Former Bafana Bafana captain Lucas Radebe revealed he was paid peanuts upon joining Leeds United.
The 56-year-old retired defender eventually became one of Leeds’ greatest players, having spent over a decade with The Whites. Before moving to the English Premier League, Radebe played over 100 matches for Kaizer Chiefs, winning numerous trophies.
At the age of 25, he and fellow South African striker Phil Masinga signed for Leeds. Speaking on izinja zeGame podcast with Josta Dladla, Lucas Radebe revealed that Leeds underpaid them before the league intervened.
“I didn’t understand contract staff, numbers and all that. I went there and they were talking about work permits. So apparently, we were the lowest-paid players in the Premier League because where we come from, we’re unknown,” he said.
“So the Premier league intervened, to say ‘if you buy these two players and they become part of you, they can’t earn… It’s exploitation, especially since we’re from Africa.”
Leeds were paying Lucas Radebe £5000
“(I was getting) £5000 (R125 000), imagine that was the lowest, per week and players there were earning a lot of money but we didn’t know or understand. I think Leeds spoke to (our negotiators) and said ‘just agree’. But I think their reason was that they were not sure if we’re going to make it in that league,” he said.
Around 1994, the exchange rate for the British pound sterling to the South African rand was around 5.50. Both Lucas Radebe and Phil Masinga were underpaid by Leeds, but their wages were slightly higher than what local teams offered three decades ago.
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