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During an interview on 083 Sports @ 6 with Robert Marawa, presenter Mpho Maboi made an interesting observation.
She was interviewing Sinky “Twalaza” Mnisi, a director at newly promoted club Highlands Park.
As the loquacious Mnisi swore on the bones of his ancestors that “Highlands Park was not for sale today, tomorrow or ever”, Maboi asked what would happen if somebody came along with the “right offer”.
Mnisi was adamant that it wouldn’t be sold, to which Maboi added, rather nonchalantly, that “everybody has a price”.
This statement got me thinking.
It brought back memories of how the Mpumalanga Black Aces sale caught some of us off-guard. Oh! By the way, they have already been baptised Cape Town City – even before the 2016/17 season is upon us.
As we speak, there is speculation swirling around that Maritzburg United, and to some extent Baroka FC – who got straight promotion from the National First Division to the Absa Premiership – have at some stage found themselves in the same position Mnisi was in this week. That is, denying rumours of an imminent sale.
As a cub reporter, it was hammered into my head that there is no smoke without fire, especially in football circles.
However, that’s a subject for another day.
The talk that Moroka Swallows are on the verge of buying either a Premiership or National First Division status after being relegated to the ABC Motsepe League, is some chow for that organ of soft nervous tissue in the skull of vertebrates.
Already some, including Bafana Bafana coach Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba, have said that if The Dube Butcher Birds bought a status, they would no longer be the same team that was born in 1947.
And therein lies the rub.
Given that football has become a roaring business, is there still room for emotional attachment? Can the people of Dube still claim or even sustain Swallows?
Kaizer Chiefs are – or were – known as The Phefeni Boys, but do they still belong to the people of Phefeni?
Can Orlando East residents still claim Orlando Pirates as their own?
Does AmaZulu still relate to being Abafana BaseMbelebeleni?
I believe the answers to the above questions will all be negative.
While one might think it is wrong for a club called Mpumalanga – a name that resonates with the people of the province in which it is based – to find themselves with a name prefixed by Cape, money will always enjoy a very loud voice.
There is a saying that money talks, while something that tends to have a pungent smell walks.
As a confessed romantic, and we tend to be nostalgic, I would love to see clubs stay in the community in which they were founded.
But those with business minds will argue that emotions and business do not mix.
I would love to argue that football is a different business as a lot of emotions are involved. I mean, people get so attached to clubs that when you hear them speak about them, you would swear that they own them. They use possessive words such as “my”, “our” and “we” when referring to them. Nothing emphasises an emotional relationship better than those words.
One of the oft advanced arguments when bemoaning the absence of spectators from stadiums is that our clubs are no longer as community based as those in, say, England.
Many other arguments are also advanced. But I know of people who will rush to quote the Bard – Shakespeare – on this matter and say: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
By the way, to answer Maboi’s question: I think Highlands Park owners would sell if the right price came along.
Follow me on Twitter @Sbu_Mseleku
