East Cape faces another soccer drought after demise of Bay United

THE Eastern Cape is about to face yet another soccer drought after the relegation of Bay United from the Absa Premiership. Umlilo follow in the footsteps of Blackpool and Michau Warriors who survived only one season in top-flight football in the 1990s, never to be heard of again. With the possibility of Umlilo being sold comes the likelihood of the club moving out of the province.
I recently had the pleasure of having a lengthy chat with NMB Safa president Johnson Kula – a man who is very passionate about the region‘s football. Umlilo‘s troublesome season in the PSL was our main topic of discussion. We agreed fully on some of the main reasons the club failed over the past season.
A lack of financial backing proved to be a major factor in the downward spiral of one of the clubs which arguably had the most potential. The metro‘s business people failed to come to the party and support the only professional Eastern Cape soccer side. They took a back seat and watched cautiously from a distance.
The lack of financial muscle meant no quality players in the squad. Truth be told, as much as the players did try their utmost best, Khabo Zondo had little quality and depth to withstand the arduous top league in the country. Only money can get the best players.
It was also no secret that the club and the local municipality never saw eye to eye on a number of issues. The most controversial being the issue of the stadium, as Umlilo had no home to really call their own.
“I have, on a number of occasions, had to be the middle-man when it came to ironing out the differences between the club and the municipality. Unfortunately, on most occasions the parties could not reach consensus,” said Kula.
According to the Safa NMB president, deputy mayor Bicks Ndoni was one man who offered his unconditional support and saw a need for co-operation, but this was not to be.
One would also point a finger at the municipality for failing the thousands of fans who had supported Umlilo at Kwazakhele‘s Wolfson Stadium. In the days prior to gaining promotion it was already clear that the stadium would not be fit for the PSL. There had been ample time for the municipality to rectify the problem, and take the club back to its people.
Some of the so-called big guns in the metro‘s business sector, who flocked to the suites at the EPRU Stadium, did no favours to the budget of the club. It was brought to my knowledge that the majority of these men and women would refuse to pay for entry into the stadium, bombarding the club‘s personnel with phone calls wanting free tickets to the suites. With this kind of treatment, how could anyone have expected the club to survive?
Should Umlilo remain in Port Elizabeth, one would hope that these problems are solved before the club makes its way back into top- flight football again.