We Need to Re-invest More and Right

Despite all the hopes and the usual finger pointing, The Flames continue to be a punching bag for many African Teams. After reviewing all that people have said, I think this verse from the Holy Bible says it all "whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully - 2 Corinthians 9 : 6. When compared to the teams that we have played against recently, which of them would we compare in terms of investment? So no wonder, despite all the short-term preparations that we usually have, our friends always seem to have an advantage over us. Malawi has the talent but talent alone without enough exposure through various highly competitive games both locally and abroad will get us nowhere. We need very heavy investments in the local clubs enough to allow several of clubs to participate in the CAF tournaments. At present, this is not possible because of poor investment or limited investments in our clubs.

Lessons from the West and elsewhere

The football clubs in Malawi can draw much from similar clubs in the West ; the clubs are a business entity with so many avenues for raising their own funds. This is the case with South African football clubs. Indeed, it is not easy to turn our clubs into such flourishing business entities but it is possible and Malawian Football clubs have to think seriously of going in this direction. Otherwise the Flames will continue to reap sparingly.

Lessons from the past

Ted Powell Era

Malawi was once the powerhouse of football in East and Central Africa. This was possible because Malawi invested right. Local player development programmes were well supported. Preparations for tournaments were more intense and serious. Records have it that the flames even travelled to UK for training during the Ted Powell Era.

Bakili Bullets (BB) Era

During this era sponsorship for BB went up, funds were made available for the team to participate in CAF Champions League. In preparation for the CAF Champions league, the team travelled to the UK. Though the BB did not make it to the finals, we saw something beautiful and promising. Being in the top eight in the whole of Africa was no mean feat. But it all boils down to investment.

Malawi has to learn from these past experiences and re-invest more and right if we are to claim the lost glory.