Grobbelaar lucky charm for the cash-strapped Matabeleland’s upstarts
THE Matabeleland soccer team’s dramatic, crowd-funded journey from a dirt field to becoming stars of the sport’s alternative World Football Cup is a mighty contrast with the upcoming billion-dollar bonanza of Russia 2018.
The Zimbabwean side won hearts at the London-held tournament for football’s outsiders, thanks to their infectious joy at simply being there – made possible by a shoestring budget of crowd-funding and donations.
But as they head home yesterday, the team hopes it was not the pinnacle of their journey but the first step in reinvigorating a region ravaged under the rule of deposed president Robert Mugabe.
Matabeleland beat Sri Lankan side Tamil Eelam 1-0 on Saturday to finish 13th in the 16-team Conifa World Football Cup, an alternative tournament for unrecognised nations, small states and ethnic identities left outside the game’s governing body Fifa.
Fuelled by team spirit, with traditional singing and dancing turning their games into carnivals, the side also had some star power to call on, as former Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar helped out with coaching duties.
But the Matabeleland Football Confederacy (MFC) has literally no money: their effort was entirely built on donations and crowd-funding.
“We had two balls, a dirt field and a handful of cones,” said Matabeleland’s unpaid English coach, manager, agent and kit washer Justin Walley, 47, of the time he got on board in October last year. “People have said we have won the tournament, in many ways.”
Their grassroots story of amateur endeavour is a timely antidote before the Fifa World Cup extravaganza in Russia. Their return flights to London cost around $18 000 (R235 504); the visas were $5 000, while $7 000 has gone on running costs since October. Their stay in the tournament’s suburban hotel was covered during the competition but the team arrived a day early and stayed on for Sunday night, eating up a few more thousand dollars.
“We’re pretty close to covering it all in crowd funds,” Walley told AFP. “But we will be back to zero when we go home. It would be nice if we had more money so we had something to build upon rather than struggling.” Online sales of the team’s colourful shirts have raised some cash, while a spare change bucket has done the rounds at matches.
Walley’s mother has lent the team £2 100 (R36 810), while one fan arranged a fried chicken takeaway for the team’s arrival in London.
A brief team sightseeing trip into central London, burning up £200 in Tube tickets, was made possible by a novel idea. When the Chagos Islands stepped in for a friendly fixture on Thursday after Matabeleland’s Isle of Man opponents quit the tournament, Walley auctioned two spots on the substitutes’ bench, raising £330.
Grobbelaar, now 60, captained the side. The Zimbabwean, who began his career in Matabeleland’s capital Bulawayo, signed up as the goalkeeper coach but then joined the playing squad. When Matabeleland’s World Football Cup dream was threatened by last-minute visa problems, Grobbelaar used his connections to get the Zimbabwean government to pull the necessary levers. “It’s been brilliant having him around the team,” said Walley.