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Home / Tales of the Legends: Gone but not forgotten...... R.I.P. Franklin “Piele” April, 1981 – 2015
Tales of the Legends: Gone but not forgotten...... R.I.P. Franklin “Piele” April, 1981 – 2015
2015-10-30Staff Report 2 "Friends of the late former Civics and Brave Warriors tough tackling fullback Franklin April, known as Piele among his vast circle of friends, are speaking glowingly about their former team-mate. A no-nonsense defender, Piele started out as a striker during his infant attachment and flirtation with the spherical object that saw him establish himself as a noted goal scorer. A streetwise bloke from the Bethlehem township west of Khomasdal - a masterfully designed segregated section defined by the apartheid regime to house inhabitants of mixed tribes, a mixture of migrant South African descendants of Coloureds and Bantus - Piele was just like other boys his age in the neighbourhood. Tall and lean, the football crazy Piele would play the beautiful game at any given time whenever the chance presented itself and it was only fitting that he would start his schooling at the nearby Khomasdal Primary School (formerly known as Barney Barnes Primary). On face value, Piele appeared like an innocent laaitie who could hardly harm a fly but oh boy! The brother could tackle the hell out of troublesome strikers. In today’s special edition of your weekly favourite sports feature, Tales of the Legends, New Era Sport takes you our esteemed readers through the astonishing journey and life of this great son of the soil, the late Piele. by Carlos “CK” Kambaekwa Windhoek Born in the Namibian capital Windhoek on the 18th of April 1981, Piele was the eldest son of five siblings (two brothers and two sisters). As the senior member in the family, he was exposed to the hardships of life at an early age and was obliged to defend his younger siblings from bullying. Growing up in Bethlehem, Piele became friends with boys from his ‘hood’ and formed a football team of enthusiastic young footballers, which they baptized Diamond United Football Club. The team competed in the popular Khomasdal Youth League and roped in the finest talent on offer from Spokiesdorp and Donkerhoek. Piele went to further his school commitments at the predominantly Afrikaans-speaking Pioniers Boys School. Though the oval ball game of rugby took preference at the school, he continued playing football for his club, under the tutelage of well-known football mentor Woody Jacobs. A late starter in the true sense of the word, Piele’s goal-scoring exploits did not escape the attention of national selectors and the left-footed striker was called up for the national Under-23 football side, popularly known as the Olympic team. He played in both legs of the Olympic preliminary against South Africa under the revered Set Matiba Boois, and it was during the away leg in 2000 that Piele was spotted by talent scouts. Subsequently, the likeable soft-spoken beanpole youngster was invited to undergo trials at South African Professional Soccer League (PSL) outfit Bloemfontein Celtics on the recommendation of incumbent PSL outfit Bidvest Wits University mentor Gavin Hunt. The club currently houses two Namibians in the shape of ageless veteran goal poacher Henrico Botes and pocket-size midfield workaholic Wangu Batista-Gome. However, Piele became impatient and coupled with the home-sick ailment, he resolved to abbreviate his stint after two solid weeks and returned home. In the meantime, Khomasdal outfit Civics wasted little time and snapped up the tall striker. He walked straight into the Civilians’ starting line-up under the mentorship of multiple-league title winning coach Ali “Mr Fix It” Akan. The streetwise Akan noticed something in the young striker and converted him to the left back position where he was to make the revered number 6 jersey his own property. In his sixth season with the revamped Civilians, under the stewardship of Austrian Helmuth Scharnowsky, Piele’s admirable defensive display guided the Khomasdal outfit to an unprecedented haul of three back-to-back Premiership titles in 2005, sandwiched by victory in the coveted NFA Cup in 2003. He was also a gold medalist during the 2006 edition of Namibia’s august knockout tournament the NFA Cup. The late Zambian mentor Ben Bamfuchile was at the helm of the Brave Warriors when Piele made his much-anticipated debut for the national senior football team, in the 2-1 loss against Zambia in an international friendly at the Independence Stadium in Windhoek in 2007. The left-footed defender never looked back and grabbed the chance with both hands as he went on to play a pivotal role in Namibia’s amazing last-ditch qualification for the 2008 AFCON finals. Piele occupied the left back position in the Brave Warriors’ unsuccessful attempt in the AFCON in Ghana 2008. He featured prominently in all the group matches against continental powerhouses Morocco, Ghana and Guinea. The towering defender played a blinder in the second match against host nation Ghana at the sold-out National Stadium in Accra, bottling Sully Muntari – only for the hosts to emerge 1-0 victors through Michael Essien’s lone strike. Among many of his accolades, Piele also toured Germany on a few occasions during the Civilians’ customary pre-season escapades in Europe, a practice that culminated in three successive league titles. Off the field, the late Piele was a keen music fanatic and would have his ears glued to the soft melodies of romantic ballads, notably his favourite Lady in Red, though his close associates would always tease him for his apparent lack of rhythm when it came to loosening his frame on the dance floor. Piele was a jovial guy and many of his buddies describe him as being a calculated dude full of humour but always quick to tell you where to get off in no uncertain terms if you stepped out of line. For a defender, Piele would occasionally register his name on the score-sheet but most of those goals carried an element of luck with them since they turned out to be miscued deliveries initially meant as crosses to the forwards – that was Bra Piele for you! Former Brave Warriors attacking midfielder Brian Brendell, his team-mate at Civics, was among a selected group of close associates. Others were Jerry Zimmer, the Otto siblings Wally and Kraai, Leigh Wimmert, Norman Afrikaner, Donny van Wyk, Zulu Koopman and Elroy Brendell. Piele called it quits from competitive football at the start of the 2013/2014 season, but continued to feature in the newly introduced “Thru Pass” Social League. Ironically, his life was to be cut short during one of the social league matches at the Eros Primary School sports ground. He suffered a massive heart attack and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. At the time of his death, Piele was engaged to his longtime sweetheart Blanche Wimmert, who bore him three beautiful daughters. He was planning to tie the knot on the 24th of April next year, to tie in with his tally of 24 caps for the national senior team. Unlike many retired footballers prone to losing focus upon retirement and have fallen on bad times, the wide-awake Piele demonstrated a good hand in the retail business and was self-employed until the time of his untimely death. Piele will be laid to rest at the Khomasdal graveyard tomorrow morning. The burial service starts at his parents’ residence in Bethlehem at 08h00 before proceeding to the church from where after the hearse will move him to his final resting place. May his soul rest in eternal peace in one piece. " 2015-10-30Staff Report 2
