South African footballer Jayden Adams dies at age 25

Those who knew the South African, who died aged 25 not long after playing at the World Cup, describe a humble and hard-working man who cared about friends and family

Publication date: 2026-07-27 01:30:40

Photograph of Jayden Adams, with messages from his teammates, on display during his memorial service in Stellenbosch. Photograph: Rodger Bosch/AFP/Getty Images

For Jayden Adams, the South Africa midfielder who died this month at the age of 25, football was a “safe space.” Those words, used by Adams’s junior coach Steve Barker at his memorial service 10 days ago, tell you everything you need to know about his life beyond the pitch.

Adams’s battles were bestowed on him almost from birth. Though he was born into newly democratic South Africa, by the early 2000s the revolution was well on its way to being betrayed. The vote was extended to all, but few could make full use of the freedoms available to them because socioeconomic circumstances in the country had barely changed. Stellenbosch, where the Adams family were based, is a perfect example.

Its facade is a tourist dream: a university town nestled among vineyards, Cape Dutch architecture and indie boutiques. Most visitors never venture beyond the town centre or into its suburbs, which are home to the far less privileged and are havens of neglect. Those areas are classic apartheid hangovers, where the wealth has been preserved for a historically advantaged elite and those on the margins — working-class communities of people of colour — are all but invisible.

Ironically, that is how Adams is most often described. He moved in the shadows, both of society and the sport in which he excelled.

“Jayden was a guy of very few words. He was quiet, very shy and the smallest among his teammates. Initially, a lot of people missed his football qualities because of his size, but he had a very good fighting spirit. It just wasn’t always on display.” — Brendine Johnson, Adams family spokesperson

Adams loved the game dearly. His aunt Monica Thaoge recalled how, as a child, he would kick anything round — “even onions,” she said at his memorial. His parents, Juanito and Candice, previously mentioned potatoes as their son’s football of choice. Nobody in the family talks about lacking in financial means because theirs was a community striving to make life better. But there were absences, especially early on.

Members of the Mamelodi Sundowns football club carry Jayden Adams’ coffin at the funeral service for the player on Saturday. Photograph: Esa Alexander/Reuters

“Everybody in areas like that is just trying to make ends meet,” says Roger Telemachus, the former South Africa cricketer who grew up on the same street as Adams’s father in Cloetesville. “For the kids, they may not have noticed so much because they were occupied, mostly with playing sport. Some fathers, like Juanito, really encouraged their kids and everyone used to play everything on the street: tennis, football, rugby, cricket. It was also the best way of staying out of trouble.”

Problems were there for everyone to see and, according to Telemachus, have got worse “in the last 20 years.” They include gangsterism, substance abuse and crimes that range from petty to serious. Adams was able to escape from that life when he moved to the slightly more affluent area of Ida’s Valley, but still he did not have a life of luxury. For a period, the family of six, which included four children, lived in a two-bedroom place. At other times, they were with his maternal grandmother, Marianna. “He basically grew up in her yard,” says Johnson.

Things started to change for Adams when he was picked for the Stellenbosch Academy Under-18 side at the age of 15. “The environment was tough, especially