It took me an hour and a half to get from The Star’s office in the Joburg CBD to Makhulong Stadium on Tuesday to be a part of history.
Most of that time was spent in the crazy traffic of Tembisa because of the Rea Vaya expansion that sees certain parts of that township’s roads with just one lane.
It took some doing to not lose it. I can’t say the same for the taxi drivers who started creating routes that didn’t exist to beat the congestion.
Thankfully, I arrived at the stadium with the little sanity I have intact.
It was worth it though.
By 7pm, 30 minutes before kick-off, the main grand stand was packed with people of Tembisa eager to finally support their own club in the Premier Division after a 14-year wait. Highlands Park didn’t disappoint as they beat Baroka FC 2-1 to start their life in the big league with a win.
But for me that wasn’t the best part of the night, it was the atmosphere at the stadium. The last time they had a team cheer in the elite league was during the days of Tembisa Classic, Yizo Yizo as they nicknamed them. I remember one Arthur Zwane as part of that team that played a brand of exciting football. The club was loved by the locals because it ingrained itself to the community. That’s why they were sad when it was relegated in the 2001/02 season.
They were heartbroken when the club sold it’s status to Maritzburg United after gaining promotion for the 2005/06 campaign.
For 14 years people from Tembisa watched other people’s clubs campaign in the elite league. That changed on Tuesday and they came out in numbers to support Highlands. It was a beautiful sight, especially with the low turn-out that we are used to.
What caught my eye was the number of fans wearing Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns’ jerseys backing Highlands. They were all locals who supported the big three in the absence of a team of their own.
It’s common knowledge that the other 13 clubs can’t compete with these three in terms of fans because they share the bulk of them. They shouldn’t try to compete with them in that regard because they won these fans because of their rich history of being successful.
Instead, they should entrench themselves to the communities that they fall under so that they are at least adopted as their second club. They might be conflicted for that one match when their “team” comes to town, but for the other 14 games you will enjoy good support from your people.
For a long time Bidvest Wits failed to do that in the large community of University of the Witwatersrand students around Bidvest Stadium. If they won over that crowd, it would have been easy to get 5000 fans for every home game. They’re almost there as they now enjoy good support from the students. That’s what teams like Chippa United and Platinum Stars should do, especially since they don’t compete with any other team in the provinces that they’re from. If you’re a team from Pretoria or Nelspruit, don’t just be a team from there in name. Be there.
I remember during my high school years at Amandlethu in Amaoti, we used to be transported to every Golden Arrows home game. That was after Abafana Bes’thende had signed Philani Shange who went to our school. Even though he spent most of the time on the bench at first, it was great being there to support one of our own. We weren’t sold a club but a sense of belonging. That’s how Arrows won over many fans in Durban because they had a team made up of players from across the different townships in the city. Almost everyone had one of their “own”. That sense of community bit me that when I graduated from the school, I missed those trips to the stadium to watch Arrows. So I would do so with money from my own pocket.
I feel clubs aren’t feeding off this patriotism and a sense of community enough. Trying to compete with the likes of Chiefs, Pirates and Sundowns is a tough task. So give fans what those teams can’t give them, especially when you’re outside of Gauteng, sell them a sense of belonging which they would get by backing a local team.
Even if it’s to be their second team. That would go a long way towards improving attendance at our matches.
@NJABULON
@extrastrongsa
Saturday Star