Fund Raising

There are several fans across the country and abroad who would gladly contribute yearly subscriptions to help sustain these clubs. An aggressive sustained membership drive can help put these clubs on a solid financial base. North African teams like Zamalek and Esperance used this technique to perfection by taking advantage of their huge fan bases to build a solid financial base. They have used the money obtained from subscriptions to buy assets which then help sustain the club.

Yet in Kenya most fans however are not members. There are several fans who would like to be members but have never done it for various reasons. Some do not know how to because they don't know of any club officials or branch officials. Others are hesitant because they think the money will end up in an officials bank account.   Others hesitate because they club does not seem to have any sound plans in place and may end up wasting the funds. In order to attract fans, the club must address each of these concerns adequately.

North African teams like Zamalek and Esperance used this technique to perfection by taking advantage of their huge fan bases to build a solid financial base. They have used the money obtained from member subscriptions to buy assets which then help sustain the club. Al Ahly football club which often gives Kenyan clubs lessons in football is an excellent example of what organization can do. The club has four immaculately maintained football pitches. There is a four lane tartan running track, numerous astroturf grounds from which hockey, handball, basketball and tennis courts can be set up. And all the playing grounds have floodlights. There is a half Olympic size swimming pool, of course heated during this winter climate.

The Al Ahly training ground and sports complex

Accountability & Transparency

Since the public will be making monthly contributions, transparency is of utmost importance. Each team should produce audited accounts on a regular basis to explain to the public how the funds are being used to run the club. This will inspire confidence in the public  who will then be willing to part with their hard earned money to support their teams. The key here is accountability from officials. Without it, fans will never become paying members.

Another key element is that club and national officials must keep the public up to speed on the happenings of their organizations. This means holding mandatory press conferences at least once a month. This will help maintain public interest in the clubs. The problem with present club officials (especially those at Gor Mahia and AFC) is that they are too secretive and thus fans tend to tune out because they feel left out of the day to day running of the club. In essence these clubs are being run like secret societies where information must be kept away from the public. When this happens, fans generally start to lose interest, stop attending matches and eventually tune out completely. In fact the only time fans hear from officials is when the officials are expressing some negativity. This constant stream of bad news also has a negative impact on fan interest.

Creating a plan for the future

The club officials must come forward with a comprehensive plan that explains what they plan to do with the money once they get it. The plan must include short term and long term goals. This is an excellent way of convincing fans that their hard earned money will be put to good use. An example of a long term goal would be to buy income generating assets such as an office building that can help generate income on an ongoing basis. Athletics Kenya have done this successfully for years by renting out office space at Riadha house to supplement their income.

Embark on an aggressive membership recruitment campaign

The clubs must start actively selling membership cards during league matches. The membership cards must be sold not just at the clubs league matches but also at the other matches taking place across the country. Nationwide branches that have been inactive for years must be revived to accomplish this goal. In addition the clubs can set up a partnership with the Post office to sell the membership cards. Names of branch officials should be well known and listed on the cards and on the clubs website.

Hold Elections promptly and  Hold Elected officials to their promises

As things stand now, neither AFC leopards nor Gor Mahia have held elections in more than five years. The primary reason for this is because officials do not want to give up their positions. As a result, most fans do not feel that they have any say in the day to day running of the club, and for that reason they opt not to become members of even attend matches. Elections are an excellent way to create fan interest and generate free publicity for the club and get people talking about it. They also help create and sustain fan interest. But most importantly they give fans an opportunity  to decide the fate of their clubs. So in essence when an official refuses to hold elections, he is putting his selfish interests ahead of those of the club.

Before each official is elected, he or she must come forward with a plan of what he plans to do during his term. If at the end of his term he does not achieve those goals, he should not be allowed to seek re-election. This will prevent national officials from seeking office for purely selfish reasons. The duties that each official is responsible for must also be clearly stated.

Its highly likely that the officials of these clubs will resist attempts to hold elections. Most of them are incapable of putting the clubs interests ahead of their own. But sustained pressure must be brought upon these officials from all corners: the fans, the media, politicians and the players themselves. Again it is worth noting that most of these clubs have not held real elections in almost a decade, leading to a decline in fan interest. When fans feel like they have no stake in the club, they tend to tune out.

Public Relations

It was depressing and disappointing to hear a Gor Mahia official remark that the club officials tend to keep club news away from fans due to their volatile nature. Public relations and marketing is probably the most important aspect in creating and maintaining a professional outfit. The public must be kept up to speed on what is going on at the club and what the clubs plans for the future are. This helps peak fan interest. It gets fans talking about the club. And any good publicity will bring crowds to the stadium. Thus it is important that the clubs hold a press conference periodically to keep fans and members abreast. Too often club officials act is if the internal goings on at the club are non of the fans business and will operate the club as if it were some kind of secret society. This is a poor way to run a club because when fans feel alienated from the club, they simply stop attending matches or even discussing the club. This is one of the issues that has led to a sharp decline in attendances over the past decade. 

In the past, Gor Mahia  undertake an annual tour of Nyanza province to reconnect with its roots and its multitude of fans in that area. This was an excellent marketing tool because it gives fans who would not normally get to watch the team playing a chance to watch them at close quarters. At such tours, school children would be given free entry into the stadium. It is very important to convert school children into fans when they are still impressionable because once they become fans at that age, they usually stay fans for life.

Part of an aggressive marketing campaign that these new clubs will have to partake is public relations and promotional activities. These include having occasional open training sessions where the public can come and watch them train, visiting primary schools to help promote their teams and posing for photo ops with primary school children (future fans), touring various parts of the country to play friendly matches, sign autographs, photo ops and hold open training sessions, thus increasing their fan base nationwide.

Fans must also play a part. Hooliganism at stadiums prevents people who would normally attend matches from attending. True football is an emotional game. But fans must realize that their behavior plays a significant role in bringing crowds into the stadium and attracting sponsors. And in most cases the people who are to blame for the clubs poor performance are not th referees or the coaches or the players. It almost always is the fault of club officials who are often bereft of ideas.

Sweden based Kenyan international, Tom Juma, is pictured above entertaining kids from his local town. European teams understand that the best way to create life long fans is to win them over while they are still young and impressionable. Which is why they encourage interaction between team members and primary school children as much as possible. Having had a close interaction with the club, the kids you see above will likely develop a true life long affinity for the club.

Should these clubs ever be turned into Companies ?

The answer is an emphatic NO ! make the HELL NO !

These clubs belong to the people. We certainly do not want the club to end up being owned by an individual who does not even support the club. This individual can decide at any point to pull his finances out and let the club die a slow death. Having a club owned by an individual can also create resentment from fans many of whom might stop supporting the club when they realize that the money they pay for match tickets is going into someone's bank account. yet this someone is not a fan. This is exactly what happened with Manchester United when American billionaire Malcolm Glazer purchased majority shares at the club.

A much better proposal would be to turn the club into a a non profit organization. The beauty behind a non profit is that all the profits generated by the club are re-invested back into the club and thus do not go to anyones bank account. And by re-investing all its profits the club will grow much faster. Some of these profits will go towards charitable causes within the community such as educating AIDS orphans. Isn't this a much better scenario than having an individual profit from the club ?

If well run, NON profits are capable of generating as much income as a company through ticket sales, merchandizing and TV revenue. And non profits are also subject to stringent financial auditing which will reduce the likelihood of corruption. The Nairobi hospital is an excellent example of a Non profit organization that generates huge amounts of money and has excellent facilities due ti the fact that it re-invests all its profits back into the company.

If the club is indeed turned into a company, there is no guarantee that the public will buy shares. Kenyans will be wary of investing in football especially when they consider how poorly football is run in the country. Chances are  that only a small proportion of people will buy the shares. There have been several officials and politicians who for years have been pushing for these clubs to be turned into companies. Kenyans ought to view these people with suspicion. Chances are that they are primarily interested in profiting from a club that really belongs to the people. If these clubs are ever turned into private companies, there is a chance that the fans may become so resentful that they will altogether stop attending matches or following the team. I for one will not be supporting my team anymore because it no longer belongs to me and I no longer have a stake in it. Turning the community clubs into private companies will be a tragic mistake and will sound the final death knell for these clubs. Those officials and politicians who are pushing for their respective community clubs to be turned into companies should know that they will be responsible for finally killing off the clubs by alienating the fan base. The fan base is dead set against this idea so going against their wishes will be as good as telling them they are no longer welcome. Why would a fan support a team that he no longer has a stake in ? Why would a fan buy club merchandize knowing fully well that those profits are going to and individuals bank account. An individual who has never supported the club. Most of these officials seem not to understand that a club cannot survive without fans.

The bottom-line is that the only people who should benefit from community clubs are the players who earn a living, the fans who get entertainment and the community which will benefit from charity projects and community projects once the club becomes financially stable and is able to finance community projects.

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