Amakhosi riding high with panache

By Omoseye Bolaji

Kaizer Chiefs, Amakhosi, the most glamorous and exalted football club in South Africa, has wrapped up the premiership title of the country – this after a dearth of triumphs spanning some 8 years.

Put into some sort of context, we can imagine a club like Manchester United (England) not winning their league for some eight years; or Spain’s Barcelona or Real Madrid going through the same dry spell. England’s Arsenal, formerly the “Invincibles”, continue to be criticized every time for not lifting the title in England for almost ten years now.

Here in South Africa, Chiefs fans are as glamorous as their club, volatile, seething, always seeking victory whether it be in the Cups or the league. Hence their latest premiership success is being celebrated flamboyantly and nationally; Amakhosi has supporters throughout the length and breadth of the country, in all the towns and Provinces.

The founder of the Club, Kaizer Motaung, a superb footballer in his heyday (during apartheid) has built a footballing legacy with his children and family very much involved in the running of the club, its recruitment and progress. Sponsors are full to the brim; needless to say the club is well loaded and can afford to recruit fine footballers and coaches from many parts of the world. Stuart Baxter, who led the club to its latest league success, is a man with a fair pedigree in international football.

Every country more or les has its own national league, and a few like Brazil, have convoluted national and State, provincial and “local” leagues that seem to go on interminably. The Nigerian league has been well established for many decades and has its own lustre. The league has produced many stars over the years, with the likes of Sunday Mbah – who very much helped the Eagles to the trophy at the latest Africa Cup of nations – continuously being churned out.

Of course Nigerian players plying their trade overseas are countless now, whether they are established in their clubs or largely ensconced on the bench in their respective clubs as it were. Nigeria can probably pick up to four, five different national squads which would be competitive. One must not bemoan the fact that so many young players, after playing briefly in the Nigerian leagues then try their luck overseas; it is the same in many parts of the world, especially South America.

But back to national leagues, premierships, or first divisions as they used to be called. It is natural to always look back at the past with rose-tinted spectacles. Many Nigerian football fans continue to relish the “good old days” of wonderful football clubs like Enugu Rangers, 3SC Shooting Stars, New Nigerian Bank, Stationary Stores, Abiola Babes, Iwuanyanwu National etc. That was a few decades ago.

And the clubs then dished out wonderful players and names over the decades who put Nigerian football on the map. Christian Chukwu, Adokiye Amiesimaka, Felix Owolabi, Henry Nwosu, Alloysius Atuegbu, Segun Odegbami, Muda Lawal, the Okala brothers (goalkeepers), Stephen Keshi, Rashidi Yekini, Samson Siasia, Daniel Amokachi, Yisa Sofoluwe – the list is endless. Then the initial trickle of players going overseas became a voluminous stream. But the national league will continue to be strong in its own fashion, as new talent is uncovered.

Now in the current era Nigerian football teams are still very much turning it on, with fine teams like Heartland, Kano Pillars, Gombe Utd, Bayelsa Utd, Nemba City, Enyimba, Kwara United and Warri Wolves. Others include Sunshine stars, dolphins, Akwa Utd, Kaduna Utd, Lobi Stars, Sharks, and El-kanemi.

Incidentally, west African football is still very much influenced by European, especially English football, which most Nigerian soccer followers are experts on. Note again how in Ghana some of their elite clubs have names synonymous with English equivalents, like Chelsea, and Arsenals

Many clubs, even in Africa, are becoming more and more cosmopolitan these days, especially Egyptian and South African leagues. Kaizer Chiefs for example recruits players from all over the continent, and some of the best locally. The SA league is very powerful by African standards with excellent sponsorships; hence the bigger clubs like Chiefs can remain competitive every time. In fact just last weekend, Chiefs again won the SA Nedbank Cup, more or less the equivalent of the English FA Cup. 

Congratulations to them over their latest grand successes!