Ace voted Chiefs’ best ever!
Ace voted Chiefs’ best ever!

Posted in News on Jan 04, 2010.

The late Patrick 'Ace' Ntsoelengoe has been voted by the readers of the Amakhosi magazine as the best player to have donned the famous Black and Gold since its inception back in January 1970.



The readers had voted to help select Kaizer Chiefs' Top 40 players of all time to celebrate the Amakhosi’s 40th anniversary on 07 January 2010.



Executive Chairman Kaizer Motaung paid tribute to the late Ewert “The Lip” Nene for his persuasive character that helped to bring the player to the Chiefs kraal after he had impressed him playing for a Randfontein side back in 1969.



“Nene had a good eye for talent and he was also a very persuasive character who would always go out of his way to get the players we wanted. Ace was responsible for us losing to the Randfontein XI and afterwards Ewert and I sat down and we decided ‘we can’t leave this talent untapped’.



“Ewert got Ace and he did live up to expectations during the long period that he was wearing our Gold and Black jersey! I can safely say that was one of the greatest talents this country has ever produced and maybe even the best, but it is not for me to decide,” said “Chincha Guluva” who came out as No. 14 on the list of 40 players.



The Chairman believes that the player many used to call, “Maestro” made the game look simple, “Ace’s strongest point was that he always made the game look simple – the sign of a truly great player. He was never flashy, but he was extremely effective. His vision and his ability to read the game was fantastic,” he recalled.



Ntsoelengoe who passed away on the 8th May 2006 made the Gold and Black jersey no. 12 his own for almost 20 years. He also played for 11 seasons in America NASL: Miami Toros (1973), Denver Dynamos (1975), Minnesota Kicks (1976-81), and Toronto Blizzard (1983-84) scoring a massive 87 goals during that time.



At the time of his death he was 50 working at the Kaizer Chiefs Development Academy and he is credited for developing the likes of Jabu Mahlangu (Pule), Gerald Sibeko, Nhlahla Kubeka, Michael Nkambule and many others.



For more information on the 40 great players to have worn the famous Black & Gold grab the January 2010 edition of Amakhosi magazine on the shelves in stores countrywide.

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