- Richards Bay co-coach Vasili Manousakis opens up following the untimely death of club captain Siphamandla "Spepe" Mtolo.
- The 29-year-old collapsed during a routine training session on Tuesday and died while he was rushed to hospital by the club's general manager.
- There was no team doctor present at the training session, and the club's physiotherapist urgently assisted.
You could hear in his voice that Vasili Manousakis had endured an emotional 36 hours.
The Richards Bay co-coach, in an interview with News24 on Wednesday, spoke fondly of Siphamandla "Spepe" Mtolo, the club captain who tragically died after collapsing at training on Tuesday.
The KwaZulu-Natal-based PSL club was enjoying a regular training session, operating with the same intensity players have given all season, preparing for their next league clash against TS Galaxy in Mpumalanga on 19 March.
After a short water break, Manousakis signalled 15 minutes remaining for the final training drill of the session, before the players could hit the showers.
Suddenly, Mtolo (29), collapsed.
His teammates, in frantic fashion, rushed to assist him. They got Mtolo to sit up, but he was struggling to breathe.
The club's team doctor, Lindiwe Ndlovu, was not on site, as she was only required to be on duty during matchdays. Nkosinathi Mthembu, the team physio, urgently assisted where he could.
A minute later, with every second valuable, the club's general manager, Jeffery Fakude, got his car onto the field and rushed Mtolo to hospital himself.
"The players were unbelievable, the entire squad, everyone," Manousakis told News24 on Wednesday.
"They were there, taking off his potency socks and whatever was needed, passing water, ice, whatever the frontier required at that time.
"We didn't even blink, and the team manager had his car on the field because, obviously, there was a massive risk in waiting for the arrival of the ambulance.
"This was all precaution at this stage, and obviously, on the way to the hospital, the rest they say is hard to say."
Manousakis, the former Cape Town City and AmaZulu assistant coach, said that the cause of Mtolo's death remains unknown as they wait for the official hospital report.
'Mtolo was a giant'
When Manousakis joined Richards Bay in June 2022 as a technical advisor to pass on his Premiership expertise to then-head coach Pitso Dladla and the rest of the coaching staff, Mtolo was not in the mix as he had suffered a knee injury that required surgery.
But in his research, Manousakis knew that Mtolo was vital to Richards Bay. He had skippered the side from Richards Bay in northern KwaZulu-Natal to a first division league title the season before, ultimately granting the club Premiership status.
"It was clear that he was a vital piece of the club's history, being the captain and lifting the first division trophy," Manousakis said.
"Coach Pitso and the technical team spoke very highly of him, and I couldn't wait to see him in action. But I knew it was going to be months, because he had an operation on his knee.
"But then I saw him around the pitch doing the rehab, never missing a session, always interacting with the players, always respectful, always greeting and doing it with a smile on his face. I understood why this guy was the club captain."
Mtolo had initially been told he would only return to action in February of this year, but he defied the odds to make his comeback in a PSL clash against Swallows on 31 December 2022, playing 21 minutes off the bench.
"He was working so hard on rehab that the date that we were given was February 2023," Manousakis said.
"Whenever you asked him, 'how are you feeling, skipper?', he would respond: 'I'm coming back before February. I'm coming back, soon-soon.'
"He was always positive."
Manousakis did not expect his growing relationship with Mtolo to be cut short because of his untimely passing, but the coach will hold onto precious moments he captured while he got to know the man, before he got to dissect him as a player.
"What was awesome was that I got to know him as a human being before I got to know him as a player," the coach said.
"Sometimes those interactions are even more important. I'm so grateful that I had the chance to meet him and work with him.
"He was a giant, not in stature but in the size of his heart, in his commitment, in his leadership qualities.
"As the captain, in the pre-match ritual of singing in the changeroom, his voice could be heard from down the passages. It is still very hard to process, to be honest."
Richards Bay is currently speaking with Mtolo's family and will confirm the player's funeral and memorial plans in due course.