12 Aug 2015

Mmopane based football outfits, XI Men and Molapong Green Birds, have merged to form a new team called Mmopane Sporting Club.

According tor Patrick Lesotlho, the exercise is meant to address the fact that there are inadequate resources at the teams’ disposal. They believe that as a single unit they will better utilise the limited resources.

“We started negotiating the merger last year. However, the proceedings were a bit slow because the league was still ongoing,” he said.

He said they are confident that the new team will revive football in Mmopane.

Although rivalry is common in football teams from the village, Lesotlho said they believe that there was proper consultation on the merger with all relevant stakeholders. 

“We strongly believe that there were proper negotiations about the planned merger. However, it is never enough. We never expected that everyone would be part of the merger, be it players or officials,” he stated.

He further revealed that they are not aware of any mass exodus of players and team officials from both XI Men and Green Birds to other clubs due to the new project. 

He uttered that although one of their future targets is to have a development feeder team to their senior team coupled with the formation of the ladies club, for now they have focused all their attention to Mmopane Sporting Club to ensure its success.

“We will use our first season to see how prepared the team is. We do not want to put anyone under immense pressure,” he said.

He said one of their aims is to acquire the services of a high profile coach to help drive the team forward. Although they have not signed any agreement with him, the club is currently under the tutelage of former Notwane head coach and Mochudi Centre Chiefs’ assistant coach,  Innocent Morapedi.

Lesotlho urged the business community, especially in Mmopane, to sponsor the newly formed club.

Mmopane Sporting Club are expected to test their strength in the Kweneng Region One league when it resumes on August 29. ENDS