South Africa U20 hero Tylon Smith has completed his highly-awaited transfer to English Championship club Queens Park Rangers (QPR).
Smith was unveiled by QPR on Wednesday evening after completing the formalities of his deal and will now begin a new chapter in England after ending his time at Stellenbosch FC.
The centre-back has earned a major move, believed to be worth £300,000 (R6.1 million), despite not playing at senior level for Stellies, but his transfer was engineered by his heroics at the 2025 Africa U20 Cup of Nations in Egypt in May.
Smith was the driving force for Amajita as they went all the way and won the title, having excelled in defence and also scored the match winner during the semi-final against Nigeria to be voted the tournament’s best player.
“I’m very happy to be here. I’m really proud and grateful for the opportunity QPR have given me to showcase my talent,” Smith said over his transfer to QPR as per a statement on the club’s website.
Amajita star in awe of his dream move
“QPR is well-known for developing young players. The style of play here is similar to how we play in South Africa and it’s a style that I really like.”
Smith then described what he brings to QPR, promising fans lots of good things at the London club.
“I would say I’m like a modern defender; composed, good on the ball but I also enjoy defending,” he said before reflecting on his AFCON U20 success.
“It was incredible,” the defender added, regarding the title win. “Scoring the winning goal in the semi-final against Nigeria was amazing and we made history by winning the final.
“It was very special to win Player of the Tournament – it’s very rare for it to go to a defender, it usually goes to an attacking player, so that was amazing for me.”
What attracted QPR to Tylon Smith?
CEO Christian Nourry is thrilled that his club beat off stiff competition to win Smith’s signature.
“We are happy to beat significant competition to land the services of Tylon today,” said Nourry.
“His raw attributes give him every opportunity to become a successful central defender and we are excited that the player feels, as we do, that we are best placed to develop and extract that potential from him. We will take it step by step.”
Smith, who has signed a four-year contract, will initially be integrated into the Development Squad at QPR as he works his way up and is now the second South African player to move from a PSL side directly to England since Kagiso Dikgacoi joined Fulham from Golden Arrows in 2009.
