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Football has lost its soul
09/10/2007 12:48 - (SA)
George Dearnaley
I read an article recently on Roy Keane's thoughts on the game.
The feisty one was philosophical in his outlook, but believes that football has lost its soul. His main concern, in fact the one that seemed to make his blood boil and his rage manifest, was that there were too many people playing the game who didn't love it. He found it inconceivable that a player could go on to the field and not love what he was doing.
My thoughts drifted to the local football scene, and I asked the question, "Do we have players in our league who don't love the game?"
I see the kids on the school fields, and I see how hard so many of our amateurs train for a shot at making it in the PSL.
Would you train so hard if you didn't love it?
I've seen players training in the dark, on the side of busy roads, with makeshift goals and an old football. I have to assume that these players love the game.
I've seen over-age and over-weight has-beens chugging around on cold Wednesday nights trying to string two passes together. They do it because the love it, and they love the team spirit and the banter (and a few ice cold beers in the pub afterwards!)
I then made a mental note of watching as much PSL football over the week to see what happens at the highest level.
Positive
Apart from a lack of real quality, I am confident that the players are passionate about the game, that they put maximum effort into the game, and that they respect what the game is giving them.
I haven't asked every player in the PSL if they love football, but I'm sure that the majority will answer in the positive.
I know that I love football. I loved playing it, and I still enjoy kicking a ball around with mates, and I love watching it. I loved training and I loved learning the game. I didn't love being injured, and after six knee operations I have suffered more than most, but I know it was all part of the game.
There are some things you don't have to love, but the 'concept' of football, the tactical and technical battles, the glory of a well struck shot, or fantastic flying save, a great last gasp sliding tackle, a 40m diagonal pass that splits a defence, a small one-on-one duel between a small fast skilful winger and a big lumbering giant defender, these are the things that all make the game great.
So I asked myself, "If all these things make football great, why do we only have 200 people watching Thanda Royal Zulu versus Ajax in a PSL match?
Top flight
Why were there only 20 people at a local first division match between Ikapa Sporting FC and Maritzburg United? 20 people!
That's less than the number of players on the field in a match only one division lower than our top flight!
I think the reason is similar to Keano's, but different.
I think the sad truth about local football is that there are too many officials who love the money of football, but who don't care about the game.
They are too busy earning their massive commissions to care that no-one goes to games anymore. They don't care that the fields are in poor condition, that the toilets at some stadiums don't work and that supporters would rather stay in the comfort of their homes and watch the game on TV.
No footballer can perform at his best in front of an empty stadium. So their performance drops, the entertainment level drops, fewer people go to the matches and the cycle repeats itself.
Overhaul
We need a complete overhaul of the people responsible for the well-being of the game in South Africa. We need a combination of football lovers and clever business people. We need to focus on development and football education. We have a great opportunity to get things right using the 2010 tournament as a launch pad, but we will have lost the soul of the game if we don't make changes soon.
I was impressed that Minister Trevor Manuel had a go at some of our soccer officials.
It's high time some "heavyweight" senior people had a go, and even better that it is the one in the country with the best business brain.
But we need action not words.
I'm tired of being called "unpatriotic" by ignorant local football fans who couldn't tell the difference between Vosloorus and Princess Magogo stadiums, because my columns focus on English Premiership football.
Perhaps I am losing my love of local football because I see too many of the problems on a day to day basis.
It's time for change.
George is the associate publisher of Kick Off magazine and represented South Africa during the 1994 World Cup qualifiers.
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