Gombe United Football Club suffered a humiliating 5-2 defeat at home to Kano Pillars on Match Day 12 of the Nigerian Premier League, their eight losses in this campaign including a 3-0 home defeat to city rivals, Doma United Football Club, nicknamed Savannah Tigers.
Gombe United, nicknamed Savannah Scorpions, is languishing in relegation zone where they are placed 14th on the table with only 15 points from only five wins in 13 matches conceding 20 goals so far in the league and only scoring 10.
From the analysis of the number of matches Gombe United has played so far, it is evident that the club has lost 24 points and was only able to secure 15 points representing 38.5% of the total points from the matches played so far.
To put more ‘salt’ to Gombe United injuries, Doma United defeated Kano Pillars 1-0 at the same Pantami Stadium, salvaging ‘Gombawa’ from that humiliating defeat by arch rivals, Kano Pillars.
The club’s misfortune could be said to have started even before the kick off of the current season, when its coach for the past four seasons, Aliyu Zubairu, quit by refusing to renew his contract with the club after it expired.
According to him, the decision not to renew his contract was as a result of the fact that the state government had done nothing to improve the club towards motivating the team.
“I didn’t renew my contract which had expired; I was supposed to but I did not; I want to quit now. I am leaving, that’s the reason I didn’t renew my contract with the club,” he told newsmen.
The dwindling fortune of Gombe United saw them losing nine points by suffering three consecutive defeats, including the 5-2 thrashing by the Kano Pillars at their home ground, the Pantami Stadium where an 18-year-old Kano Pillars’ winger Yusuf Abdullahi singlehandedly scored the five goals to the delight of Gombe United’s fans who could not hide their frustration with regard to how their darling club became helpless in their own grounds; so the fans ended up turning their supports for the visitors.
As such their win with a lone goal at home against Niger Tornadoes was seen by many as a big relief, as echoed by the first team coach, Alhaji Kwairanga, a veteran player of the club.
Kwairanga described the three points as “very vital” in their effort to move up the league table.
“Getting maximum points against Niger Tornadoes is a big relief, and the most important thing for us today is our effort to climb up the league table,” he said.
The dwindling performance of Gombe United, made some analysts to wonder why the club’s management and coaching crew will be lamenting constantly on poor funding when the state government is generating some good money from stadium attendance when compared to other stadium attendance in Southern parts of the country.
“Tickets to watch matches at the Pantami Stadium range from N100, N200 and N300 depending on the seat and for a 12,000 capacity which is often filled to brim and with some even standing in some unique matches or derbies, you can be sure that nothing short of N1.5 million is being generated per match and with two NPFL clubs in the state, double of such amount could be generated in a weekend where one club plays on a Saturday and the other on a Sunday,” Umar Sa’ad, a football analyst based in Gombe said.
Also, some fans have queried why such funds cannot be leveraged to financially boost the morale of Gombe United’s players, especially to pay match bonuses which the state government has been accused of not paying for over 15 months and counting.
“Most of the times the club leave Gombe for its away matches less than 48 hours to the game, in fact when they played against Remo Stars, they arrived on the Match Day,” Usman Mohammed complained.
However, a football analyst, Anas Bamusa Kwami, said the contrasting fortunes of Gombe United and Doma United Football Clubs is the issue of self-proprietorship and multiple proprietorships.
“Gombe United can be said to be a multiple proprietorship because it is being owned by the public as it is owned by the Gombe State government. And usually, it is always difficult for a quick decision making, especially if there is a problem.
“So, from the inception the motive of setting up Gombe United is different from that of Doma United. Gombe United as a big club has a feeling that they are a very old club, they want big names.
“World over football is now with the young talent. But the Gombe United being a big club they will always want to engage a big coach that won the league several times with other clubs, and as it is the practice in the Nigerian League, these coaches usually move around with their players, who are also other big names.
According to Bamusa, “these big players are usually old timers that have been playing in the league for over 10 years and may not be productive and bring the desired result. In fact, some of them are reaching their 40s. Mostly they are just playing for the fun of it or as a means of livelihood, but they don’t have any ambition to make names or get a new club outside the country. Therefore, they will not be hungry for success.”
On the part of the clubs owned by a private entity, Anas Bamusa explained that it is the total opposite of what is being obtained in government-owned clubs.
“If you take Doma United for instance, the proprietor runs the club as one of his business entities. Their entire budget is half of the budget of Gombe United, yet the latter is always complaining that their budget is low.
“But the Doma United management used their meagre budget to pay salaries, and most of the players are average players. They also hired an average manager, so, they are both yearning to make names and become popular. So, for now they are not really after making much money,” he said.
Bamusa added that the players became aware that the club is in financial distress, which he said discouraged and dampened their spirit to give their best.
He, however, said, “there is still time for making amendments, because we are still in week 13, out of the 38 weeks of the season. Either for the government and club management to reach a truce where the budget would be increased to meet the club’s high-profile budget or for the management to look inward and re-strategize and engage the average team.
In contrast, Doma United in their second season of the Nigeria Football Premier League (NFPL), are placed 2nd on the table with 25 points after 13 matches conceding only 5 goals so far in the league. The club won seven matches, drew four and lost only two out of 13 matches.
For Doma United, their run in the league has been impressive with facts as the club has earned 11 points out of 15 in their last five matches which represents 73.3% winning statistics which remain the best winning statistics so far in the league.
Mr Mark Malele, the Head of Communication at Doma United told Daily Trust that it is a combination of several factors that has brought the club this far amongst other big and older clubs playing in the NPFL.
“The Management of the club under the Chairmanship of Alhaji Suleiman Umar has set everything in motion to ensure that every department in the club is functional and that players are well taken care of.
“The technical department of the team led by the Technical Adviser, Akinade Onigbinde is putting in a lot of work to keep the players in good shape; both mentally and physically as they prepare for every game.
“The players on their own parts have been exceptional as they play their hearts out in every game. They are enjoying playing for the club and the support from fans keeps them hungry for more Goofy,” Malele said.
Daily Trust
