Mark Tovey (born 7 May 1955) is a retired

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

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 ...

. His brother is former footballer

Neil Tovey Neil Robert Tovey OIS (born 2 July 1962) is a South African football coach and former player and also brother of former footballer Mark Tovey. He was born in Pretoria. He holds the record for most appearances in the National Soccer League. Ear ...

Early life

He attended Northlands Primary School and Northlands Secondary School (now Northwood School) in

Durban North Durban North is an area to the north of Durban in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Durban North lies between the N2 freeway and the eastern seashore, with the Umgeni River forming its southern boundary. It ha ...

Club career

He played for the

Durban City Durban City was a South African association football club based in the city of Durban. Formed in 1959 by Norman Elliott, the club was dissolved in 1988. History Durban City FC played in the newly formed whites only National Football League f ...

under 10, 12 and 14. He was signed by Durban United in 1971 at the age of 16. He moved to

in 1973 where he spent six seasons there. He won the

Federation Professional League The Federation Professional League (FPL) was a South African football (soccer) league founded in 1969. It was established to allow coloureds and Indian South Africans to participate in a competitive league. It was established in the wake of the ...

and Cup double in 1978. He won the 1982 and 1983 NPSL with City during his second spell under

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...

. He joined Bush Bucks in 1983 with

Dennis Wicks Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is someti ...

. He won the inaugural National Soccer League in 1985 under

. He was teammates with Mike Mangena and Mlungisi Ngubane, Barnett Gondwe and Daniel Ramarutsi in a team known as ''The Untouchables''. He later won the JPS Knockout Cup in 1987 after a replay against

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 ...

. He was voted as the Player of the Tournament. He finally joined Chiefs in 1988 at the age of 33. Kaizer Motaung had been trying to sign Tovey since the early 70s. He won six trophies with Chiefs. During his spell, he mentored

Lucas Radebe Lucas Valeriu Ntuba Radebe OIS (born 12 April 1969) is a South African former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He began playing in South Africa with Kaizer Chiefs, before transferring to Leeds United, where he played 256 ...

, who later played for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

Coaching career

He coached

Manning Rangers Manning Rangers is a now defunct South African football club based in Durban. The side is best remembered as the Champions of the Inaugural season of South Africa's Premier Soccer League. History The club was founded in 1928 by GR Naidoo who, ...

and saved them from relegation from the OK League.

After retirement

He is still connected to sport and currently works as a partner of the southern African agency for

Nike Golf Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine given ...

distribution in Sunninghill,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

Personal life

He is married and has three children and two grandchildren. He is the older brother of

. Chilean footballer Mark Dennis González Hoffman was named after Tovey and

, both former teammates of his father Raúl who played for Bush Bucks. Gonzalez said that a coin was tossed to determine whose name would be used first, and it was Tovey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tovey, Mark 1955 births Living people South African soccer players Association football defenders Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players Durban Bush Bucks players Manning Rangers F.C. players Soccer players from Pretoria White South African people South African soccer managers Durban United F.C. players Durban City F.C. players