Former Orlando Pirates captain Happy Jele has set the record straight on talk of retirement.Â
Jele has been without a club since parting ways with the KZN-based side Royal AM on the 30th of June 2023. The centre-back joined Thwihli Thwahla in February 2023 on a short-term deal as a free agent.
The veteran defender spent only four months at AM after leaving his boyhood club Pirates at the start of the 2022/23 DStv Premiership season. Jele left Pirates after spending 16 years at the club.
In his short stint at Royal AM, the 37-year-old featured in four appearances across all competitions after playing three matches in the league and one in the Nedbank Cup.
Jele who has been without a team for almost year confirmed his retirement from professional football on Bogart Radio a few days ago and said he’s yet to make an official announcement.
WHAT DID HAPPY JELE SAY ABOUT HIS RETIREMENT FROM PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL?
When FARPost reached out to Jele, he claimed that he’s yet to call time on his career and still weighing options on his future.
“I didn’t say anything about that [retiring], you will hear from me when I’m retiring but at this point there’s nothing that I’ve said,” Jele said.
During his successful career with the Buccaneers, the Mpumalanga-born star made over 350 appearances, scoring 18 goals while providing seven assists.
Jele has won eight domestic trophies during his time at Pirates since signing from Walter Stars in 2002. He clinched two league titles, two MTN8, two Nedbank Cup and two Telkom Knockout Cup.
The Ex-Orlando Pirates captain also played in the 2013 CAF Champions League final where the Soweto giants lost against Al Ahly.
In addition, Happy Jele has two caps in the South Africa u20 national team as well as two call-ups for Bafana Bafana.
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