As fans flock to Esgodini SikaMaminzela (Orlando Stadium) to support their beloved Orlando Pirates, they are treated to the sweet sounds of Melody Miya's voice. The man who has been issued with the duty of bridging the gap between the players and their die-hard fans on matchdays.
If you have been to the Orlando Stadium in the last five years or so, you have probably sat under the energetic ushering of Miya's voice.
The multitalented Radio host, TV Personality, and Stadium announcer chats to Soccer Laduma about his role at the Buccaneers.
Melody, is it safe to call you the voice of Orlando Pirates. Because every time people flock to Orlando Stadium, the voice they hear is yours.
Well, I think it's still in the pipeline. Not there yet and I'll say because I'll always be the voice of the club and just representing what the club believes in as best as possible, but I can really say that in my heart it's definitely what we work towards to say the people will listen when we speak and as the one on the ground, they will listen as I command based on the club's visions.
How did your move to the club come about? People will remember you from UJ in your white suit and sharp shoes, where you have now graduated in a sense…
Yeah, definitely. I think the answer to that is passion. It's a passion for giving people an experience, it's the passion from the sport itself. I think it's also being very fortunate and blessed that somebody saw me and was like, we need this kind of energy at a bigger scale. And fortunately, I trained over the years long enough at university level to be able to come to the big stage and host. I think I've hosted about 7 Soweto Derbies now at full capacity and I guess it was always meant to be. It was just a blessing that it was for a team that I grew up supporting. I've never favoured any team except Pirates and for me to be at Pirates, it was the work of Thandi Merafe, the Media Officer. Of course, the club itself believing in a younger voice and today we have what we call one of the best stadium experiences in the country, if not Africa.
Your job off the field is almost as important as the players' job on the field, because before the players come out, there's you. You are the performer. You go onto the field and it's your 90 min. Do you see your role as important as that of the players?
I think my role is as important because there is a wall between the fans and the players because of how the system works, but my job isn't to take away from what the players really are, they are phenomenal. They do the big work. My job is to always water the soil that's already there. My job is to constantly look after the fans where we can. I mean, in the leadership of Thandi Merafe, my job is to always remind the fans that we're going to come back to keep the spirit going. Being a 13th or 12th man in football is not easy because being a 12th man means that when we win or lose, I still need to be able to say we remain what we are while the rest of the team is doing the other duties. So, I think it's really like being the meter. Without a meter, you can't get electricity. So, when the meter is there, you can connect electricity to the people who want to watch.
Is your job made more difficult when the team loses?
I'll give you an incident that happened, MTN8 semi-final and we were playing against [Mamelodi] Sundowns. The away side fans occupied the centre line for Pirates, and they know it's Pirates' centre line and in between they started throwing bottles whilst there were kids. I was able to walk and truly showcase why it's important to have a voice that can speak to the people. That's because I walked up to the guys, which is the away fans and home fans, and we're able to resolve it amicably, which saved us drama, saved us incidents, saved us being hurt and that's how important it is. It's in the times where things are not good that we fans are still willing to listen based on our respect and a mutual understanding that we are all in it together in support of the club - and we all need to carry the values of the club. So, I'll tell you it's not easy, it's absolutely not easy. But they also know that you are one of us and that always makes it easier for them to say, he's not at work alone. This man is here because he's also frustrated when we win and lose.
