Chronicle Editor
Fungai Muderere, Senior Sports Reporter
FORMER Castle Lager Premier Soccer League champions, Chicken Inn, yesterday engaged in a three-day strategic workshop where the club president Lifa Ncube underscored the need to make sure that their fine performances in the league translate to more fans coming to watch their matches.
Crowned Premier Soccer League champions in 2015, the Gamecocks have since 2016 finished their campaigns in top four and unfortunately the club has a thin fan base with just a handful of spectators attending the team’s home matches, except when they play against Highlanders, Dynamos and Caps United.
“Chicken Inn has been there for about 18 years. So, in these 18 years, we see that we haven’t really had sessions like these to plan for the future. I think initially when we came to the league, we didn’t have such expectations. We are one of the longest serving clubs in the league and we have been performing very well. So, all in an effort to try and plan for the long-term hence this strategic workshop,” said Ncube.
He added: “One of the most important things you would realise is that we have been playing very well, we have been in the top four for the past five seasons but that has not translated to more fans coming to watch us.
“So, we are hoping that by having this kind of a workshop we will also be able to attract more fans to come and watch our games. We want to work on our marketing side, we want to market the team. Yes, local people do know us but Chicken Inn is an international brand and as such we want to be known in the region. We have actually set up a marketing department headed by Trevor Jakachira who is our board member marketing. So, it’s one of those grey areas that as a club we are working on and we have gone further by having a long-term strategic plan to see what input we will require for us to be able to implement whatever marketing strategies.”
Workshop facilitator Teddy Chikondo of Team Consulting, highlighted that fan attendance has been negatively impacting the Premier Soccer League.
“One main thing is looking at where the future is concerned. A process like this (workshop) is all about looking at where the club is at right now, where it is coming from, where it wants to go in the next few years and what do they want to achieve. This will be the process that we will be walking with Chicken Inn in the next few days. I think one of the key things is that if you look around the PSL, the negative issue is low fan attendance. So, we are here to help Chicken Inn on how they would energise and organise the fan base. That is a key issue for any PSL club. So, we will look at the practical ways of energising the fan base because a football team is only as strong as its fans. We will help Chicken Inn on the ways to engage fans. I agreed to come and work with Chicken Inn because I like working with champions and I feel there is a lot that they can do to achieve their goals,” said Chikondo.
Besides Ncube, the workshop is also being attended by Gamecocks chairman Juta Tshuma, secretary- general Tavengwa Hara, board member development and logistics Makhanyiso Moyo, treasurer Nokuthaba Lisa Sibanda, administrator Clemence Matawu, board member marketing Jakachira and media officer Nkululeko Nkala.
Members of the technical department Joey “Mafero” Antipas, Prince Matore, team manager Sikhumbuzo “China” Banda and security officer Shepherd Mpofu are also in attendance.—@FungaiMuderere
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