"I'M PROUD TO BE THE FIRST AFRICAN IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE - BUT LOOK WHO CAME LATER"

FFT chats to the three Boy's A Bit Special stars of Issue 1: first, a humble hotshot on rejecting Arsenal and being 'Nuddy'

- Grant Shub

Did you know you were one of our very first ‘Boy’s a Bit Special’ subjects, back in 1994?

I still have the magazine at home, some 30 years later! It was special to be one of the up-and-coming players featured. I recall that good things were said about me at the time, but I’ll have to dust off the magazine and re-read it to remind myself of exactly what was written. When I joined Coventry, Terry [Butcher] said, “OK, you’re one of the guys we can’t coach.” Taken aback, I said, “We’re a team – what do you mean, you can’t coach me?” The manager said that all they had to do was teach me the other side of the game, and that when we didn’t have the ball I should remain within the system – “But” he added, “with your talent, we won’t tell you what to do when you have the ball.”

How did your move to Coventry arise, from Highlanders in your native Zimbabwe?

I was spotted by Coventry manager John Sillett in 1990 when they toured Zimbabwe. I played against them in two pre-season games for Highlanders and the Zimbabwe national team. I suppose I must have done pretty well in those games, because in 1991 Terry Butcher signed me – Sillett had been sacked by then, but to have been spotted by a great man in English football meant a lot. I was just a youngster who wanted to play football. Our team had other great players, but I think age counted in my favour. I arrived at Coventry in the summer of 1991 and made my debut at 18, against QPR. For a boy who originally played in the streets of Makokoba, Bulawayo, to make it to the Premier League was a dream come true.

What did it mean to you to become the first African to play in the Premier League?