Home is Manchester for Quinton Fortune. But make no mistake: his heart is in Cape Town. Quinton has the look of a man who has just discovered his life’s purpose and wants to plot his next move as a matter of urgency. And where he grew up will be central to that plan.
Life was a lot less complicated for the former Manchester United and Bafana Bafana footballer when he first moved to the UK as a 14-year-old to sign for Tottenham Hotspur. It was tough but Quinton had football as his solace and it would set him on a path to superstardom.
“It was like an adventure in my head as a kid because everything was happening so quickly at that time when I left. One moment I was playing for Stephanians and Western Province at Athlone District on Sundays and Saturdays and for my school team and board team. Then, all of a sudden, I’m at Tottenham, playing with the kids there.
“There was no time to prepare. But what was good for me was that I was kept busy because there was football every day. What I did to prevent getting homesick was to play football as soon as I got home from school until I went to sleep. I had my own room and was staying in digs with a family, a lady who was looking after me.
“But the time when you got to the room was the time it all hit you: I’m here on my own. I had to grow up quickly and learn how to take care of myself and how to deal with people from a different culture and mentality, the weather, the food… hulle praat mos nie soos ons nie(they don’t talk like we do).
“I had to pick up the accents very quickly but the best part for me was being on a football pitch. That helped me a lot. But it was tough because I wanted my mom and dad there.”
To understand what Quinton has achieved – a Premier League championship medal with Man United and having played two World Cups with Bafana – you need to understand where he came from. Quinton hails from Kewtown on the Cape Flats, in an area known as the Blokke. It is gang- and drug-infested and it would not be a stretch to say that, in 1991, when he got the chance to move to the UK to play football there, it probably saved his life.
“I’m from Kewtown and that idea of doing something back home, especially where I come from and you know what it’s like in the area – the Blokke. My friend lost her son just a couple of days ago in a gang fight.
“I want to come back home and do stuff with football or whichever other way as a means of getting kids off the street. That has been what’s on my mind.
“Yes, I’m in Manchester but my heart is here in Cape Town. With a football project I can reach out to those kids.”
So his plan: help as many young promising footballers as possible along the same path he was on. But remove all the hassles and complications he had to experience. Then, when we have a conveyor belt of world class players we plough them back into a Bafana team that can seriously compete and win a World Cup.
Part of that plan has Quinton as coach of the national team.
Quinton has tried this before when he helped start FC Fortune, but it didn’t work out.
“Now I’m hoping I can start something again in the future. To be able to train and prepare young footballers for Europe but to try and avoid all the things I had to go through.
“You have to find the right people to take care of you, not just financially but more on the mental side of things, to deal with the circumstances over there. A kind of a mentor that will guide you – that’s what I needed but had to do myself.
“To find a way to get out of the country is not easy. You can go to Belgium or Spain, Denmark, Sweden or Italy. If you get the opportunity to go there, you have to be good enough.
“You may have the talent but you also have to be mentally strong. It’s not just about the football. It’s what you do off the pitch as well.”
Quinton’s strategy to take promising players abroad is not out of disrespect to local football and the state of the PSL in South Africa. But it is founded on what he believes is a realistic view of the state of play.
“Take Cristiano Ronaldo: he is Portuguese but he left Portugal to play in Spain. Lionel Messi is Argentinian. There is a reason. If we had the best league in the world with the top players, by all means, I would say don’t go anywhere because the competition is here.
“This is the only reason I say they must go abroad to compete against the best players in the world.
“If you look at the best African teams, the majority of the players play in Europe and it creates competition. If you’re a good singer I’d want you to go to America because that’s the market. Someone told me we have the 12th richest league in the world, which is great, but our level is not the level of England, Spain, France – where players from all over the world are going to play.
“I would encourage our players to go there to compete in a professional environment and in return, when you come to play for your national team, it makes us stronger. Of course if things change and our league gets stronger, by all means…”
Quinton has not yet worked out the finer details of his plan. But for now he is completing his coaching badges. Last season he joined former teammate Ole Gunnar Solksjaer as assistant coach for Cardiff City’s under-21 side.
“That was my first taste of coaching. It was good and I enjoyed it,” he says.
Quinton has his heart set on a Premiership management post though. Then he wants to set his sights on coaching Bafana.
He had access to one of the world’s finest football managers in the history of the game – Sir Alex Ferguson. Quinton has nothing but admiration for the man he calls “the Boss”, a man who described his South African player as a “good lad”.
“Sir Alex Ferguson was the boss. You wanted to play for him. When I moved from Atletico Madrid to Manchester United it was like a dream. My dad was a big United fan and he’d always tell me about George Best.
“The move was just crazy. I arrived at United when they had just won the treble and I quickly understood why they were the best team because they had the best players in the Premier League, the best manager, but they also worked the hardest.
“That for me was the thing. When I saw that, when I trained with them, I couldn’t believe it because you had some of the most talented players in Europe, but the most hardworking players – and for me that is what set United apart from any club in the Premier League.
“We would train the way we played. On match days it was exactly like training. The work ethic, ethos and mentality were just phenomenal.”
These days, while completing his coaching qualifications, Quinton still does work for the club as an ambassador, travelling all over the world to meet sponsors and fans.
In the Far East, in particular, he and his colleagues are often swamped by fanatical Man United fans. Back home, outside the Table Bay Hotel where he was staying during this interview, it is far more low key.
Two fans who spotted him wanted a picture taken. Quinton obliged with a smile. He is the consummate professional. He doesn’t mind the fan admiration.
In fact, he admits to having been a bit star-struck when he first arrived at Man United.
“My highlight was everything, every moment you got to play at Old Trafford with your teammates. Listening to Sir Alex before a game you want to run through a brick wall for him.
“The way he man-managed the players; the training; being surrounded by so many great players: Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Ronaldo when he arrived, Wayne Rooney as a young player, Jaap Stam at the back, Raymond van der Gouw, Fabian Barthez…
“I was so fortunate, I couldn’t believe it. But I quickly had to forget that I was a fan the first couple of days that I met them. Going to Anfield and beating Liverpool was a great feeling.
“Going to play in Brazil in the Club World Champions… there were so many great experiences at Manchester United. To still be involved in the club is amazing. I’m very, very fortunate and grateful.”
Quinton is slowly preparing for life after Manchester United and the next phase of his career in professional football.
“The ultimate dream would be getting involved in the South African Football Association to help set up a structure where we’re developing young players and qualifying for international tournaments like our under-17s just did and our under-23s qualifying for the Olympics.
“The goal is to produce players to win the World Cup – that has got to be the goal. You can’t just go there and compete.
“People may believe I’m crazy but I do believe that with the right structure and plan in place we’re capable of doing it. That’s my dream. I need to put it down on paper and find the best way.
“A year or two ago I said to guys in Johannesburg that this was our national team and I wanted Bafana to be successful, like our rugby and cricket team. It would be nice to come back home and be involved with the national team. That is my dream and my goal and hopefully I can achieve that one day.” - Cape Argus