Long journey from Kriefgat — Stellies soccer star Tylon Smith nets deal with UK’s Queens Park Rangers

Many a night as he lay on the small bed that his divorced mother, Nicolette, insisted he slept on, while she slept on the floor in the wooden structure that was their home, young Tylon Christopher Smith vowed: one day he would make it big as a soccer player. Then he would buy his mother a decent, comfortable home.

These weren’t just words to console himself – they were serious intentions. Smith, the youngest of three children, saw his mother refusing to allow poverty to destroy her family.

He watched and learnt from her as she shared what little she had with others who had less than she had in Kriefgat, an informal settlement in Jamestown on the fringes of Stellenbosch, where they lived.

In Kriefgat, a derogatory Afrikaans word that means the rear end of a lobster, community activist Nicolette inspired her son, who was born on 9 May 2005. They were very poor – so poor that he remembers playing soccer matches in a pair of borrowed boots until the captain of Stellenbosch FC gave him his first pair of boots when he was 14 years old.

Smith cannot remember having had his own ball to dribble or kick around as a child. As a youngster, he played as a striker, a position that means plenty of goals. Today, as a 20-year-old soccer player, he is a central defender: a stopper of strikers.

In an interview early in July, Smith, who has developed into one of South Africa’s hottest young football talents, spoke about the impact of his parents’ divorce, poverty, hard times and better times ahead.

He is on the cusp of making it big in England, having been offered a four-year contract with the English side Queens Park Rangers (QPR), who play in the EFL Championship, the division below the Premier League.

QPR has been quietly tracking his progress for the past few years. Unbeknown to him, a scout was watching the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt earlier this year. South Africa beat Morocco 1-0 in the final in Cairo on 18 May. Smith impressed as he marshalled the defence throughout the tournament. He was named player of the tournament.

The tournament convinced QPR that they would have to sign the young man from Stellenbosch. He was invited to hold discussions with the club via Zoom. “I was shocked to learn that QPR had been monitoring me for more than a year. They showed me a contract. This was a life-changing offer. I will now be able to give my mother a better life. I’ve always said I would buy her a house. Now I’ll do it.”

Charming, confident and oozing maturity and humility, Smith carries the nickname Rafa. In the comfortable lounge of the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport, where he now lives, he recalled times when he had no money for the minibus taxi fare from Kriefgat to Stellenbosch. “I would say, ‘It’s fine, Ma’. I didn’t skip practices on these occasions. A friend and I would jog along the R44 to Stellenbosch FC’s training ground. We didn’t beg people for lifts. We jogged.” That was a 7km run, followed by a full practice session.

Running was one of his favourite sports. Indeed, he got into Stellenbosch Primary School on an athletics scholarship given to him because of his promise as a 100m sprinter. This is a former model C school. Attending it was a big step into the unknown for a township boy. “They didn’t look down on me. I was welcomed,” he said. From primary school, he had a short stint at Stellenbosch High School. He struggled to get to school and back every day because the family didn’t have money and Smith urged his mother to transfer him to a school closer to home in Jamestown, which she did.

When he was in Grade 11, he was included in Stellenbosch FC’s Diski team (reserve team) and was selected to play in a tournament in India. On his return, he was offered a contract. “I was serious about football. I had to decide whether I would sign for Stellenbosch’s under-21 team or concentrate on school. I couldn’t do both, because as a professional footballer I would have to practise in the morning when I was supposed to be in a classroom. I chose football.”

Committing himself to Stellenbosch FC entailed moving into digs at the club’s soccer academy, which is at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport next to the Eerste River in the hub of Stellenbosch. Life at the academy includes bonuses such as regular and special meals prepared to build up the bodies of young soccer professionals, a warm bed and a room that he shares with another player, his bestie Kegan Johannes.

Last season, he said, his mother watched two of his games. “She always said that she would like to come to more matches. She couldn’t afford to come to more games. She also has a hip problem and can’t walk normally.”

The QPR offer will change his life radically. He will earn “money that people can only dream of. My mother lives with my sister, Chantall. Now I can buy a house for my mother… even one for myself should I want to. My mother’s influence on my life is huge. She is a praying person. Her strong moral values and discipline kept me away from the distractions of township life like hanging out in shebeens or nightclubs.” 

He carries his nickname, Rafa, with pride and in honour of former Stellenbosch FC captain Rafiek (Rafa) de Goede and not the Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal. “I was a ball boy and used to retrieve the balls that the senior players kicked off the field when they played. Rafa was also a defender. I liked his style. He gave me my first pair of boots: a pair of Adidas. Having my own boots meant a lot to me.”

Smith is in England this week for a battery of strenuous medical tests as a prelude to signing his contract to play professional football in the country. It’s been a long, hard journey from Kriefgat to English football, but one that was worth travelling.

When Daily Maverick spoke to Nicolette, she couldn’t contain her excitement and pride. She is overjoyed that she will be able to fly to London to watch her son play. ‘’We have been through dark times. I’m so happy that things are working out. I’ve prayed so hard. Tylon knows, all glory goes to God.” DM

Dennis Cruywagen is a journalist and the author of Brothers in War and Peace, and The Spiritual Mandela.

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.