Mark Mayambela (born 9 September 1987) is a South African retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who is currently a development coach

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Cape Town City F.C.

Club career

Bloem Celtic

Mayambela began his professional career with

Bloemfontein Celtic Bloemfontein Celtic Football Club (simply known as Celtic) is a South African amateur football club based in Bloemfontein that competes in the ABC Motsepe League, the third tier of the South African football league system. Bloemfontein Celtic has ...

in 2007 after joining from the Old Mutual Academy. He made his debut for the club against

Ajax Cape Town Cape Town Spurs F.C. (formerly known as Ajax Cape Town) is a South African professional football club based in Parow in the city of Cape Town that plays in the National First Division. Dutch Eredivisie club AFC Ajax was their parent club and m ...

during the 2007–08 Absa Premiership season. During his time at the club he became a fan favourite and earned the nickname ''"the Professor"'', ultimately making 50 appearances before joining

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club (often known as "The Buccaneers") is a South African professional football club based in the Houghton suburb of the city of Johannesburg and plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as DStv ...

in 2010.

Orlando Pirates

Mayambela completed a transfer to

on 27 July 2010, with Bennett Chenene joining Celtic as part of the deal. He struggled in Soweto, though, and by January 2013 had only started two matches in his three years with Pirates. He was linked with a move to

Chippa United Chippa United Football Club (often known as Chilli boys or Chippa) is a South African professional football club based in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province, having previously being based in Nyanga suburb of the city of Cape Town. The club' ...

during the same month but the deal collapsed after he refused to sign a three-year contract, preferring to join on a six-month deal instead. He made only one substitute appearance during the

2012–13 Premier Soccer League The 2012–13 Premier Soccer League season (known as the ABSA Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the seventeenth season of the Premier Soccer League since its establishment in 1996. The season began in the second week of August 2012. ...

season following which Orlando Pirates elected to release him. During his time at the club, Orlando Pirates lifted two PSL titles, two

MTN 8 MTN 8 is the current branding for a South African soccer cup competition launched in 1972 for teams who finished in the top 8 positions of the league table of the country's preceding top-flight league (currently the DStv Premiership) season. T ...

titles, and one each in the

Nedbank Cup The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's Premier Soccer League, premier club association football, soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of givi ...

and

Telkom Cup The Carling Knockout Cup is a South African professional football knockout competition which comprises the 16 teams in the South African Premier Division . The competition was established in 1982 and was first known as the Datsun Challenge. ...

s. Following his release, Mayambela was linked with a move to an unnamed

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

club and also trained with

Moroka Swallows Moroka Swallows Football Club (often known as simply Swallows or The Birds) is a South African professional football club based in Soweto in the city of Johannesburg in the Gauteng province. Founded in 1947, Swallows are one of the original two ...

before signing a one-year deal with

Mpumalanga Black Aces Black Aces were a South African football club that played in the Premier Soccer League. Aces usually played their home games in the Mpumalanga province but were based and trained in Johannesburg. History The original club was founded in 1937 by ...

Black Aces

Mayambela officially joined

in August 2013. His time at the club was short-lived, however, as he departed by mutual consent in October after he and teammate

Mkhanyiseli Siwahla Mkhanyiseli Siwahla (born 3 September 1988) is a South African footballer who plays as a midfielder for Polish club Proch Pionki. Career Siwahla began his career with Ajax Cape Town in 2004. He became the youngest player to score a goal in So ...

were alleged to have arrived at training under the influence of alcohol. Both players were asked to undergo alcohol tests at a clinic, but they refused and were suspended pending a disciplinary hearing. Mayambela and Siwahla then failed to attend at the hearing and were subsequently released from their contracts. Mayambela later denied claims that he was drunk at training and stated that he left Aces because he was unhappy at the club. He failed to play in a single league match for the club and made his only appearance as a substitute in a

Telkom Knockout The Telkom Knockout was a South African professional football knockout competition which comprised the 16 teams in the South African Premier Soccer League. The competition was established in 1982 and was first known as the Datsun Challenge. Under ...

game against former team Orlando Pirates.

Djurgårdens IF

Following his release from Black Aces, Mayambela trialled with Swedish side

Djurgården Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, ''Kungliga Djurgården'' (), is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum ...

who elected to sign him on a three-year deal. He made his debut for the club in the Swedish Cup on 9 March 2014 in a 2–0 win over

Assyriska The following is a List of Assyrian-Syriac football teams in Sweden. The Swedish football league system currently has ten levels, with the first five being governed by the Swedish Football Association. The sixth to tenth levels are controlled by ...

and made 15 league appearances in total, scoring once. His contract was terminated by mutual agreement in January 2015 after he had indicated that he wanted to return to South Africa, and he later revealed that his battles with injury and time on the bench had contributed to his decision.

Royal Eagles

Having once again become a free-agent, Mayambela signed for

National First Division The National First Division (NFD), officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African club association football, football after the South African Premier Division. Both t ...

side Royal Eagles on a four-month deal in February 2015. He departed at the end of the season having made four appearances.

Chippa United

Following the expiration of his contract with Royal Eagles, Mayambela returned to the PSL when he signed a season-long deal with

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

-based side

. Just six months into his contract, however, the club agreed to release Mayambela in order to allow him to join

SuperSport United SuperSport United Football Club (often known as SuperSport) is a South African professional football club based in Atteridgeville in Pretoria in the Gauteng province. The team currently plays in the Dstv Premiership. United is known as ''Matsats ...

, with SuperSport agreeing to buy out the remainder of his contract. He made 10 appearances and scored twice during his time with the club.

SuperSport United

Mayambela officially joined

on 15 January 2016 and signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with the club. Having been signed by

Gordon Igesund Gordon Igesund (born 22 July 1956) is a former South African football player and coach who was most recently the manager of Highlands Park in the Premier Soccer League. Early life Igesund was born in Durban to George Norman Igesund (born 193 ...

, he struggled under new club-manager

Stuart Baxter Stuart William Baxter (born 16 August 1953) is a British football manager and former player who most recently managed South African Premier Soccer League side Kaizer Chiefs. Born in England of Scottish parentage, and brought up in both countr ...

and made just four appearances for the club before once again being released. Baxter later stated that Mayambela had fallen short of the club's standards both on and off of the pitch.

Ajax Cape Town

Following his release from

, Mayambela signed as a free-agent for

. He spent a solitary season at the club, making 24 appearances across all competitions.

Return to Chippa United

Mayambela was released by Ajax after one season following which he re-signed for Chippa United in July 2017. He scored his first goals since his return to the club on 4 February 2018, netting his first professional brace in a 3–3 draw with

Platinum Stars Platinum Stars was a South African football club based in Phokeng near Rustenburg, North West Province that played in the Premier Soccer League. The club was nicknamed ''Dikwena'', the Tswana name for ''Crocodiles''. The team's best finish in ...

. The following season, he was named captain of the side.

Cape Town City

On 1 October 2019, Mayambela signed for

Cape Town City A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

on a free transfer, after he was recommended to the club by former coach

Benni McCarthy Benedict Saul "Benni" McCarthy (born 12 November 1977) is a South African coach and former footballer who is a first-team coach at Manchester United. He previously worked as head coach of South African Premier Division team AmaZulu. A former fo ...

. He scored on his official debut later that day during a 2–1 defeat to

AmaZulu Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal ...

. The goal was later registered as an own goal. After finding himself more on the stands than on the pitch, he parted ways with the club at the end of January 2020.

Honours

Club

;Orlando Pirates *

Premier Soccer League Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

; 2011–12 *

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

;

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

: 2011–12 *

: 2010–11

Personal life

Mark is the older brother of Mihlali Mayambela who is also a professional footballer currently playing in Cyprus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayambela, Mark 1987 births South African men's soccer players South African expatriate men's soccer players Living people Men's association football midfielders Soccer players from Cape Town Bloemfontein Celtic F.C. players Orlando Pirates F.C. players Mpumalanga Black Aces F.C. players Djurgårdens IF Fotboll players Chippa United F.C. players SuperSport United F.C. players Cape Town Spurs F.C. players Cape Town City F.C. (2016) players Cape Umoya United F.C. players South African Premier Division players Allsvenskan players South African expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden