Chiefs say goodbye to Doc

Kaizer Chiefs Chairman, Kaizer Motaung conveyed his well wishes to one of the club’s most loved legends, Doctor Khumalo, following their agreement to part ways by mutual consent.

“Doctor came to us six month ago to discuss his future plans and desire to pursue other interests,” says Motaung. “Among the points contained in his proposal was the desire to grow his brand and take on other challenges after celebrating his 50th birthday in June. We sat down and discussed his proposals with the football department to map the way forward for both parties until we agreed that he should pursue his dreams as we did not want to stand in his way.

Doctor joined Kaizer Chiefs as a youngster following into the footsteps of his father, Elkiam ‘Pro’ Khumalo, who played for Amakhosi in the early seventies.

He made his debut under Ted Dumitru in 1987 and brought his glittering and illustrious career to an end in 2002.

Doctor ’16V’ Khumalo played over 400 matches (397 starts) for Kaizer Chiefs netting 75 times. He also represented the national team 50 times, scoring 9 goals.

The skilful midfielder won numerous trophies with Amakhosi. He was selected as the Footballer of the Year in 1992. He was part of the 1996 Afcon winning team with Bafana Bafana.

He got famous wearing the number 15 jersey, which was officially retired by Chairman, Kaizer Motaung, when Doctor hung up his boots.

After retiring, Khumalo worked as an assistant coach to the senior team, starting with coach Muhsin Ertugral, but he was also in charge of Kaizer Chiefs for two brief periods, in 2002-2003 and in 2012.

He also worked in the Chiefs development structures on a number occasions, where he contributed by nurturing many youngsters’ talents.

“Doctor remains a legend of the club and we will always work with him whenever the opportunity presents itself,” concludes Motaung. “We wish him all the best in his future endeavours. He will also be welcomed back whenever we do our legends programmes.”