Still In Touch With...

GERT SCHALKWYK (PART 2)

- By Zola Doda

Gert, last week we ended our interview when you were telling us about the time you joined Bidvest Wits from Free State Stars. Tell us about that time with “The Students”.

I think Wits was the first club where I started to enjoy my football because they took me in as a youngster, I was about 19 or 20 years old. They even played me against big teams at such a young age. Wits, for me, was the best and the one thing I liked about our coach Roger de Sa was that if you performed at training, he would give you a chance to play. He just gave me a chance to play and I made sure that I would be in the team for a long time.

I was with the team between 2002 and 2004, and the 2003 Coca-Cola Cup semifinal loss to Kaizer Chiefs was one of the best games because we almost made it to the final. During the 2002/03 season we finished third on the log, a few points behind Orlando Pirates. But I enjoyed myself there even though I ended up not winning anything, ha, ha, ha.

But you still ended up leaving Wits for Chiefs...

Wits wanted me to stay, but the difference in money between them and Kaizer Chiefs was decisive, ha, ha, ha. I decided that I should rather go to Chiefs. At Chiefs there was this left-back called Gordon, I just can't remember his last name.

You mean Gordon Gilbert?