WINDHOEK – The mining town of Tsumeb will spring to life this weekend when the newly established Maize Triangle Soccer League (MTSL) resumes activities on Saturday.
With football in the national premier and lower tier leagues currently in dead mode, disgruntled football clubs in the football-crazy Maize Triangle area of Otavi, Tsumeb and Grootfontein decided to put shoulder to the wheel and established a 12-team football league.
Old-time campaigners Chelsea, Chief Santos, Benfica, Touch & Go and other northern giant clubs from the Maize Triangle area will renew their rivalry this weekend when the second round of matches gets underway at the Oscar Norich Stadium at the Copper Town of Tsumeb on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
One of the league’s organisers Jefta Goaob, a representative of Otavi-based Touch and Go FC says the league consists of 12 football teams with Tsumeb heavily represented by a total of eight teams followed by Grootfontein and Otavi with two teams apiece.
“We thought it wise and necessary to come up with something in the form of a league for the Maize Triangle like in the olden days, to keep the teams and footballers busy while the uncertainty continues in the corridors of power at Football House,” says the articulate football administrator.
The league will be officially be launched tomorrow at Tsumeb where a gala dinner will be hosted, and the various sponsors will also be unveiled at the occasion.
“Everything is well on course, participating teams and the general public have bought into our idea to rebuild the game of football in the area,” said Goaob.
Though the youthful football administrator was cagey, New Era Sport has it on good authority that football officials are also burning the midnight oil to rekindle the traditional Easter Top-16 Tournament at the Copper Town.
To make the league more attractive, all matches will be contested in one town on a rotational basis, with Tsumeb the hosts for the second round.
The Maize Triangle used to be the hub of domestic football in the past, with teams such as Santos, Chelsea and Benfica setting the local football scene ablaze with breathtaking performances week in and week out during the 80s.
Exciting Omulunga outfit Chelsea were generally considered the finest football entity in the 80s and players like Pieces, Orlando and Steven Damaseb, George Nawatiseb and the Francis brothers Eric and Tigers were a marvel to watch.
The unavoidable influx of talented young footballers into the city of bright lights (Windhoek) paralysed both Santos and Benfica to the extent that the once darlings of Namibian football found themselves relegated to the country’s lower
divisions.