Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
LOYALTY!
Some footballers have forged relationships with their clubs to an extent that it becomes difficult to think of them without referring to the teams they once played for.
Talk of Madinda Ndlovu and Highlanders, Moses Chunga and Dynamos, Real Madrid and Raul, Paul Scholes and Manchester United.
The list is endless. These players ate, slept, and breathed their teams. If you would cut them they would bleed the color of their teams.
In most recent memory, Highlanders hated the sight of Murape Murape but one thing they envied was his passion and zeal when it came to Dynamos. It is not surprising that he had taken a pay cut to join Dynamos from Real Betis Academy just to serve DeMbare.
Being loyal to a team is one trait that either spells doom or success in a player’s career. Having a passion and an unconditional affinity to a club has of late appeared to be something that belongs in the past.
One question that always arises is, is it about loyalty or money?
Picture this: Back in the day, in particular in the 1970s and well into the early 1990s, players in Zimbabwe earned next to nothing from their team. Many of them eked out a living from day jobs. Football was a passion, more of a pastime. Loyalty was a big deal. You played for a team that you loved.
Years on, when the game became a huge business, things changed. Now players look for the bucks and suck at being loyal. Loyalty belongs to the dustbin, as some players would confirm. It used to exist back in the day when football was not “a real profession.”
Back in the day, it used to be criminal and unheard of for a player to move from Highlanders to Dynamos or vice versa, Caps United to Dynamos or Vice Versa. However, society is beginning to warm up to the moves.
Players no longer have allegiance to their clubs, clubs appear to have lost interest in being devoted to their players and fans have lost their voice during matches! But every fan still expects a player, who dons the jersey of the team that they support, to be 100 percent loyal to the club.
A lot is often said when a player moves from one club to another, but no investigation is carried out into the reasons for such departures. Football is now a profession and loyalty only works two ways. The player and the club must all reach a common understanding to create a healthy relationship.
“In modern-day football the only people who can talk of loyalty are the fans. Players nowadays take football as full-time employment and if they move it doesn’t mean they are not loyal, it’s just a matter of a new opportunity arising.
“I will give you an example. Everyone knows Patrick Vieira is an Arsenal legend and that is not questionable. But did he not start his coaching career at Manchester City? Is he now not the head coach at Crystal Palace? Does that then mean he is not loyal to Arsenal?
“Even when he does his interviews he is not shy to tell you his heart is with Arsenal though he is now employed elsewhere. It’s all about opportunity nowadays but that cannot mean one is not loyal to a certain club because an opportunity has arisen elsewhere,” said Zimbabwe football legend, Zenzo Moyo.
Godfrey Paradza, the former Zimbabwe Saints player who broke into the first team when he was 17, also weighed in on the matter.
“Today football is full-time employment. It is now difficult to have Willard Khumalo at Highlanders and Moses Chunga at Dynamos because the boys that are now playing football live from it. This is what brings food to the table. Even if they are loyal to a club that can only be maintained by the boys getting their dues. It’s now up to the clubs to live up to their promises and give the players.”
Roy Cele, who broke into the Highlanders senior team that had the likes of Methembe Ndlovu, the late Lewis Kutinyu, Thulani ‘Biya’ Ncube, Simon ‘Makwe’ Sibanda and the late star midfielder, Benjamin Nkonjera, also had a say on the matter.
“These boys now have agents who are out there to make money. If a better offer comes they don’t hesitate to have a player move. There are some clubs even if you get peanuts but if you play for Highlanders and Dynamos your profile grows big in no time. But right now l can tell you they are players who would rather not play for the two clubs because they can be offered better elsewhere.
“It doesn’t mean that these players do not have either of the two sides in their hearts but it’s all about placing food on the table. If you look at the Dynamos team right now? It has boys from Bulawayo who wanted to play for Highlanders but because opportunity arose elsewhere and they moved,” said Cele.
For professional footballers, football is their job and the club is their employer. There is no two ways about it. Pay up or they leave. – @innocentskizoe.
Online Reporter