Loyal Francistown fans stick with Zebras
Mqondisi Dube | Friday October 26, 2018 12:32
The recent Francistown crowd was achieved despite the Zebras poor run, which had seen the team fail to win or score in three matches.
The Independence Day match against the Brave Warriors of Namibia, attracted less than 5,000 despite the free entry.
In contrast, the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Burkina Faso at the Francistown Sports Complex two weeks ago, attracted what was relatively a good crowd of over 10,000 fans.
Before the match, the Zebras had no points and had failed to score in three games. They played a 0-0 draw against The Stallions, to get their first point, but are still searching for their first goal with two rounds of matches to play in the qualifiers.The Botswana Football Association (BFA) marketing and public relations officer, Tumo Mpatane said the attendance figures are likely to influence the choice of venue for the next Zebras matches.
“We want to have the team play anywhere in the country.
I think we are aggressively moving towards having the supporters committee up and working soon, to allow for the team to receive a warm reception all over the country. However, Francistown has the x-factor, it is special in its own way.”
The Francistown Sports Complex holds the record for the highest number of spectators to watch a single soccer match in the country.
In 2015, 26,262 fans crammed into what was then a new facility, to watch the Zebras play against Mali.It remains the record for a local soccer match, as the Zebras are generally ‘loved’ in the north but remain ‘loathed’ in the south as results have proved hard to come by.
Around 25,000 fans attended the first game played at the stadium, against Burkina Faso in September 2015.
However, a late slump in 2016, saw the crowds dwindle, which forced a return to the south. But the south has failed to rally behind the national side, with only a few fans turning up.