The relegation-battling teams, Baka City FC, Chitipa United, Bangwe All Stars and FOMO Football Club remain confident in escaping the relegation chop this season with seven weeks to go before wrapping up the season.
No team has been confirmed relegated from the Super League yet and the battle for survival is still tight. We take a look at how the bottom four teams have performed and their coaches’ reaction to the relegation fight:
We will fight until last game of the season- Mwalweni
The Northern Region struggling side, Baka City Football Club remains slumped to the bottom of the table having amassed just 8 points after playing 22 games. If their total points accumulation is not enough to describe their struggles in the elite league, the number of defeats suffered by super league clubs this season also sums it up.
Only four teams have reached the double figures of defeats this season, Baka City (16), Chitipa United (12), FOMO FC (12) and Bangwe All Stars (11). The Clever Boys have just scored nine goals (9) this season, conceding 55, surpassing Red Lions and Extreme FC who were relegated last season after conceding 50 and 43 goals respectively- Only Rumphi United and TN Stars have conceded more goals than Baka in the last five years (73 and 67 respectively.)
After their recent game where they lost to FCB Nyasa Big Bullets at Karonga Stadium, Kondwani Mwalweni said the team will keep on fighting until the last game of the season.
“As long as we are going to finish all the games in the league, we can still make it,” he said. “We are just failing to convert our chances and we are still trying to find the best team to help us.”
Baka City will resume their fight for survival in the revived, reformed and rebranded league just after the October FIFA International Break as they host Mzuzu City Hammers before travelling to Chitowe Stadium to face Mafco FC and Mzuzu to face Moyale Barracks.
Out of their remaining eight games, Baka City will play five games at home, traveling to Dwangwa, Mzuzu and Lilongwe where they are facing Silver Strikers. They will be at home against Chitipa United, Premier Bet Dedza Dynamos, Mighty Tigers, FOMO FC and Hammers.
Chitipa bank on home-ground advantage to survive relegation
Another struggling side which is oozing confidence is Chitipa United who sits second from bottom with 18 points from 22 games. The Inkhalamu Zga ku Chitipa are passing in Stony and a rough path after enjoying the elite league in 2023.
Fresh from finishing fourth last season, Chitipa United were hoping to be a top team and tough side to reckon with this season but their misfortune started just before the league commenced as they had to search for a coach after Macdonald Nginde Mtetemera dumped them to join CRECK Sporting Club.
It is a season characterized by highs and lows for Chitipa who have recorded some interesting wins, beating Karonga United, Bangwe All Stars, Kamuzu Barracks, Baka City after scoring four goals in each game but maintaining consistency has been a challenge.
Mc Nebert Kadzuwa and Elvis Kafoteka tried their best and resigned just after months, late Gift Nathaniel Mkamanga worked on an interim basis before the team roped in former Bangwe All Stars, Mighty Tigers coach, Christopher Nyambose.
Nyambose said he will try to use the remaining home games to rescue the team from playing in the Simso League next season.
“We have seven games to play at home, we have a bright future,” said Nyambose after a 4-2 defeat to Bullets at Kamuzu Stadium. “Take my words, we will play the Airtel Top 8 Cup next season.
“There will be no team that will get points from my remaining home games, I will win all of them. We can’t go like that saying that we finished fourth last season then we are going to do well this season, that’s football.”
Chitipa United played a draw game against Karonga United in their recent match and they will host FOMO FC, Mighty Mukuru Wanderers, Mzuzu City Hammers, Dedza Dynamos and Moyale Barracks at Karonga Stadium. They will play away matches against Baka City, CRECK Sporting Club and Mighty Waka Waka Tigers.
The players are coming up- Kajawa
Bangwe All Stars Football Club’s Head Coach, Trevor Kajawa says the team is not deserving of being relegated from the elite league and he has been preaching this message to the players since being appointed as the coach for the team.
Sitting just third from bottom with 19 points from their last 22 games, Bangwe are holding the belief that they will escape from the relegation trap this season.
The Blantyre based side who were shining stars in the 2023 football season after finishing sixth in the TNM Super League, qualifying for the Airtel Top 8 Cup and their scramble for success can be amplified by their persistent change of the technical panel.
Abel Mkandawire and Joseph Kamwendo who guided the team not only to safety but also sixth place, were fired before the season started with Christopher Nyambose who was fired at Mighty Waka Waka Tigers taking over the helm.
His spell at the club was short-lived as he resigned from his post citing personal reasons before being replaced by Mapopa Msukwa who guided FOMO FC to the super league during his stay at the Club last season.
The former Wanderers player did not make his mark at the Club as he was replaced by former FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Head Coach, Rodgers Yasin who seemed to be the right man to take the team out of their bruises and sluice them.
He kicked off his tenure with a barren stalemate against Mzuzu City Hammers at home before suffering three back-to-back defeats to Baka City FC, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets and CRECK Sporting Club conceding 8 goals without scoring.
The team played two straight draws against Mighty Tigers and Moyale Barracks before another 2-0 defeat to Bullets in the first round of the league. He pulled a remarkable 2-1 win over Dedza Dynamos Football Club but he failed to record a single win in his next three games, losing Chitipa United, Mzuzu City Hammers and FOMO Football Club.
The former Mighty Waka Waka Tigers and Karonga United coach, Trevor Kajawa said his team is now coming up but they need to fight for their lives in the super league.
He kicked off his time at Bangwe with a narrow 1-0 defeat to Mighty Mukuru Wanderers in the Airtel Top 8 Cup, in a game that the team showed resilience before stunning Bullets in his first league match as the head coach for the team. Bangwe beat Baka City before holding league leaders, Silver Strikers at Balaka Stadium.
“Yah, they [the players] are coming up,” he tells the Media. “I think we did well against Bullets, we defended well, we counter-attacked them, we scored a goal.
“The players know where they are, they should push themselves up and take this team to a certain level. This is not a team to be relegated from the super league, I think they know it and I think the guys are working very hard to move out of the relegation zone.”
Bangwe will resume their hunt for survival just after the international break with a Limbe Derby against Tigers at Kamuzu Stadium before playing two back-to-back home matches against Kamuzu Barracks and Civil Service United.
There is desire, hunger and determination in my boys
Elvis Kafoteka who is the interim head coach for the Super League rookies, Friends of Mulanje Orphans, FOMO Football Club said he is confident enough that his team will survive the relegation chop this season.
Kafoteka’s bright start to his tenure at FOMO was halted by Mighty Mukuru Wanderers in their recent league match at Kamuzu Stadium where the Nomads claimed a narrow 1-0 win, thanks to Wisdom Mpinganjira’s early strike.
Commenting on the survival rate of his team in the league, Kafoteka said his players have hunger and determination to win games.
“For sure, we are going to stay [in the league.] If we continue the way we are playing, I’m sure that we are going to survive because I’m now able to see the hunger and determination in the players to win the games,” he said.
The Lions of Sapitwa have now collected seven points from their last four matches, having previously defeated Bangwe All Stars, Kamuzu Barracks and drawn against Mighty Waka Waka Tigers.
FOMO FC will face CRECK Sporting Club, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets and Civil Service United in their next three consecutive games at home after the FIFA international break.
