The Northern Cape team have yet to lose a match in the Glad Africa league since gaining promotion in August this year.
HUNGRY Lions FC, debutants to the National First Division’s Glad Africa League, are currently wooing potential buyers, one of whom could be linked to the former Bloemfontein Celtic, according to club manager Henry Basie.
The Northern Cape side are currently joint leaders of the Glad Africa conference after an unbeaten run of seven matches including a 1-0 win over Free State Stars a fortnight ago at the Sivos Training centre in Kathu.
In fact, the team has yet to lose a match in the Glad Africa league since gaining promotion in August.
Hungry Lions affectionately dubbed “Dia rora” by the club management have won three matches outright and garnered four draws which awarded them the chart topping 13 points which they share along with Potchefstroom team Platinum City Rovers.
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Basie ascribed the team’s good run in the league to “hard work and determination”. He said, “In life everything is possible. It may seem impossible but it is in life that there is opportunity for us all.”
On Monday Basie made known his plans to sell off the club as a going concern in view of the financially tough situation it finds itself in.
Speaking to the DFA Basie said that the deal would be mutually beneficial. “Bloemfontein does not have a team. They are talking to us. Here we don’t get any support. We don’t have a sponsor,” he said.
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The manager mentioned that despite getting a hefty R500,000 monthly allowance from the Premier Soccer League, the club’s overheads eat into much of that sum leaving little to nothing after expenses have been paid.
“We are paying between R32,000 and R40,000 per game for security, including life support and Emergency Medical Services. Plus we rent the ground for R11,000 and pay a doctor R5,000, the physio R3,500 for two hours and pay player salaries of say R10,000 per head.
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“To that we must add the bus hire at R40,000 for an away game for a place such as Johannesburg.
“Then there is accommodation of R60,000 per night for the eight technical team members and 22 players which easily becomes a huge expense for us. As things stand our away games are cheaper and more profitable than our home games,” Basie said.
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“If you play away twice in a month as we do this means you double your expenses. If you look at the figures they tell you this team can’t make it.
“The (Premier’s) department did help us at one time with one or two games after that nothing happened,” he added.
Basie also said that travel logistics for team members was another constant headache. “We have a bunch of good players, 70 percent of whom are from the Northern Cape. The biggest groups of players are from Kimberley and Postmasburg which have five players each, while only three are from Upington.
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“The rest are split between the smaller towns of the province including places such as Ritchie, Kakamas, Keimoes. Danielskuil, Groblershoop, Windsorton and Boshoff in the Free State.”
In total, according to the manager, the club has 33 registered players on its books. Of those 22 players are squad regulars. Currently, it seems as if the sale of the club would be to their benefit. Ultimately, time will tell.
