The 2023/24 DStv Premiership campaign is upon us, finally! It has been a long and boring off-season without football, now we all look forward to our weekly dose of the Beautiful Game. Until the FIFA Women's World Cup started, we had very little to do with all the time in our hands. Our weekends were not the same at all, but that's all about to change, with the new season starting this Friday when the Nedbank Cup finalists, Sekhukhune United, host defending champions, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Like every new season, one has expectations and an idea of what needs to be done to take our game to the next level. A new season isn't just about new kits and new signings, but it is about getting better than the previous campaign and ensuring stability within every team. If the 2023/24 season is to be among the best, if not the best, DStv Premiership seasons, a couple of things need to change. Let's look at five things that will elevate our game and make this a memorable season.
Number one: Attendance figures. Guys, as a football-loving nation, a country that is madly in love with football as an outright number one sport, there is massive room for improvement in our attendance figures because our football passion doesn't match the attendance numbers we see in most of our games. Some of our teams are playing in front of relatively empty stadiums and that can't be right, especially for a country that prides itself on its passion for the Beautiful Game. If there was a positive from last season, it has to be the improved crowds because the supporters really came in their numbers but only for a select few games and teams. We need to do the same across the board and that would augur well for our football. As important as footballers are, the supporters' role can't be over-emphasised because they have such an important role to play. The game is not the same without the supporters and if we are to improve our football, our attendance figures must improve so that we create a wonderful atmosphere for the players to perform. Let's all make a commitment to attending at least, as a starting point, 50% of the games played in your neighbourhood and recruit others to join you. We need to improve our numbers.
Number two: Entertainment. For our people to continue going to the stadium, there has to be value for their hard-earned money. People don't want to go to the stadium for just 90 minutes, they want it to be an outing. There has to be entertainment that will keep them occupied for as long as two hours before the game. That way, we will be creating an event atmosphere rather than just a football match. It is important for clubs to provide entertainment so that people rid themselves of the tendency of arriving 10 minutes before the game and try to force their way into the match venue, creating unnecessary security risk and delays to kick-off. With entertainment, football lovers will have a reason to arrive at the stadium hours before kick-off because there is something to look forward to. They can even bring their families because they are not going to be bored for hours on end before the start of the match. It is important to ensure that there is something for the supporters to look forward to on the entertainment front. That will go a long way in whetting the appetite of football supporters and ensuring more people attend games, as they will be killing two birds with one stone – entertainment and football. At the end of the day, football matches should be like a festival event, not just a 90-minute affair, so that we can create a proper and conducive atmosphere for great football.
Number three: Boo Boys. We need get rid of these people in our game, period! When you see a fellow supporter booing their own player, please reach out to them and ask them to stop because they need that same player to create magic for their team. There is no place for Boo Boys in our game because they are counterproductive. They are hooligans masquerading as supporters! If we are to create a hostile environment, it has to be for the opposition and not your own players. If you think about it, these people make it uncomfortable to bring our families to the games due to the fear of the unknown. Without Boo Boys, there will be no fights and hooliganism at our stadiums. That's more reason we have to nip booing in the bud. By so doing, we will be creating a welcoming atmosphere where people can easily bring their families to the stadium, just like it is the case with rugby and cricket. At the moment, people are reluctant to bring their families to football matches because it is not always safe. If we discourage the Boo Boys and hooliganism, our stadiums will become a safe space for everyone without anyone feeling their lives are in danger. We do that, our football matches and the experience of going to the stadium will never be the same again! We won't have men going to the stadium alone, leaving their families watching matches on television. We need to encourage a culture of taking our families to the stadiums, but to do that, we need to rid our game of the Boo Boys and hooligans.
Number four: Foreigners. Yes, granted, this is a sensitive subject, but it has to be said. Foreign players that are brought to our DStv Premiership, by the different clubs, need to stand up and be counted this season. We need to see why these teams went beyond our borders in search of these talents. They need to play their part in uplifting our football so that it becomes better than they found it. No foreigner should come here and become a benchwarmer and be happy about it. They must be in the starting line-up and prove to us why they are here. That's the least we can expect from them. At the end of the day, for our teams to bring them, it must only mean that player is better than what we already have in the country. If our own players are playing ahead of the imports, then something is not right. If we can't have all the imports playing an important role in their respective teams, then having most of them ranking among the top performers will justify their recruitment. Once again, for us to go beyond our borders in search of talent, we must bring something we don't have or something much better than what we already have.
Number five: Youngsters. More and more younger players promoted to the senior team. That way, the team's future will be secured and South African football will progress. These players shouldn't just be promoted for the sake of it but must be played as well. We need to see more young players in the senior teams, playing an important role. There are teams doing it already, but not enough is being done to introduce and play younger players season after season. If you look at most of our teams' squad average age, it isn't where it should be. There are a number of deserving youngsters that should be given a chance. Here's to hoping that the 2023/24 campaign will see more youngsters gracing our fields and refreshing our football. Imagine if we had three or four 18-year-olds as regulars in coach Hugo Broos' Bafana Bafana? It starts at club level and then these players amass 50 international caps before they even reach 25 years. Once that happens, then we will know that our football is on the right track. For now, let the games begin!
Cheers,
VeeJay
