‘This is our club’ doesn’t pay bills

Mqondisi Dube | Monday December 11, 2023 19:14

They want Sechele, who had come in as a Good Samaritan trying to save Gunners’ sinking ship, to stay away as far as possible from their club. Sechele has told the club’s hierarchy that he doesn’t feel safe with his investment at Gunners and has reconsidered his position.

This means its back to default settings for a club that has been surviving on crumbs and confirmed its downfall with a first every relegation to the First Division last season. The ‘real’ owners of Gunners want to see it bed-ridden and on the verge of extinction, as long as no stranger touches “their club.” It would rather suffer than be contaminated by investment from some individual, it’s their line of thinking. Not too long ago, a similar situation unfolded at Township Rollers when Jagdish Shah was told to take the highway.

After all, they told him, Rollers was there before and it will be there after him. Yes, Rollers is there but slowly the situation is starting to unravel. Reports of late payment of salaries have now become common talk at an institution that has become the hallmark of local football.

Fears are rising that Rollers could follow the unwanted path taken by giants like Gunners and Mochudi Centre Chiefs. The sooner supporters, the so-called owners of the team, understand that dynamics are fast changing in football, the better.

‘Team ke ya rona’ does not pay players’ salaries. Running a football club is not a joke. Sadly, those who stubbornly hang on to the misguided mantra of ‘team ke ya rona’ are happy souls in their places of abode. The players and technical staff are the grass that suffers in the unfortunate fight between the investor and supporters.

I remember around 2006 when Mooketsi ‘China’ Mading attempted to take over FC Satmos after the death of Sam Sono. There was a group, led by a good friend of mine who was a taxi-man, that was vehemently opposed to the take-over. “It’s our team,” they argued, “we cannot therefore let an individual run it, it belongs to all of us,” they said.

But come match day when the team was due to travel for a fixture, the ‘owners of the team’ will be nowhere to be found to assist with travel logistics and finances. Mading will dig into his pockets and sacrifice his cash for the team. The owners of the team will, in the meanwhile, be making noises in beer halls, vowing to stop the take-over. Local football cannot continue on this perilous path; a mindset shift is required.