Corporates are attracted to winners, so how do we become winners? How do we become attractive to potential sponsors?
It is obvious to me that given the success of the two platinum sides in the PSL together with Manica Diamonds and Chicken Inn, what all of us in football need to examine is what sponsors want. We need to see how and why they are successful!
Their success also creates a need for us to examine why the traditional giants of the game are struggling to do well even when corporates support them. Because to me it looks like it’s a bit just about sound funding but a lot to do with the governance aspect of the game.
When you look at the Castle Premiership table standings, “small” teams like the two Platinum sides, Chicken Inn, Manica Diamonds and even Herentals are causing a stir.
They have come and taken on the big boys which would be Highlanders, Dynamos, Caps United and Zimbabwe Saints.
And I am inclined to believe that the business model and ownership structures of these new giants of the game have put them a foot ahead of their competition. But I remember club names like Red Seal, Merlin Huskey, Smirnoff Tigers, Mhangura, Shu Shine, Ziscosteel among many more. All these teams were company-owned and did a lot for the development of football in the country.
Quite a substantial number of players were produced at these clubs. And yet many if not all of them are now defunct. The obvious explanation for their demise is the economic downturn that saw many of these companies cut down on such activities.
I am, however, happy that the modern day company-owned teams seem to have found the Midas touch for football administration. In my view they have managed to successfully marry passion for the game and business ethics which sets them apart from the norm.
And it is these practices that all clubs must now try to emulate. Passion only is not enough. It needs pragmatic business choices to be made if our football clubs are to grow and begin to carry their weight in developing the game of football in Zimbabwe.
While I do not want to sound like a broken record, the fact of the matter is that community-based teams are no longer sustainable in the modern football world. We need more teams that are either individually-owned or company-owned.
It is much easier to run clubs professionally in this instance and for obvious reasons.
My heart bleeds for Zimbabwe Saints. I have fond memories about that club and what it meant to football in Zimbabwe.
I remember Dynamos losing 3-1 to a Butholezwe Mahachi-led Zimbabwe Saints that enabled Bosso to win the league title at the turn of the millennium. Clubs like Saints are key to football. They were successful but I feel their business models needed to change to allow them to survive today.
Teams like Red Seal, Merlin Huskey, Zeda, Bata Power, Shu Shine, Mhangura, Gweru United, Mwana Africa and Zesa were there but cannot scale the heights of modern mine or company-owned teams.
We also had Rio Tinto, Ziscosteel, Lancashire, Hollies, Corrugated, all these teams produced players that held their own in the super league and the premier league.
I remember Fred Moyo who loved football to bits. And at every mine he worked, he made sure there was a viable football club competing with the best in the land.
Moyo was among many visionaries before and after his time who saw something in football and also realised that with good organisation, football could actually become a key and viable employer.
Ownership of clubs is something that we take for granted, but it’s something we all need to look at if we are to take that next step in football evolution as a country and as a society.
Look at community teams like Barcelona who elect presidents based on their ability to attract funding to the team, and sometimes even guarantee the availability of funding.
Look at the Italian clubs that get docked points and even get relegated but today they are still powerhouses. This is because of having in place systems that ensure that the club does not suffer even at the worst of times. A well run football club is an economy all on its own.
In Italy you find teams being relegated to Serie B and yet manage to keep their players who even get paid better than some of those still in top tier football. It’s all because of the systems these clubs have in place that give confidence to corporates even when they are playing lower league football.