Big pay day for Green Machine
. . . but question marks remain on leakages
HARARE giants CAPS United may have ended the day on the losing side in the latest Harare Derby at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday but there is no denying the Green Machine should have walked all the way to the bank smiling.
Makepekepe hosted one of their biggest crowds in recent years at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday, with some estimates putting the attendance figure between 25 000 to 30 000.
The supporters paid US$3 for the cheapest, with the others paying US$5 and US$10 for the grand stands and VIP.
CAPS United chief executive officer Charlie Jones yesterday said his office was still reconciling the figures but sources at the club revealed that the official statistics for the paying fans stood at 18 500. That too was not a small number considering the team has been struggling in the last few years to attract an average of 3 000 paying fans for their home games.
Jones, who used to play in front of such big crowds during the club’s halcyon days of the 1980s, yesterday hailed the huge turnout for the latest instalment of the Harare Derby.
“I think that was an excellent afternoon of football,” he said.
“The people came out in their numbers and they got entertained by the quality of football. Unfortunately, some aspects of the game and the final result didn’t go in our favour.
“It wasn’t our day but we do appreciate the support we are getting from the CAPS United fans. I only came here just last year and the attendance was low because our football was still trying to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. But it is good for our football for fans to come out in their numbers as they did on Sunday. It has been a while since we last experienced such an atmosphere. This is obviously our biggest post-Covid-19.
“We are still reconciling the official figures and probably by tomorrow (today), we will know the exact attendance numbers,” said Jones.
However, the variance between the estimated attendance and the actual tickets sold was a bone of contention among experts and football pundits yesterday.
Former CAPS United chief executive officer Andy Hodges put the estimate at 25 000 in his Facebook post, while urging the spectators to continue supporting the local game.
“I salute all the fans that came out in their numbers to support their teams at the Harare Derby . . . 25 000 of you. Keep going to watch football please at our stadium, if not watch it live on Zimpapers TV Network,” posted Hodges.
H-Metro Editor Robson Sharuko also stirred the debate when he raised the controversial issue on social media.
“The figures show 18 500 fans paid to watch the derby. It will be controversial again. The leakages at our stadiums are bad,” tweeted Sharuko. CAPS United legend Alois Bunjira questioned the archaic ticketing system that allows for leakages.
“We all know that the stadium yesterday (Sunday) was more than half full. We are talking about more than 30 000 fans. Never is it 18 000. Where did the other 12 000 plus tickets go? Who sold the other tickets unofficially?
“18 000 is actually a discouraging number when we are trying to push match attendance to go up. Who is doing this? Why is this happening? When are we going to have pre-match ticket sales and electronic ticketing?” he said.
Apart from the controversies at the gates, CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe was excited by the big turnout at the giant stadium, despite his team going down 2-0.
“We do this for these people and, in any case, I am very happy for the game. It’s unfortunate for the CAPS United supporters; they weren’t expecting this and we can only understand them.
“Them coming in numbers is a sign that they believe in the team and it’s very unfortunate that we didn’t give them what they deserved.
“They obviously deserved a win but I thought in terms of performance, it wasn’t too bad either. So, this is quite refreshing for Zimbabwean football,” said Chitembwe.
Chitembwe said Makepekepe were not discouraged by the defeat on Sunday, which was their first in the opening seven league games of the season. The Green Machine surrendered pole position to traditional rivals Highlanders, who took advantage of the derby result to climb top of the table for the first time this season, courtesy of their 1-0 win over Hwange.
Bosso now lead the race with 14 points, followed by resurgent Ngezi Platinum Stars on 13 points. Makepekepe are now in third place with 12 points while Dynamos are fourth on 11 points and a game in hand.
“I think there were also some very good lessons to take from that game and also some bad lessons, and hopefully we will get it right,” said Chitembwe.
“We knew at some point we were going to lose a match but I am sure we will correct things going forward.
“It’s not a big blow because we are still to play almost 30 games. So we still have time, we still have opportunities, we still have chances.
“No team has won it (the league title) yet and I am happy, losing a match especially at this stage of the season is very important. No one is chasing for anything as of now.
“The run up to the end of the season is the most important phase and I am happy, it (losing) has happened now when we still have time to correct things,” said Chitembwe.