It is a sad day for football to know that Black Leopards have been relegated to the third tier of South African football – the amateur ranks – ABC Motsepe League, following their pathetic performance that sees them rooted 16th in the Motsepe Foundation Championship standings this campaign with two rounds of fixtures to go.
To put it into context, Leopards have only recorded four wins, 10 draws and 14 losses in 28 league matches, collecting just 22 points! They've scored 20 and conceded 35 times! Surely, they got what they deserved, when you look at their numbers, some will say. It is difficult to make a case against such a school of thought because Lidoda Duvha were given the same number of games that Casric Stars, Cape Town Spurs and Polokwane City got. The difference in points between Leopards and the top three teams is over 30, which is staggering! This just goes to show Leopards couldn't slip any further down. You can't lose so many matches and expect to challenge for honours, let alone retain your place in the professional ranks. Leopards is one of the teams with a rich history in local football and they've produced a number of players, some of whom have gone on to make it big and reach greater heights. They've also given opportunities to resuscitate a lot of careers. To speak of them today as an amateur side is an indictment on South African football! They follow in the footstep of Jomo Cosmos and Santos FC, among others, who have gone and never came back from the lower divisions. When you look at how these three teams impacted South African football, the last thing anyone would have predicted for them would be playing in rough and unkempt football fields today.
There are lessons to be learned from these teams because their demotion from the elite league to then National First Division was not a one-day occasion. It was also not a mistake but a gradual process that was never taken care of. A process that was patient enough to give them an opportunity to either nip it in the bud or allow it to consume them eventually. Sadly, the latter prevailed! These teams started flirting with danger by finding themselves in the relegation zone, season after season, which was the football gods whispering in their ear that something was not right and that things needed to change. Unfortunately for them, no one cared to listen and they continued to flirt with danger almost every season until they eventually got relegated. Even after their first relegation, they hardly took the second-tier league by storm and showed reaction from their misfortune. You can't get demoted and not show any reaction by trying to bounce back immediately. Whenever you fail, the first thing people want to see is the reaction and that's the first step to dictate your next move. These teams, unfortunately, failed to react and just continued with life as if nothing was wrong with them playing in the lower division. The most unfortunate part about these teams is that there are those who seem to have made it their mission to take over from where the relegated and disappeared teams left off! It is like these teams are out to emulate the ills of those who came before them instead of learning from their mistakes.
You can't finish in the bottom half of the log for three seasons on the trot and you still don't hear the alarm bells ringing. Surely something must tell you it is time for a change! We've seen teams surviving relegation season after season and they don't change anything about their modus operandi, which is clearly not working. They continue to do the same things without changes and expect different results every campaign. It is sad when you look at the three teams' history, the players they've produced and the economic impact their relegation had in their communities. Football is not just about the players on the field. There are socioeconomic spin-offs that come with having a professional football in your community and when your team gets relegated, it is not just bad news for the owners and players but a whole lot of other people whose lives will be changed dramatically. The whole community feels it just like what Free State people are going through since the sale of Bloemfontein Celtic's status and relocation to KwaZulu-Natal. The old lady who was selling fruit and fat cakes now finds herself with nowhere else to go. That's why no one wants to see any club relegated because relegation is more than just football.
It goes deeper than what we see on the field of play. Sadly, when you don't learn from your mistakes or of those around you, when you ignore the football gods' whispers, they will eventually shout. When they shout, things turn nasty. This season, we see teams fighting relegation in the DStv Premiership and the worst part is the fact that no one is going through this experience for the first time. It is all familiar faces, doing what they did last season and the season before that! Everyone in that relegation battle has been there before, except for new clubs Marumo Gallants and Richards Bay FC. Do you then think we are ever going to stop lamenting the failure to learn from past mistakes? Are we ever going to stop talking about the failure to take stock by these teams? Surely someone is not listening to the whispers into their ears or they believe they are an exception to the rule. What will it take for these teams to learn from other teams' relegation and demise? When you look at the impact Jomo Cosmos had in our football, you can't help but feel sorry for what is going on with that team.
At one stage, Bafana Bafana boasted several Cosmos products, who were doing so well. Some of those players went on to represent the country in some of the top leagues in the world and Bafana was ranked among the top teams in the continent because of the value that was added by some of the former Cosmos players. Now Leopards have followed and the question is: Who's next? When you continue to see the same teams fighting relegation, you start to worry because someone is clearly not learning from the relegation mistakes of other teams. You can't be in the relegation zone every season and think you're on the right track. Your day will certainly come, just like many others before you. The unfortunate part is that it will not only affect you as the owner, management, staff or players but everyone around you and by extension, South African football at large. That's just the sad reality about it. Oh, by the way, the relegation of Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila FC makes it two teams from Thohoyandou to get the chop to the amateur ranks. Also, TTM is Bidvest Wits and therefore adding to the list of historic teams that have gone down and under! Such a shame for South African football and its history!
Cheers,
Veejay
