As far as clubs
with history go, there are few as influential as Shooting Stars SC (3SC). Back
in 1976, the famed club from Ibadan became the first Nigerian clubside to win
an African club competition, and is to this day, one of only two (the other
being Enyimba) to taste victory twice on the continent.
Their five league titles and four FA Cups makes them one of the most successful
teams in the country, and their fan base is large—the Lekan Salami Stadium
seats just under 20,000, but is regularly packed out for the Oluyole Warriors
on Matchday.
When the
2017/2018 season resumes though, this storied club will be conspicuously absent
from the league roster. They were one of four teams to suffer the ignominy of
relegation in 2016/2017, amassing 13 wins and averaging less than a goal a game
in a largely forgettable campaign.
Ironically, their
50-point haul would have seen them to safety in in each of the last three
campaigns, but that is cold comfort for a side that earned promotion back to
the NPFL only three seasons ago. As a matter of fact, their best position in
the last decade, almost half of which has been spent out of the top flight, was
9th in 2015; they have trod water most of the way through and can feel like
they have had this coming.
Trying to
diagnose what or where exactly it went wrong is a bit of a problematic
exercise. I saw Shooting Stars host two-time African champions Enyimba this
past season in front of a vocal home crowd, and more than deserve their 1-0
victory. They hammered the People’s Elephant relentlessly, and could have run
up the score with a bit more of a clinical touch. So, while ultimately they
fell short, this did not seem like 3SC were one of the worst four teams in the
league.
Inevitably, the
buck then passes onto the administration. That a large majority of Nigerian
clubs are bankrolled by state governments is nothing new, but the unfortunate
effect of this is that clubs suffer or prosper as a consequence of the level of
priority each regime accords to sports in general, and football in particular.
Executive
Chairman of the club Gbolagade Busari earlier in the week insisted there had
been adequate funding for the team from the state government, which makes it
odd then that players of the club, on the eve of the final game of the season,
staged a strike demanding payment of outstanding salaries and allowances. Where
then did the monthly subventions go?
“The players said
pointedly that they are fighting for their right to be paid salaries,
allowances and match bonuses,” a source told Supersport
“They are
insisting on not calling off the strike or returning to the training ground
until every indebtedness owed to them is fully paid by the management. They
feared that the management will not pay the outstanding entitlements once the
on-going league season comes to an end on Sunday. They appeared not to trust
the management any longer as previous promises to off-set the bills have gone
unheeded. They reasoned that if the management value their welfare and the
interest of the team they could even break bank to pay knowing fully well that
anything short of three points at Niger Tornadoes will spell doom for the
team.”
The players would
of course go on to lose that final game in Lokoja, and while it is easy to
blame the strike action, that would ignore the larger picture. A distinct lack
of stability over the last decade is not the result of an isolated strike
action, but of the very source of the agitation.
There has to be
greater accountability and a coherent plan for the club going forward. The
Executive Chairman has teased wholesale changes from top to bottom, a move
which seems more reactionary than visionary. It was telling that Mr Busari
mentioned gate takings during matches (even though the figure of one million
Naira given does not add up), as this is one area from which the club can get
ancillary financing; even while in the Nigeria Nationwide League, the support
for 3SC is full-blooded and intense.
To the residents
of Ibadan, and many such as myself [a Stationary Stores fan] who chose to support
the club that produced Nigerian footballing greats like Felix Owolabi, the late
Muda Lawal and Segun Odegbami; stars of the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations,
Shooting Stars SC is more than just a club. It is a cultural icon.
Until those in
charge see it as such, and honour its history and tradition, this is what it
will be reduced to: a yoyo club.
Source: www.osundefender.com
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