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MBABANE – Aiming high is good.
This is the story of Mbabane Swallows, who are planning to construct their own sports ground after facing challenges with hosting home games at the Prince of Wales Sports Ground, as both the Somhlolo National Stadium and Mavuso Sports Centre are currently out of bounds.
The Somhlolo National Stadium is under renovations after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) banned it in 2019 for hosting category ‘A’ matches while the Mavuso Sports Centre is closed to give way to contractors to re-install an electricity cable, supplying electricity in the facility.
The red and white capital city giants were allegedly denied hosting some of their games at the Prince of Wales Sports Ground, which is one of their alternative venues by the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE); this was after they wrote to the PLE requesting to be given the permission to host in the venue as their other altenative, the King Sobhuza II Memorial Stadium was far and it was a drain to both the team and the supporters.
Construct
Umkhonto KaShaka General Manager (GM) Sandile ‘Beyond 2000’ Zwane said the club’s President Arch-Bishop Bheki Lukhele had big dreams for the team. One of them was to construct a sports ground, which they would use for training and hosting their home games.
“This is the president’s big dream for his first love and I am not saying that he is going to build a stadium, but he dreams big about Swallows Football Club,” the former national team manager explained.
He said the dream was to build a sports ground where they could host some of their games even if there were no stands. It is worth mentioning that the Mbabane-based side had challenges for a training ground as their training ground situated at All Nations Church in Ezulwini was waterlogged from the rains faced by the country. This forced them to use the Malkerns Club Sports Ground, where another elite league side, Manzini Wanderers trains.
The PLE a few seasons back issued a statement that the big three clubs in the land, Mbabane highlanders, Mbabane Swallows and Manzini Wanderers could not play in an open ground, including the Mavuso Sports Centre as they were at risk to cause havoc in the event that there was disagreement on the outcome of a game. to 34 games. This is equivalent to playing an entire 18-team league season without defeat.
A renowned league with 18 teams is Germany’s top division, which is styled Bundesliga.
Mandla ‘Stofu’ Dlamini’s men are in chase of a record set by Mbabane Swallows back in 2018. Swallows had clocked 51 league games without defeat. Buffaloes are now 17 games shy of matching that record. To achieve that, they have to finish the league unbeaten and win more games in the new season.
In a recent interview, Dlamini said they were happy of the good run but did not want to be drawn for comment on matching Swallows’s record.