Bafana Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns keeper Ronwen Williams. Image: Mamelodi Sundowns website
Ronwen Williams reveals what nearly made him quit football
Mamelodi Sundowns and Bafana keeper Ronwen Williams says there was a time he didnt want to play football anymore.
Bafana Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns keeper Ronwen Williams. Image: Mamelodi Sundowns website
Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams has revealed he nearly quit football 14 years ago after his brother passed away.
The 32-year-old has been an inspirational figure for Masandawana and for Bafana Bafana. As captain of the national team, he guided the country to a third-place finish in the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year.
Having come from the SuperSport United academy, ‘Rony’ had a brilliant debut in 2012. He kept a clean sheet in his debut and months later, he established himself as the club’s number-one keeper. Before that, he nearly quit football following the death of his brother in a car accident.
Ronwen Williams thanked Chippa United coach Kwanele Kopo for giving him advice when he was down.
“The big thing that happened to me was in 2010 when I lost my brother to a car accident,” he told CNN. “That’s when I didn’t want to play football anymore. And I didn’t go back. I was making the transition into the first team.”
“I think it was two or three months that I didn’t want to go back and I just wanted to be around my family. I just wanted to be in Galvandale and it went on for a very long time and I started getting calls for me to come back and I said ‘no, I’m not coming back’ and I will drop the phone.
Ronwen Williams reveals his brother’s death almost made him quit
“And I can remember coach Kopo saying something that just hit me. He said ‘you know your brother would have wanted this for you, So whatever you do now, do it for him. He wouldn’t want you to lose and just throw away these years you sacrificed, he will want you to keep going and reach your dream’. When I dropped the call that day, it hit me and I was like ‘he’s right. You know’.
“So that’s how things went from me wanting to give up, and then five months down the line. I think it was December 2010 and then I signed a first-team contract,” he said.
Williams credits Chippa United coach
Ronwen Williams spent more than 12 years at SuperSport before moving to Sundowns in 2022. A year before that, he was made captain of the South African men’s national soccer team. He has since played more than 40 games for Bafana winning the Afcon Golden Glove this year.
