Former Orlando Pirates captain Innocent Maela has opened up on how the Buccaneers handled his decision to hang up his boots at the end of the 2024/25 season.
Calling time on his playing career at the age of 32, Maela exited the stage when some felt he still had a lot to offer as a player. The versatile defender, who could play at left-back or centre-back, quit the game before the start of the 2025/26 campaign. It marked the end of nearly a decade at Pirates.
His departure led to the Buccaneers revising their captains’ committee, now led by Nkosinathi Sibisi, who is deputised by Tapelo Xoki and Mbekezeli Mbokazi.
As game time opportunities diminished for Maela, he decided to hang up his boots and is currently involved in punditry on the Pirates Podcast hosted by former Buccaneers midfielder Michael Morton. Maela walked away from the pitch with a record of lifting three MTN8 titles and two Nedbank Cups in three seasons as the Soweto giants’ captain.
MAELA OPENS UP ON PIRATES’ ROLE IN HIS RETIREMENT
“I had a conversation with the club because they asked me ‘what are your plans after football? We want to help you.’ They were really supportive,” Maela told the Pirates Podcast.
“But I also told them that I had ambitions that maybe one day I can retire while playing for Pirates. For me personally, it will be nice to take into consideration how my journey started with them.
“They were like, ‘yeah we understand’ But I had to go home. The decision was made at home with my family and myself. I was like, ‘Let me not announce now, the time will come.’ Recently, we had a retirement party, and then I actually announced.
“But I took my time, and I was like it’s actually the perfect time for me to retire, you have done all you can, you have done your best. You played in the CAF Champions League, and you were part of the AFCON [2019 squad].
“I’ve won trophies as captain, and I also have a record of lifting five trophies in three years. That is something I can be proud of. I have played over 200 matches for the club, coming from the academy.”
MAELA DISCUSSES WHAT SENT HIM INTO RETIREMENT
The former Bafana Bafana international went on to explain why he decided to hand up his boots when some people thought he might have carried on playing.
“I still look fresh. I have said this before, and I’ll still say it again, that I took some time to check within myself, and I was searching for that spark. You need that spark to keep on going,” he added.
“Each and everyday you wake up, you go to training, it’s the same routine. So when I was trying to find that spark within myself, I couldn’t find it, and I asked myself why?
“I checked that for the past 15 years, I have been living off the same schedule. Ever since I joined the academy, it’s been the same thing. You wake up at this time, you go to training at this time, you eat at this time.
“I believe I reached a point where I didn’t want to go through that anymore. When I was searching for this spark, I was like, ‘I can’t find it, so what am I doing, why should I continue doing the same?’
“It was mental and emotional fatigue. I was like I believe it is time. I had a conversation with my family, my wife and they supported me. They were like ‘Okay, it’s going to make you happy, it’s time now.”
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