The year 1996 is forever entrenched in the hearts and minds of South Africans after Bafana Bafana’s historic triumph at The African Cup of Nations (Afcon) event. In the third episode of the Nedbank Reality Football series, Brain Mathe sat with one of the heroes from that year, Mark Williams – better known to South Africans as ‘Nation Builder’. During this episode Williams opened up about his nickname and shared things about his financial decisions, Madiba Magic, being offered two million pounds to miss the 1996 Afcon, and the famous win. He also gave advice to current players.
‘My nickname comes a long way. One day on our way home, a great friend of mine, Robert Marawa, told me “I’m going to give you this name – I’m calling you the Nation Builder”. And I was like, “okay, maybe I was part of building the nation,” so I accepted the name. In our days it was nice to have nicknames when we played,’ said Williams.
The soccer legend touched on his time playing overseas and some of the difficulties that he had to face. ‘As kids, we all have dreams, and for me it started in 1995 when we won the Rugby World Cup. I was in Germany, busy training for preseason when we won against New Zealand and I broke down in tears. I was alone in the mountains, running up and down, and said to myself that one day, I want to be part of something in my country.’
He also explained the circumstances when he was offered money and a contract to miss the tournament and how Madiba Magic contributed to their Afcon success. ‘That year I went to play for Wolverhampton Wanderers and before I came [to Afcon] there was a coach called Graham Taylor. He offered me two million pounds and a three-year contract not to play in my country in the Afcon tournament.’
‘You know, people talk about Madiba Magic; that president was special. Before every game he would come at six o’clock in the morning and greet each and every player. You know, when your president does that … I played all the games, Mathe. I played the first game and I scored. I was actually the top goal scorer going into the finals. But everybody wanted to play in the final, and they decided to keep me on the bench. It’s part of being in a team. You have to wait for your turn and when it comes, grab the opportunity, and I hope current players will learn from this.’
Reliving the moment, he discussed the final, coming on as a super-sub and winning the game and the cup for his nation. ‘I was sitting there and I looked at the time. I’ve never seen FNB stadium packed like that. The crowd was screaming “Willy, free Willy, Williams!”. The crowd took over.’
Answering Mathe’s question on how he learned to manage his money from a young age and the ‘better money choices’ he made during his career, Williams said that he learned from other players. ‘When I have big money, I should invest it and make sure that when I buy a property, I buy it in the right area.’ That advice stayed with me and years later one of my players from the Mark Williams Rainbow Nation School, who I told my story to and went professional, told me that he bought a house for his mother.’
Catch Mark Williams’ tell-all Nedbank Reality Diski interview at moneyedge.co.za and don’t miss out on previous and upcoming episodes with the greatest of local football, including Doctor Khumalo, Siphiwe Tshabala, Yeye Letsholonyane and Jerry Sikhosana.