The City of Lusaka Football Club yesterday announced a partnership with Southern Cross Motors worth an estimated $100,000 (K2 million). The sponsorship saw Southern Cross becoming one of the main sponsors of the rejuvenate. The deal will see Southern Cross Motors brands be displayed in Woodlands Stadium and will appear on the Club’s new replica shirt. This is according to a statement on the club’s official website.
A History of City of Lusaka
City of Lusaka or ‘City Yamoto’ as they are known have a long and turbulent history filled with world shattering highs and some incredible lows. The club was formed in 1935 and has always been based in the Woodlands area. When it was found it was competing with some of the most prolific clubs in Zambia’s history like Kitwe United and Roan United. In its time the club faced their fierce Lusaka based rivals the Lusaka Tigers who since 2016 have been in decline and now are in Division 2 (Miles Sampa is currently campaigning to return the team to its former glory). The club once coached one of the worlds’ most expensive players Jack Sewell (held the transfer record for four years). Sewell acted as player coach and famously made 10 appearances for Zambia and became one the first players to represent two national teams.
Over the last 3 years the club suffered severely from severe debt issues and a lack of stability. This included allegations of misappropriation transfer funds by some of the clubs executives and apparent infighting within the clubs previous management. Currently under the new management the club plays in the Eden University First Division and sits at 6th on the table. The club recently released the coach Veselin Jelusic whose appointment came with excitement due his experience of managing two national teams (Angola and Botswana). The club announced on Tuesday that he is to be replaced by Isaac Chansa, the 37 year old Africa Cup of Nations hero who is now taking his shot at managing. We can assume the club is making a turn for the better with the club chairman, Chomba Mumba, saying:
“City of Lusaka is in a strong position to gain promotion with twelve games remaining. We believe that Coach Chansa is the right person to build the foundations laid in the league so far. Welcome to the Yamoto family Coach Chansa”.
The Importance of Partnerships
Recently team merchandise has become increasingly attractive to Super League supporters as teams begin to expand their income streams. However, most of the remaining teams still heavily depend on sponsorships like this Southern Cross deal in order to meet their obligations. Recently President Edgar Lungu had to pay off Nkana’s $32,000 (K 585,000) arrears to former player Walter Bwalya. This comes after Mopani Mines decided to cut their sponsorship of the football club due to the impact Glencore exiting the mine mid-last year. Despite Nkana being one of the most competitive cubs in the league the club could not compete without sponsorship as ticket sales and merchandise income is not sufficient. Recently MTN signed a K43 million sponsorship deal with FAZ of which the money is expected to be divided equally among the clubs. The clubs received K500,000 for their Super Sport sponsorship deal but this year does not seem enough to be able to keep talented players and be competitive in the league, each club is owed a further K500,000. Teams in the Eden University league receive a smaller percentage of the sponsorship deal however.
Recently City of Lusaka has attracted an increase in big name sponsors including a $75,000 (K 1.5 million) deal with MTN in February 2020. The deal gave MTN the naming rights to the newly renovated Woodlands stadium. Additionally the club also has lucrative food partnerships with Capital Fisheries and Hybrid Poultry. The team seems to have benefited from a strong backroom staff including Diego Casili, one the most successful real estate developers in Zambia. Casili is the owner of Acacia Park, Eastpark Mall and the newly established Lewanika Malls, has made a substantial investment in Woodlands stadium and the surrounding area.
