The Free State province – Bloemfontein, to be precise – played host to Marumo Gallants playing against Mamelodi Sundowns in the first fixture of the Nedbank Cup Last 16, in the first of the two games the Limpopo-based Marumo decided to play in the professional football-forsaken city, so far!
Gallants have adopted Bloemfontein as one of their alternative grounds or Bloemfontein has adopted the Limpopo-based side and agreed to accommodate them in their football starved city. This is a move that has seen a resurrection of professional football in the City of Roses, which has not enjoyed regular professional football since the demise of their favourite club, Bloemfontein Celtic, whose DStv Premiership status was sold to Royal AM and relocated to the Coast. The vociferous Celtic supporters came out in numbers on Thursday night to remind South Africa of what they are missing, reminding us of what used to be and reminding us what we used to have. For a Thursday evening game, most DStv Premiership teams would give an arm and a leg to have such a vibey and packed audience in their games and it didn't matter who they were playing against, Gallants – for as long as they take games to Bloemfontein – are guaranteed more than just decent crowds. This is a move that the passionate and football-crazy people of Mangaung and surrounding areas will be hoping becomes permanent. No disrespect to the Polokwane and Rustenburg people who have been rallying behind "Bahlabane Ba Ntwa", who have been playing their games between the two cities until the recent move to bring football back to Bloemfontein.
One has to commend Chairman, Abram Sello, and his management team for quenching the thirst of the people of Free State by expanding their fanbase to that part of the country and, by extension, bringing them football matches to look forward to. This has brought so much life back to, not only Free State, but the whole of South Africa and the football fraternity. We really saw some emotional scenes from Bloemfontein with the passion we seldom see and something we've really missed since Chairman, Max Tshabalala, sold his team! Thank you, Chairman, for choosing Bloemfontein and giving them their life back, albeit for a short while. You've really quenched the football thirst of our people. If that game against Sundowns didn't inspire or encourage anyone to bring football back to Bloemfontein, nothing ever will. If no one saw the need to make a plan for people from Bloemfontein to have their own professional team back in the elite league, nothing will ever demonstrate their hunger for the Beautiful Game.
As passionate as these people are, they know their story and they know their rights. If the move was not done properly, without their consent, Gallants would play in front of empty seats with their games boycotted. This is a bunch of supporters that you can't mess around with because they are not stupid. A word of gratitude should also go to the important members of the Beautiful Game, the supporters, from in and around Free State for coming out in numbers to justify our calls for something to be done to bring them professional football back. No one can argue against that noble call. No one can question their dedication and commitment to the cause. No one can doubt their support and no one can even question the call to revive Celtic because our football has never been the same since we last had that team in the league. There's just no one like them and that's a fact! It has been a long while since they last convened at a stadium to watch football and one can only imagine what they've been going through, and are still going through, without having a DStv Premiership side. They must have been suffering from a lot of depression since watching their club evaporate into thin air right in front of their eyes when they couldn't do anything about it. These are not your average football supporters who are happy to watch football from the comfort of their homes. Celtic supporters want to be at the stadium and they would do so seven days a week if there were games to attend every day. These are football fanatics, not just fair-weather supporters.
They are gold when it comes to supporting football and should always be treated as such. Nothing and no one can replace Celtic because of the commitment the supporters have to their favourite team. Here's hoping that the government officials that we saw involved and in full support of the move to bring football back to Bloemfontein, will pull out all the stops to ensure that there is a permanent solution to the injustice of Bloemfontein people not having a team. There is only one solution and that's to ensure that there is an elite team based in Mangaung and that will go a long way in giving life back to the best football supporters this country has ever seen! The fact that even Free State Stars had to fold and sell their status to Casric FC didn't help at all and paints a bleak picture about the football state of affairs in that part of the country. To see two of the teams that played such an important history in South African football go down is heart-breaking and means history doesn't seem to matter at all.
These are institutions that should be protected with everything because they are not just about the 90 minutes on the field, they create employment, contribute towards the socio- and economic wellbeing of the people and ensure that even the entrepreneurs have something to do, with the unemployed getting a chance to make ends meet. When a team folds, not only the players and coaches are affected, it affects everyone. It was so emotional to see the Celtic supporters in full voice, bringing back the good old days. They sang their lungs out as if they'd not been in the football wilderness for so long. To hear the Siwelele song again, after seasons of absence, was so good, but to hear the new Marumo songs composed Godknows- when, was just great! That's just how passionate and creative these people are about the game. That's exactly what we've been missing in the game and South African football hasn't been the same without Celtic! That's so obvious and if anyone doubted this fact, look no further than Thursday evening's activities in Bloemfontein. We need Bloemfontein Celtic back in the Premier League! That's why government and all the other stakeholders need to come together and make something happen for the people of Bloemfontein. The emotion, hunger and passion we saw on those supporters' faces was just priceless! It was goosebumps stuff that can never be scripted! This is what the Beautiful Game is all about and this is what we need. Surely something can be done to resuscitate professional football in the Free State, especially Bloemfontein! Hela Yalo!!!
On a separate note, it is with a great deal of pleasure that we announce the readiness of our new stadium. We would like to invite you to make your way into the new match venue we've been telling you about for months now. The grass is in immaculate condition and the players are raring to go. Our digital platform, SNL24, went live on Monday and this is where you will be getting more content on soccer, news and lifestyle. This is not going to take anything away from your hardcopy but rather an extension of our footprint and presence in the digital space. Please turn to page 9 for more information. We hope to see you there, soon.
Cheers,
Veejay
