Some small talk about the local league in Nigeria, the EPL and fan loyalty to clubs got to me earlier today. I've had this argument with a couple of friends before over suya and some drinks. Football grows on the Nigerian, we start kicking stuff even before we can stand straight, we play it on the streets, knock that round object everywhere around the house and given the opportunity, some of us have played footie in the rain. So, when chanced, we'd go at lengths to see a good game.
A "well-packaged" EPL season attracts such following in this country that "a trip to watch your fav team live" can be the major attraction of a Nigerian promo. It's that intense. They didn't get that magnetism over night. It was based on careful and meticulous planning and a media programme (read "propaganda") that ensures that there's an audience for the EPL in every continent of the world. Sure, being a British invention helped much but are there lessons to learn from them? Of course, plenty.
I will not begin to itemise those lessons here, it's an overflogged media issue as it stands but what I will reiterate now is that should those lessons be imbibed and with the budgetary allocation applied as judiciously as possible, talks like it's a shock local boys from Nigeria will wallop what was basically the full SA squad will not even arise (an insult I'd rather not deliberate on).
As bad as things stand today, I know some die-hard, hardcore local league fans in Ibadan who swear by their allegiance to their teams and bet on matches by the week. They need no encouragement, they need no enticements. Think about what exponential multiplicator effect a repackaged league will beget. It will be explosive, to say the least.
It should come as no surprise that there are fans that can't remain loyal for any extended periods of time. There's one born every minute. They are not local to any country or continent. People switch loyalties at different levels of endurance. Just as there are those for whom loyalty is a badge of honour, those who walk the talk of respect and stay till the end. These two types exist wherever you turn, from the Liga to the Bundesliga, from the Serie A to the Championnat, in the EPL and even in the NFL.
The point remains that, as was displayed by the Super Eagles, home and away, your best will always be determined by what you do behind the scenes to gun for the top and remain there.
Ask Bayern Munich, they'd tell you this is the truth.
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