Moroka Swallows are on a mission! The work they are currently doing to prepare for the new season is a clear indication of that. From bringing in Steve Komphela as coach, to securing the services of Andile Jali, and then teaming up with a new technical sponsor, the Dube Birds are most certainly flying high and there is an air of optimism among the fanbase. The man driving the ship, David Mogashoa, has gone through a lot with the club, but can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. In this interview with Soccer Laduma's Tshepang Mailwane, the softspoken chairman talks about the club's name change, their partnership with Drip, signing so-called Bad Boys, and more…
Tshepang Mailwane: Chairman, a lot has been happening at your club in recent weeks. Let's start with the club being renamed Moroka Swallows…
David Mogashoa: The name change has always been there. We just needed to resolve the outstanding old Moroka Swallows issues before we could make an application with the PSL. There was never a point where FIFA said we can't use the name, and there was no one restricting us from using the name. Since we got banned for the old issues, we decided that we might as well use the name. That's why we made an application with the PSL to use the name because the issues that got us banned were settled. We paid those. Remember it was players who were owed from 2014 during Leon Prins' days. But that matter was settled. We had to pay those things. There was no way FIFA could lift the ban, so we had to pay. So, we didn't want to waste money arguing – we just paid and moved on.
TM: How did that set you back?
DM: It did set us back and it affected us a lot because it's something that we did not budget for. It added to our other issues, so we now had to find money to pay for things we did not even know. So, it did set us back, but I'm glad it's over and done with and it's out of the way.
TM: How delighted do you think supporters will be now that they can use the word 'Moroka' in front of Swallows?
DM: For the fans, I think it means a lot. It was Swallows FC and when someone said Moroka Swallows, they would get corrected. So, now you can never be wrong because whether you say Moroka Swallows or Swallows, you are still correct. It means a lot for the fans, and I think it will bring a lot of them back, those who didn't want to come to the stadiums. But now because Moroka Swallows is fully back, they can come to the stadium and have fun with the other supporters.
TM: Another one of your announcements was that of Drip as your new technical sponsor to replace Umbro. How did that come about?
DM: To be honest, the Drip one has been going on for about two years now. We have been talking, but it was not, like, serious formal meetings. We were just having casual conversations. We were still contracted (to Umbro) because when we started, we signed a four-year agreement with Umbro. The agreement came to an end on June 30, so that's when we realised that we still have an open conversation with Drip. Drip is an exciting product that has been run by a young, successful, black businessman, so I thought it would make sense for Swallows to collaborate with Drip and then make sure we grow together. Drip is still young and Swallows also just came back four years ago, so it makes sense that we grow together.
TM: How long will the relationship be?
DM: The relationship is going to be for three years, with an option for renewing for another three years. They supply us with official match kit – home, away and alternative. They give us sportswear and they are going to give us lifestyle (clothing). So, you will be seeing a lot of our players with Drip all the time because it's sports and lifestyle. So, they are giving us everything. And in addition to that, they've got stores all over the country, so they can sell the merchandise through their stores, whereas with Umbro we had to buy the merchandise and then try to sell it ourselves … and that's not our business. We are not in the business of selling merchandise. So, with Drip, it makes sense because they can sell it from their outlets.
TM: So, wait! You had to buy and sell your kit?
DM: So, it was a sponsorship where they sponsored the club with kit, but it had replicas linked to it. So, the supporters' merchandise, the club has to purchase that merchandise and then resell it.
TM: That's strange!
DM: It was something that was not working for us because you are now focusing on this merchandise target that you have. It was definitely not working because the focus now had to move to merchandise. We had to sell merchandise to make sure that we reached our agreements. And remember, this was an agreement that was done in 2019 when we just revived the club. In hindsight, I wouldn't have done the same agreement in the PSL (topflight). That's why with the Drip agreement, it's totally different.
TM: You've secured a technical sponsor, but what about the main sponsor to display on the front of the jerseys?
DM: There is progress. We are actually in talks with two companies, so we are hoping one of them will come through before the end of September. When you deal with corporates, there is a lot of back and forth, until you finalise. But there are two companies we are talking to.
TM: Why did you agree to signing Andile Jali and Dumisani Zuma?
DM: I agreed because we are in a season of what we call a rebirth. We've got the name Moroka Swallows back and we are restarting after the big issues we had. You know that we had a lot of financial issues that were brought by the failure to get the sponsor that we had actually secured but the PSL rejected (Telkom). Those issues are all out of the way and we are now planning forward. With the new season, we have a budget that we have set to make sure that we don't run into those difficulties. We are now going to have a small squad of under 28 players. We won't have more than 28 players, so that frees up our budget. That's why we decided that we need to get two key players who are going to assist us, especially in the middle of the park. Andile Jali was a player we identified because he was not attached to any club. There was no need for us to go find money to buy him out. He was a free player, so it made sense for us to speak to Jali's camp and make sure that we bring him on board. Also, when Zuma became available… he's a player I actually wanted before he went to AmaZulu FC, but by then I don't think the timing was right. Now the timing is right for him to come because we've dealt with most of our issues. I don't see us having any issues.
TM: Was there no competition from other clubs for Jali?
DM: There was a lot of competition, I must be honest. I think what came through for me here is the relationship I have with Mike Makaab because I've got a few of his players and we've worked well together since the club came back. There was an understanding and there is a level of trust between Mike and I. When we say we are going to do something, we do it. We did negotiate, but it was tough negotiations because I had cut him down, like, big time to make sure that we achieved our goal of bringing Andile Jali in. We brought him for two years. It's one (year), with an option of another season.
TM: By 'cut him down', what do you mean?
DM: In terms of his (financial) expectations. Remember, he comes from (Mamelodi) Sundowns and Sundowns players get paid a lot of signing-on fees and all those other figures that people can't afford. That's why sometimes it becomes difficult to sign a Sundowns player. But I made him understand that it's Sundowns and we don't have a sponsor, but the vision is to rebuild the club and attract sponsors. Once those are in place, we can come in the second season and see what we can do with the contract in terms of renegotiating.
TM: Just to be clear, the interest in Jali started only when coach Steve Komphela arrived?
DM: Yes, it started when coach Steve arrived, you are correct. Remember, we had coach Musa (Nyatama) who was going to take over the club going forward, but Andile was not in coach Musa's plans. Coach Musa might have mentally thought of him, but he might have thought that the budget might be too high. There are players that you might assume cost an arm and a leg, but when you actually speak to the player, you realise that they don't cost as much as expected. So, maybe coach Musa thought that he would cost a lot of money, so he thought maybe he should not even talk about it. But when we brought in coach Steve, we sat down with him and took him through the club, from 2019 up to today, and we told him where we want the club to be. He mentioned certain players he would want to work with, but he didn't even go much into detail about Andile. Then, I was the one who said I wanted to bring Andile because I know that he worked well with coach Steve. Coach Steve said, "I did not want to talk about Andile because people will say he is now bringing his son." So, when we actually signed Andile, I phoned coach Steve and said, "I am reuniting you with your son." But he had expressed that Andile was someone he'd like to work with.
TM: Both players have had their off-field behaviour called into question. Did you, at any point, consider this before you signed them?
DM: A few things. Number one, I also read, like you, in the papers that there were issues with the players, but it's not something I've witnessed. Number two, I believe these players now are mature and they know you can't keep messing up. Thirdly, I believe coach Steve can work with these players. He's worked with them before and he understands the issues. And these are adults that we cannot say they can't indulge (in alcohol) now and again. You might find that a player had something to drink on a Sunday and when he went to training, there was still a little bit of alcohol in his body, not that he was drunk … and then gets punished for something that happened a day before. So, I'm not the type to punish people for living their life, as long as their deliverables are there on the field. As long as they deliver, and we can see what they are doing on the field, how they live their life has got absolutely nothing to do with the club. As long as you do your job. These are adults. They are not below-age kids that you need to monitor and police.
TM: What have you seen from the coach so far to give you hope?
DM: What I've seen from the coach and what gives me comfort is that I've seen how he works with coach Musa, which is something I was worried about because coach Musa had hopes that he would be the head coach going into the new season. He works very well with coach Musa and coach (Ditheko) Mototo. You can see that these are people who want to win things for the club. Looking at how he conducts his training, you can tell that this is a highly experienced coach, and the players are saying that. They can see his experience and you see that we are going to play with a very good structure and we are going to play entertaining football. I think we will compete and our supporters will get to see the Swallows that they once saw many years ago.
TM: Tell us more about how coach Musa has handled the situation.
DM: I'm not saying this to make coach Musa to sound like he is a good person, but he has taken it well and he has taken it as something that he is going to learn from. He also appreciates the fact that the club will assist him to further his studies in terms of coaching. He wants to work and learn from coach Steve, and you can see in his body language that this is someone who has just not agreed for the sake of it, but he wants to learn from coach Steve. So, I'm very happy with that.
TM: Any mandates?
DM: In terms of titles this season, there are no mandates. But coach Steve is a coach who wants to win, but in terms of where the club must finish… coach Musa finished in eighth position and he does not have the coaching badges that coach Steve has. So, we expect coach Steve to finish higher than position eight. It wouldn't be nice to fight relegation with a highly experienced coach and highly experienced players. The only mandate he has is that he must make sure that he finishes in a better position, and then we can start looking at the trophies.
