news of the day.When rumours first started flying that the all-white national football league was about to collapse, football player Lucky Stylianou made a decision that not many could believe — to join all black team Kaizer Chiefs.
The year was 1978 and South Africans were still living under the apartheid regime. Naturally, his decision to join Kaizer Chiefs was not only a surprise to many, it was also a chance to make history.
His move not only sparked a change inside the hearts of south africans, it also changed the relationship between white and black players.Speaking to TimesLive in 2020, he shared that he had experienced no racism when he joined AmaKhosi.
“There was not one stitch of racism throughout my time at Kaizer Chiefs. It was never mentioned in the change room‚ it was never mentioned on the training field or in the game.
“We were just a group of friends‚ who became a wonderful group of friends,” he told the publication.
Some of his teammates back then included Eric Ngidi, Ryder Mofokeng, Computer Lamola and Joseph Mkonza.
As the years went by, Lucky excelled on the team and in 2014, received the club chairman’s special award.
WHAT IS HE DOING NOW?
While he is off the field, his head is still very much in the game. Stylianou dedicates a lot of his time to commenting on Kaizer Chiefs’ current game and player decisions.
On his Facebook page, he willingly answers any questions fans may have of the current soccer world.
“APPROACHED BY 5 LAUGHING COCKY KIDS.. HOW MANY TROPHIES HAVE CHIEFS WON ? TAKE UR SHOES OFF & COUNT UR TOES & FINGERS…” he wrote earlier this month in a hilarious post.
Meanwhile, his LinkedIn bio lists that he is the HOD at a Johannesburg school.