adminTHAT our domestic Premiership is still struggling to emerge from the challenges brought about by the Covid-19 challenges, is there for everyone to see.
The attendance figures at our stadiums, especially for matches being played in Harare, are horrible, and that is quite a kind word to use, for the crisis which the top-flight league faces today.
Dynamos, the country’s biggest and most successful club, used to be the cash cows of the league, the big pay day for other clubs, on the occasions they hosted the Glamour Boys.
On average, the attendance figures for DeMbare were about 20 000 and, during their historic run in the CAF Champions League in 1998, they regularly filled the National Sports Stadium.
That’s an average of 60 000 fans at their matches, especially in the semi-final against Hearts of Oak of Ghana and in the final, against ASEC Mimosas of Cote d’Ivoire.
However, these days, the Glamour Boys are struggling to attract even 2000 fans, at their home matches, in the capital.
CAPS United can barely attract even 1000 fans, at their home matches, and the situation has not been helped by their poor run this season.
It’s not being helped that the matches have all been concentrated at the giant stadium, which has always been a venue of concern, when it comes to get there, for most of the fans in the high density areas.
There is an emptiness about the National Sports Stadium, especially when it comes to it being used for the local league matches, and those football fans, who want the atmosphere to be electric, would rather choose to be elsewhere.
Rufaro and Gwanzura, with their central setting, would have been better options for fans, and because they are smaller structures, they tend to create the sights and sounds, which then inspire other fans to come and be part of the show.
Sadly, both Gwanzura and Rufaro still remain in a state of disrepair and revelations that the spiritual home of domestic football, has now been converted into a venue for social soccer, made very sad reading.
In sharp contrast, while the Premiership is struggling for patronage, the thriving Division One leagues, especially the Northern Region, have been attracting bumper colourful crowds, at their matches.
Recently, we saw a full house at a school, of all places, Ellis Robins, when Simba Bhora and Golden Eagles clashed in a top-of-the-table showdown.
It was also refreshing to note that the playing field, at this school ground, is in a better state than the surface, which is being used by the Harare Premiership clubs, at the giant stadium.
There is something right, which the Division One leagues, and their clubs, are doing right, which is not being seen in the Premiership.
It’s time our Premiership leaders humble themselves and take time to go for lessons, from those who are running the Division One leagues, about how they have managed to not only retain their crowd but, in many cases, improve the numbers, after the Covid-19 challenges.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter