Ethan Chislett is not your typical English player! When one thinks of the stereotypical English player, one might imagine a very muscular and physical, strapping lad who courageously engages in full-blooded tackles and duels.
England is the land of passion and desire, and over the years, the English game has consequently acquired a reputation for its physicality. At all levels, English football is brutal. On any given Sunday, no quarter is asked and none is usually given.
Whether in the hurly burly dog-eat-dog of the EFL Championship or the glamorous arenas of the Premier League, the English game has always been synonymous with passion, pace, power, and bone-crunching tackles.
Many players raised through the various tiers of the English game, from the academies to the professional leagues, are usually battle-hardened, no-nonsense operators who are not afraid to put in hard tackles when the ball is there to be won or lost. Ethan, who is still in Port Vale FC‘s books, is a different kind of player.
Although he arrived in the British Isles at only four years old from South Africa, the Durban-born star has never fully embraced or modelled his game to English football’s guiding philosophy. Exactly 22 years after he left Mzansi, the spirit of diski seems to have never relinquished its hold on the footballer.
A classic number 10 who rose through the youth ranks at Guildford Saints, Southampton FC, Aldershot Town and the Metropolitan Police before stints at Basingstoke Town and Reddis [Spain], Ethan possesses more flair than your average English player.
ETHAN CHISLETT’S LOVE FOR SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALL
“I would say I’m creative,” Ethan tells FARPost as he describes himself. “I’d also say technical and exciting. I like to excite people. This is another thing I love about South African football. English football is very, I don’t want to use the term robotic, but it’s very… capped is the right word.
“When I look at South African football, I see players standing on the ball. You don’t see this in the Premier League. I think that’s what I need to unlock within myself, because I’ve got that in me. I love scoring goals. Like literally love nothing more in the world,” he said.
Ethan’s reluctance to fully embrace the English philosophy on the beautiful game is understandable.
Throughout his time there, his size has been constantly mentioned as an obstacle to his professional career. Southampton’s Academy said he was too small for the brutal demands of the English game.
“In England, they like physical players instead of more technically gifted players. It didn’t really suit me. I think my dad recognised that quite early on. He pushed me to go to Spain. So I spent two years in Spain,” he explains.
That Spain move came after he won a tournament in England, allowing him to go to Spain for a week’s trial. The week turned into two solid years.
Ethan’s father, Donovan Chislett, is equally disproving of the English obsession with physicality as his son. Donovan, who migrated with his son from South Africa when Ethan was just a toddler, believes that emphasising the physical demands of the game hindered his son’s career early on.
ETHAN CHISLETT RELEASED BY SOUTHAMPTON FOR BEING “TOO SMALL”
“He started as an 11-year-old kid,” the former Manning Rangers star explains. “He was with Southampton’s academy for a couple of seasons. But then he got released from Southampton. They said he was too small, which is common here in England, which annoys me because they’re obsessed with the physicality of the game.”
His view of the game is important to Ethan. From infancy, the young footballer’s father has been his guiding light, the compass signalling the right directions in a career filled with its fair share of obstacles.
“He was my coach growing up. He was ruthless with me, but I liked it. I wouldn’t want it any other way. He was very good. And his knowledge of football to this day is great. I’ve not seen anything better. Through him, I fell in love with the game. Even now, we have hours of conversations on most days about football, just as most people do in South Africa, because I know they love it there. It’s almost like a culture,” the accomplished free-kick taker says.
Like father, like son, the adage goes, and for Donovan and Ethan, football is the one thing they have always bonded over. It helps that the Port Vale star’s father was also once a footballer, turning out in South Africa’s top-flight for Manning Rangers before injuries ended his PSL career prematurely.
In January of this year, his grandfather, Gordon Chislett, passed away. His death passed largely without any fanfare, as few football fans would have known that this was a stalwart who had once donned the colours of the South African national team.
DONNING THE BAFANA BAFANA JERSEY
Few would have known that the late old timer was the father of a former Manning Rangers player and the grandfather of a Port Vale starlet. For Ethan, the passing of his grandfather not only brought him back to Mzansi, but also made him realise that after 22 long years, it might be time to finally return and embrace his true football roots.
At 26, he hopes the name Chislett will again be emblazoned on the back of a Bafana jersey. “I’m 26 now. I’m just going to put it simply. I want to play for South Africa. I think the unfortunate passing of my granddad, I’d have liked him to see me represent South Africa, but some things aren’t meant to be. So, I think that’s my burning desire to represent South Africa. And I know you can do that anywhere in the world, but I think the best opportunity would be to play in South Africa and represent South Africa, if that makes sense.”
For Donovan, perhaps seeing his son in a Bafana jersey is an emotional one, as he realises that it helps further a family legacy that he was not able to when his career was cut short. While he might have raised his child far from SA, their hearts have never strayed far away from their native land.
“Even when you say that now, there are tears in my eyes,” says Donovan. “It’s emotional. I think particularly with what happened in January [his dad’s passing]. The country is always close to our hearts. And even though Ethan left at four, he loves it, even lately.”
EMERGED AS THE STAR OF PORT VALE – ETHAN CHISLETT
During the 23/24 season, Ethan emerged as the star at the heart of Port Vale’s attack, scoring 11 goals from midfield for a struggling side in League One. For many, the season he enjoyed signalled a footballer who had overcome adversity in his career and was now on the cusp of his prime.
A midfielder with an insatiable thirst for goals is how Ethan would describe himself. After the season he enjoyed, many thought that he would kick on and get a move that would allow him to showcase his talent on a bigger stage. However, despite his wishes, a move away from Port Vale was thwarted, leaving the midfielder frustrated and disappointed.
The decision to block his move, just as he had gone to bury his grandfather, pushed Ethan closer into the arms of his motherland. “That type of time sticks out in my life. And when I was back in South Africa in January, I had that feeling again, where it was like, I don’t know, it’s weird how the world works. But you get a sense of belonging in a way. So I found that,” he said.
With clubs in the UK after his signature and a possible shift to South Africa in the offing, Ethan is now ready to close the chapter on a club he professes he still loves. With the 1996 AFCON champions, Bafana in red-hot form, Ethan’s father, Donovan, also believes it is time for his son to pursue what now feels like destiny.
OFFER FROM SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE FOR PLAYER ETHAN CHISLETT
“Now with the upcoming FIFA World Cup and potential opportunities in South Africa. It seems like almost the perfect time. That’s kind of been his journey. He’s also speaking to clubs in the UK. He’s got an offer from the Scottish Premier League; he got an offer last week. So he’s weighing up things to make sure the next club is excited and can take him to the next level, because I think he’s ready to go to the next level now,” Donovan explains.
From his days at AFC Wimbledon to his current stint at Port Vale, Donovan maintains that his son has never lost the taste for the South African game. Ethan’s grandfather, the man whose death has ultimately inspired his son’s desire to return to Mzansi, never tired of telling him about the glory of the South African game – the flair, the shibobos and everything in between. Ethan does not want to be told about the script as he readies for a new chapter in his life. He now wants to be a part of the story.
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