Big games coming too fast, too soon

Mqondisi Dube | Thursday October 24, 2024 12:25

Already Gaborone United and Township Rollers have faced each other. Defending champions, Jwaneng Galaxy and GU encounter was the biggest fixture of the weekend and it is only week two of the season. By tomorrow evening, tick-off the Rollers, Galaxy fixture, and its only match day three. The Botswana Football League (BFL) could have an explanation for this flurry of big games. Likely the BFL leadership is a fan of the big splash approach. However, the top attractions should ideally come when the action engine has warmed up sufficiently. The vehicle engine takes time to warm up and have all cylinders firing. Even at the dinner table, there is the unwritten rule of leaving the best piece for last. It has always been a taboo to eat the meat first, there will be very little motivation to continue if you violate this enduring rule. It is not cast in stone, but similarly, it was expected in the Premier League that the teams will take the meal approach.

The first games should be the equivalent of a loosener in cricket, allowing the early mistake before gradually hitting the right rhythm. But the BFL leadership thought otherwise and they probably have their reasons for bombarding fans with the blockbusters so early in the season. It is understandable as there is pressure to get it right from the word go; have the big games early and attract fans back to the stadiums. I am not privy to the process of drawing fixtures at the BFL, but the assumption is that in line with trends, it is automated. But while there is reliance on a machine to draw the fixtures, there must be some human input to ensure the programme is tailor-made to serve the local football public better. For instance, we know that attendances are better around month-end and it is always good to have the big games around that time. Additionally, the headline fixtures are ideal on weekends and one should not expect a Rollers-Galaxy match on a Tuesday.

Some people who would have attended would miss the encounter as it is not convenient for them. One would sense that the BFL became too desperate to have a headline fixture at every match day, leading to the deluge of big games right at the beginning of the season. It comes with the added expectation of pleasing the new sponsor, First National Bank Botswana.

The present schedule could see more lighter mid-season fixtures and then heavy again towards the end of the campaign as the giants meet each other in the reverse ties. But what could be the BFL's saviour is that there are now more popular community-based teams like Extension Gunners, Mochudi Centre Chiefs, TAFIC, Rollers and GU, which are traditional crowd pullers. Particularly the entry of Chiefs and Gunners is expected to tilt the schedule in favour of the authorities at the BFL. If we are to follow sequential thinking, this season should have better attendances than the last.