Richard Henyekane (28 September 1983 – 7 April 2015) was a South African professional

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who also represented the

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Early and personal life

Henyekane hails from Kimberley's Galeshewe township; his younger brother

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who died in December 2014 was also a professional footballer.

Career

Henyekane made his professional debut for Premier United-Hellenic against Jomo Cosmos on 8 February 2004. He joined Golden Arrows in the 2004/05 season, with his first goal coming in Arrows' 1–1 draw against

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, ...

on 19 January 2005. Henyekane, who played as a striker or attacking right wing position, had his career best season with Golden Arrows in the PSL. The striker bagged three hat-tricks during the 2009–2010 PSL season ending with 19 league goals, as well as a further

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. Unde ...

hat-trick, finishing with 23 goals for the season. The striker was then snapped up by Mamelodi Sundowns on a lucrative three-year contract as a free agent. On 4 March 2012, his team set a record in the

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Cup when they beat Powerlines FC by 24–0, with Henyekane scoring five of the goals. He joined Free State Stars on loan from Sundowns in the January Transfer Window of 2014, with the move made permanent in July 2014. During this time, he made 18 league appearances and scored seven goals in the process. Henyekane had made 17 appearances in the 2014–2015 season; his last match was as a substitute appearance against AmaZulu at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on 4 April 2015, and his last goal came in Stars' 1–1 draw with

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 ...

at Charles Mopeli stadium on 6 May 2014.

International career

Henyekane was first called up for international duty in 2009 but was left out of the Joel Santana squad for the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup. He later made his international debut in a 3–1 loss against

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on 12 August 2009. Henyekane made nine official appearances for the South Africa national team. He died in a car accident on 7 April 2015.

References

External links

Richard Henyekane Transferring To Mamelodi Sundowns At The End Of The Season , Goal.com
* http://www.football365.co.za/player/0,25236,14344_311906,00.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Henyekane, Richard 1983 births 2015 deaths Association football forwards Association football midfielders Free State Stars F.C. players Lamontville Golden Arrows F.C. players Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. players Sportspeople from Kimberley, Northern Cape Road incident deaths in South Africa South Africa international soccer players South African soccer players