SA football fans take the cake
A week ago I was fortunate enough to be invited to the launch of the eighth edition of the Carling Black Label Cup in Johannesburg.
The derby between Soweto's finest - Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates - will take place on 27 July.
When these two clubs meet you know it will be the derby of all derbies, as we have witnessed over the years.
The cup launch was nothing like nothing I had experienced in my career. The vibe, the set-up and just the general ambience was fantastic.
Prim and proper, the South Africans don't leave anything to chance when it comes to organising football events. Organisers even flew in former Arsenal striker Ian Wright all the way from England to be part of the event.
That was something else. But one thing that stood out for me was the fans at the launch. The colourful, passionate and eccentric fans donned Buccaneer and Amakhosi colours.
Clubs in South Africa have found their niche off the field - their fans. These guys take their job seriously. They relish being '12th-men' and task themselves with giving the players that extra oomph.
I got the chance to meet two of Orlando Pirates' biggest fans, Mgijimi and Good Enough Sithole. Mgijimi is some sort of juju man who is supposed to bring the team luck, as he speaks to the ancestors and blows white powder in the air. Good Enough, on the other hand, wears a wig and dress. This is his signature look and he cannot be missed.
And then you have the Chiefs' fans, with their oversized goggles and decorated miners' helmets or 'makarapa'. They are experts with vuvuzelas in their hands. This was my highlight.
Mind you, this was just a launch and the fans were an integral part of it. Now just imagine the dynamics on game day.
Firstly, I have never been to a Chiefs or Pirates match. I only see the teams play on TV. And each time the atmosphere in the stadium looks like one could have an out-of-body experience.
Sometimes you will see supporters eating bread to indicate that the opposition is their “daily bread”, opening a Bible in search of divine intervention or carrying a homemade coffin to indicate that their team is about to “bury” the opposition.
This is what football in South Africa is made of and these are of course some of the things we can learn to integrate into the Namibia Premier League. We just have press conferences here, with extolling and illustrating the role of the fans. Honestly, we don't want to see CEOs and to hear long boring speeches. We want to hear the fans speak. We want to see them at launches.
Surely if we have supporters' clubs, at some point we must see the supporters.
At the launch, the supporters were treated to drinks and food. With perks like this who would stay home to watch a game? We are struggling to pull spectators to matches in Namibia, so why not then just strengthen the supporters' clubs.
Find a niche and run with it. Let's develop our own traditions. Let's make football fun, because at the end of the day, football is played for others to enjoy.
As much as a club needs players to compete, it should be mandatory that they also have a certain number of supporters to register. We are tired of going to deadbeat matches.
The NPL should definitely find something to brag about and I think creating matches around fans is the way to go, so when they arrive, you know for a fact that it's going to be lit!
[email protected]
The derby between Soweto's finest - Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates - will take place on 27 July.
When these two clubs meet you know it will be the derby of all derbies, as we have witnessed over the years.
The cup launch was nothing like nothing I had experienced in my career. The vibe, the set-up and just the general ambience was fantastic.
Prim and proper, the South Africans don't leave anything to chance when it comes to organising football events. Organisers even flew in former Arsenal striker Ian Wright all the way from England to be part of the event.
That was something else. But one thing that stood out for me was the fans at the launch. The colourful, passionate and eccentric fans donned Buccaneer and Amakhosi colours.
Clubs in South Africa have found their niche off the field - their fans. These guys take their job seriously. They relish being '12th-men' and task themselves with giving the players that extra oomph.
I got the chance to meet two of Orlando Pirates' biggest fans, Mgijimi and Good Enough Sithole. Mgijimi is some sort of juju man who is supposed to bring the team luck, as he speaks to the ancestors and blows white powder in the air. Good Enough, on the other hand, wears a wig and dress. This is his signature look and he cannot be missed.
And then you have the Chiefs' fans, with their oversized goggles and decorated miners' helmets or 'makarapa'. They are experts with vuvuzelas in their hands. This was my highlight.
Mind you, this was just a launch and the fans were an integral part of it. Now just imagine the dynamics on game day.
Firstly, I have never been to a Chiefs or Pirates match. I only see the teams play on TV. And each time the atmosphere in the stadium looks like one could have an out-of-body experience.
Sometimes you will see supporters eating bread to indicate that the opposition is their “daily bread”, opening a Bible in search of divine intervention or carrying a homemade coffin to indicate that their team is about to “bury” the opposition.
This is what football in South Africa is made of and these are of course some of the things we can learn to integrate into the Namibia Premier League. We just have press conferences here, with extolling and illustrating the role of the fans. Honestly, we don't want to see CEOs and to hear long boring speeches. We want to hear the fans speak. We want to see them at launches.
Surely if we have supporters' clubs, at some point we must see the supporters.
At the launch, the supporters were treated to drinks and food. With perks like this who would stay home to watch a game? We are struggling to pull spectators to matches in Namibia, so why not then just strengthen the supporters' clubs.
Find a niche and run with it. Let's develop our own traditions. Let's make football fun, because at the end of the day, football is played for others to enjoy.
As much as a club needs players to compete, it should be mandatory that they also have a certain number of supporters to register. We are tired of going to deadbeat matches.
The NPL should definitely find something to brag about and I think creating matches around fans is the way to go, so when they arrive, you know for a fact that it's going to be lit!
[email protected]
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