Angels will need more than divine intervention

Mqondisi Dube | Tuesday November 8, 2022 06:00

Yes, there are still 2,520 more Premier League minutes to play for Francistown’s sole representative, but each point counts.

But why concern Eleven Angels out of the 16 teams that make up the Premier League? As is stands, Francistown is Eleven Angels, or put the other way round Eleven Angels is Francistown.

Forget about fore bearers like TAFIC, TASC, Great North Tigers, ECCO City Greens. Eleven Angels are Francistown’s current football soundtrack. They came to the rescue when the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium had become used to be a host to visitors from far field as Jwaneng. Eleven Angels put an end to that and the second city’s fans can now look forward to a weekend of Premier League action within their backyard.

Eleven Angels are the team which ended Francistown’s lengthy drought without a top flight team. It is rare for a second city like Francistown not to have a team in the Premier League. Across the world, there are few second cities which were in the same predicament as Francistown. At the end of last season, up stepped the Angels to rescue Francistown’s bizarre arrangement.

The Angels flew into the Premier League in ruthless fashion, showing little respect for overwhelming favourites, Mochudi Centre Chiefs. That raised optimism that this exciting Angels side was set to serve some sumptuous football for longer.

The other big sides in the elite league had been warned.

Angels is built around youth and vim. It is an exciting project worth emulating. However, there is no time for pleasantries once the whistle is blown on the pitch. Angels will unfortunately, have to take the hard lessons and do so quickly. The Premier League is not a place where there are normal stages of growth. There is no time for crawling, you have to hit the ground running.

Angels have lost their first two matches, a 1-0 reversal against Morupule Wanderers before they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat to Extension Gunners on Saturday. This is hardly the start coach, Seemo Mpatane was craving for.

The Premier League is a lawless jungle where brutal carnivores are always lurking dangerously. Twice the Angels have been devoured, but thankfully, they still have 28 games to save their season.

The Francistown community has once again proved to be penny pinchers when it comes to supporting their clubs. TAFIC and ECCO can bear testimony to the close-fistedness, which saw the teams drown in the full glare of the Ghetto public. These days, they say someone can drown while people capture the shocking scenes on video.

It feels that way for the Francistown sides. The Francistown people are guilty of ball watching. Obviously, they are not alone as most clubs across the country are struggling.

But for a big city like Francistown with only one Premier League team, one would expect a convergence of financial sympathy to rescue the clubs. You would expect Angels, as the city’s only golden child to be spoilt rotten.

But they should not be surprised as they have seen this movie several times before. They just have to get on with the rescue job and not expect sympathies.