November 25, 2008
It was another heart break for Zambia Army sponsored side Riflemen fc on Sunday when they were piped for promotion to the Zambian top flight-KCM/FAZ Premier League- by two Southern Province based clubs; Nakambala Leopards and more surprisingly Choma Eagles.
Riflemen has been the most consistency team in Division 1 South for the last two seasons but lucky hasn’t been on their side. Last season the soldiers suffered a similar disappoint when crowd puller City of Lusaka and this season’s league debutant Green Eagles won promotion.
To make it even worse for the Lusaka based Riflemen, they have missed out on promotion in successive seasons to a Zambia National Service (ZNS) sponsored side.
Yes… an ’Eagles’ or ZNS name will be part of the Zambian Premier League next season proving a point that there’s still talent from rural areas capable of competing at the top level but in this case it’s not just about ‘untapped talent from rural’ …but where will be Choma Eagles playing its home matches next season from?
They say history has a tendency of repeating itself. In this scenario it has repeated itself. At the end of last season (2007), the Kebby Hachipuka led Green Eagles won promotion to the Premier League but an extra-ordinary decision by the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) was made in which the team was ‘ordered’ to shift camp from their spiritual home in Choma to Kabwe.
Despite many protests from Choma residents who were proud of the achievements of Green Eagles from moving the team to Kabwe, their outcry and reasoning wasn’t considered as the team was re-allocated to share Railway Ground with Kabwe Warriors.
This was really a devastating blow for the fans that were denied the chance of cheering their beloved team rubbing shoulders against the likes of Zambian giants; Nkana, Power Dynamos, Green Buffaloes, Nchanga Rangers e.t.c
In response to this the ZNS hierarchy sent another team to the Southern Province in the form of Builders Brigade which was based in Lusaka West. Though the local fans did not welcome the idea and the new team, they had no option but to support the club which became to be known as Choma Eagles. It was a gamble by the sponsors but it has now paid off…. Choma Eagles has won promotion while their ‘Big Brother’ Green Eagles is rock bottom and is being tipped for a possible return to the lower rank.
And to this many Choma fans may be starved of watching the likes of Elijah Tana, Billy Mwanza, Banda ‘Thierry’ Henry, Kebby Hachipuka (as he might go on loan), Hichani Himonde again next season.
Since Choma Independence Stadium can’t host premier league matches, there’s a growing discontent that Choma Eagles and Green Eagles will swap bases should the latter get relegation, meaning ‘Big Brother’ will go back to Choma while the new promoted side head to Kabwe?
But the big question is, Will this move be welcomed by the Choma residents or any soccer loving local league fans.
Instead of ‘sending’ Choma Eagles to Kabwe, maybe ZNS should source start sourcing for funds to start upgrading the local stadium in Choma so as not starve the local fans.
83 Comments on "Will Eagles play their top flight matches in Choma?"
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Georgia Russia on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 12:41 PM
it will be justice denied to the people of southern province in particular choma,if thats the case let them use nakambala stadium or kascol which are capable of hosting premier matches.shifting thier home ground from choma to anther province will be demotivating for the southerners.let them enjoy local support from choma.
Mabbwana on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 12:56 PM
It wil be great to have the Eagles stay in Southern Province. It will be a great boost to the soccer fans and fans to be guaranteed a topflight game every other week.
Anonymous on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 1:17 PM
Who cares? If they are good, then they are good anywhere.
chamwe kaira in Windhoek on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 1:31 PM
Zed our studiums are so bad, the goverment does not care. Can someone update me on the progress being made on Independence Stadium and Dag in Ndola. Zambia may not even host All Africa Games in 2011.
Billy SA on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 1:52 PM
What kind of stadia do these teams from southern province use? I hope its not the kind of primary school football pitch. We used to hear that a modern pitch would be built in livingstone. But none up to now.
Chamwe, you right man. The state of stadia and infractructure is what worries me most. The Chairman of the supreme council for sports in africa was even concerned about Zambia’s unpreparedness concerning the all-africa games in 2011. He said there was nothing to see concerning the preparations. We risk being banned if we fail to host.
Justice Kafusha on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 1:57 PM
I thought the Govt promised a 2 new stadiums, it is better to ask namulambe who was involved in the project. The All African games are going to be like the 1982 or was it 1984 AFCON we failed to host, with Mtine and his cadres erazing Dag.
As for Choma Eagles they should be playing in Choma or maybe move to Livingstone, there must be a stadium there
official on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 2:07 PM
We keep asking the Zambians to have keen interest in local football and when they follow a team their is no consistency.
Alot needs to be done if we are to change the mindset of a zambian.
Stadia is pathetic forcing clubs to be nomads and start rebuilding a support group.
FAZ, Govt and Corporate houses need to come together in trying to boost the standards of football.
Otherwise 2 b honest 2011, Zambia will just earn the worst ever AAG in History.
Billy SA on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 2:12 PM
Yaba, its like both Nchanga and Nkana risk being relegated. This is really bad for CB teams. Have a look at the below table folks. This is bad.
Regular
Team MP W D L Pts
Zesco United 27 12 11 4 47
Kabwe Warriors 28 12 7 9 43
Young Arrows 28 10 12 6 42
Red Arrows 28 10 12 6 42
Green Buffaloes 27 11 8 8 41
Power Dynamos 27 10 10 7 40
Zanaco 27 10 9 8 39
City of Lusaka 28 9 10 9 37
Lusaka Dynamos 27 7 12 8 33
Roan United 28 7 12 9 33
Chambishi 27 8 9 10 33
Konkola Blades 28 6 13 9 31
Nchanga Rangers 27 7 10 10 31
Nkana FC 27 7 9 11 30
Nkwazi 28 6 11 11 29
Green Eagles 28 6 9 13 27
Sibs on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 2:24 PM
Let them play in Mazabuka as Georgia Russkie says.Choma/Mazabuka distance is just 2hrs 30 minutes drive.Whiles Choma/Livingstone is much further about 5hrs drive(stand to be corrected).The Nakambala stadium in Maz is even better than the one in L/stone.
On the Stadia issue twanaka ukulada.Politicians full of talk & promises but the never deliver.
Kojo umwina n'gumbo on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 2:31 PM
THIS IS NOT NEGOTIABLE. STADIUM OR NO STADIUM THAT TEAM WILL REMAIN CHOMA AND THEY WILL PLAY FROM CHOMA. PERIOD!!!!!!!
Sibs on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 2:32 PM
Please someone help me how did we end up as Hosts of 2011 All Africa Games.Did we bid to Host or what? Cos if put up a bid then who ever came up with the idea must have run ahead of himself.
We should have never agreed i dont see much happening in the next two years.It will take a big miracle for us to be ready.Kaya!!
Billy SA on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 2:52 PM
Josef and Kojo. I know you are used to mediocrity. Thats why our football will not develop. Its because of people like you who always settle for less.
Dont you know that stadia also motivates a player to display good football.
Billy SA on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 2:54 PM
Sorry I meant Josepf and not you Kojo.
Billy SA on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 2:55 PM
Sibs we bid to host.
Mweemba on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 3:04 PM
We need good stadia guys. It will be gud 4 our football. We cant run away from this.
Bola Panshi on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 3:16 PM
I remember mentioning this scenario in another thread. I for one have come to be convinced that the poor performance by Green Eagle is as a result of them shifting base. I should even ask, how have they been playing all along? Does it mean the stadium issue only comes into play when we are talking of ZPL?
I surely hope this time they let Choma Eagles play their games at home. You never know, maybe with a little coercion ZNS may come in and improve their stadium. An alternative, like suggeste by other fans here, will be to have them host games at Nakambala (a closer place to their home fans). Moreover, the ZPL needs to have representation from ALL OVER ZAMBIA (be it eastern, western southern, nothern, luapula, northewestern provinces as well, not just midlands and CB).
I think our future chipolopolo could be lying somewhere out there (eg look at the current top scorer).
Whisper on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 4:02 PM
This is ridiculous.
As many of you commentators have mentioned the poor infrastructure is a big reason for the stagnation or even regression of our football. One of the major reasons that fans don’t turn out in numbers at local matches is the state of our local stadia, this inturn means that clubs can’t invest in their coaches and playing staff.
I don’t understand why ZNS can’t just upgrade the stadium in Choma. Afterall these guys were called ‘Builder’s Brigade’ before they changed their name.
We can’t rely government for everything, it’s time for us as Zedians to stand up and be counted. Building a reasonable 15,000 seater stadium isn’t a massive undertaking, it doesn’t cost a lot of money. We have people building huge houses in Zed, the cost of a good stadium would be on par with some of those.
Again as mentioned by you guys before, football is now a business and at present our product (football) isn’t attractive. As stakeholders we all have to work toward improving this, we need to think about our stadia, our style of football (not enough goals), our sponsorship opportunities, our promotion and the experience of being at a match (is the experience value for money?)
chamwe kaira in Windhoek on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 4:21 PM
One think, I don’t understand is that our leaders go to other countries say Tanzania and Botswana don’t they see the stadiums. Even when we decide to built, we always have delays like the tender issue at Independence, why can’t the government just give it to the Chinese or Koreans? I Zambia won’t host 2011, next year is 2009.
chamwe kaira in Windhoek on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 4:23 PM
I am saying 2011 is just around the corner and 2011 is election year.
Georgia Russia on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 4:48 PM
the tender issue is boring me alot.around this time lst year govt promised to have independece ready december 2008.its one year down the line,kapembwa was then works and supply minister,we have mike mulongoti now,am seeing anther delay.its really gona be shamefull to the rest of the continent.what happened to the higly talked about ndola stadium.what has building of hostels got to do with the hosting of 2011 games. a country ready to host the 2011 games would have seen alot of stuctures under constrcution,such as swiming pools,basket ball court,running tracks and so on.if we cant put up a swiming pool then we shud forget about hosting 2011 all africa games
spaks on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 8:10 PM
Well, well well, as usual this blogg shares the greatest debates necessary for the development of our soccer, todays being the morality or rather possibility of having Choma Egales play at home, i agree with whisper when he say let choma rehabilitate their stadium, i do this becoz i feel it is only moral to give the fans a feel of premier football in their background, as i right i have just been to three stadia in RSA, the most intriguing being bafokeng, platinum stars are building their own stadium as a means of giving back to their community, last year green eagles relocated rong move and now they will be relegated, they shud have stayed home rather than move to kabwe, the calls for nakambala stadium where barclays cup matches were held showed that there is a fan base and zambia is huge not only midlands central and copperbelt, orlando stadium was reoppened and recorded a full house, the top scorer in our league is from there so i mean why not leave them play there? lets not be greedy bane, if petauke united come to the premier will u suggest that they play at sunset? chimo no ku teyesha yobe, mediocrity in the name of winning
Justice Kafusha on Tue, 25th Nov 2008 10:25 PM
Billy your league table is showing telephone numbers and the danish flag on some of the clubs? Can you explain this? Are these numbers to the clubs or?
Ba Ole on Wed, 26th Nov 2008 1:29 AM
The second best option is to play in Mazabuka but ZNS should consider upgrading the stadium in Choma. In fact the funds for the 2011 All Africa Games for rehabilitating stdia can be used for this self-same cause.
Billy SA on Wed, 26th Nov 2008 8:24 AM
Josef, I am not little exposed. I do not want to speak much about myself but your line of thought leaves much to be desired. Anyway I do not want to waste time with people like you. I have other productive things to do.
Justice I got this table from fifa.com. Its the current one.
Sibs on Wed, 26th Nov 2008 9:02 AM
Billy thanks for the clarity on the All Africa Games that we bid to Host.
Billy SA on Wed, 26th Nov 2008 9:51 AM
Joseph, you have said well. Lets indeed respect each other and each others views. BUT remember I am not little exposed to RSA as I have been to better places than RSA. Ok let it end here now and lets discuss football.
Choma 1 on Wed, 26th Nov 2008 10:21 AM
Friends from SA i.e Josef SA and Billy SA,
I thank you for your conciliatory tones. Please lets continue biend civil inour postings like before. Billy, i too rather thought your attack on Kojo and Josef was strange. Like said, we are working on the stadium so that our team will play locally.
Ironically, Choma Eagles has been playing under the name Builders Brigade this season so i think we can fail to build.
Kind regards from Choma and please do not hesitate to drop by once you are in Zambia assuming you are coming by road.
Billy SA on Wed, 26th Nov 2008 10:35 AM
Choma 1, well said brother. This december I am coming home to Zambia. I cant wait.
Ba Ole on Thu, 27th Nov 2008 2:19 AM
I am happy Josef and Billy saw eye to eys without Lee Habasonde of SACCORD or Mbeki or Kofi Annan doing mediation.
Let’s ensure that we do not bring the spirit of comments on Lusakatimes.com here. If attacked, let not respond in such a way that we “fight”. Nor should we attack others personally. Let’s attack ideas.
Onzuna on Thu, 27th Nov 2008 10:14 AM
Let Choma Eagles play their games in Choma.Its good for Football development.ZNS has equipment to upgrade the Stadium in Choma b4 the new season starts.If that fails,maybe try to shift the team to L/stone so that we have a wider representation of premier league football in Zambia.
Sampa on Fri, 28th Nov 2008 8:29 AM
Kafusa my friend you are wrong to say that we should ask Nalumambe former sports minister,my dear country man that man knows nothing and never can he give a precise and accurate answer. Choma Eagles must be given a chance to play their matches in choma since its where they won the promotion.Right thinking zambian FAZ members should give Them a chance to play in choma regardless of the state of the stadia.VIVA FAZ super league Choma.
joe on Sat, 12th Sep 2009 11:10 PM
Let the boys alone to play games at home as well! let us learn atleast from other peoples’ mistakes!
keep it up boys! u make me happy!
RSA