Taking a leaf from Liverpool FC

Liverpool. Tanzania has only two giant clubs, Young Africans and Simba Sports Club as the sides have many members and fan bases.

However, the clubs are yet to utilize well their fan bases and instead they continue to bank on gate earnings and sponsors.

At the clubs you may not wonder to see a group of people drinking coffee, playing draught, exchanging ideas and some, among others, being in verbal exchanges.

This is a normal business for the two clubs that have been dominating the Tanzanian football for many years while producing notable legends.

Some legends include Sunday Manara, Makumbi Juma, Omary Hussein, Leodegar Tenga, Abdallah “King Mputa” Kibadeni, Malota Soma ‘’ball juggler’’, Moses Mkandawile, Selemani Matola, Thomas Kipese and many others.

However, you may think differently when you visit the famous club of Liverpool in the United Kingdom as the team get their earnings through their fans who visit the club at the Anfield Stadium.

I was among members of Tanzania’s contingent that toured the club under the sponsorship of Standard Chartered Bank. The contingent consisted of nine people led by Juanitha Mramba, who is the Head of Corporate Affairs, Brand and Marketing at Standard Chartered Tanzania and the bank’s Senior Relationship Manager for Commercial Banking, Lucia Damas.

With us were six players from Dar es Salaam Corridor Group (DCG), who won the 2019 Standard Chartered Bank trophy competition.

The players include Raphael Kutoka who is the team captain, Salim Kuziwa, Michael Lyimo, Yusuph Lugonzo, Godfrey Waninda and Abdallah Maguzo.

As visitors, we were able to get a lot of information from the Anfield club, whose tour guide briefed us about the history of the club before we started visiting various areas.

Besides Yanga and Simba clubs being free to enter, at Liverpool it is different as their fans are obliged to pay not less than 15 Pounds (Sh45, 000) to secure tickets for touring the club.

Apart from that, as a visitor, you will have to buy a guide book at 10 pounds (Sh30, 000) and after completing that you will be allowed to visit the club and mingle with the fans of the club and view the team’s awards, outfits, trophies and many others.

The club also gets more income from visitors wishing to take photos with various trophies. For instance, to take a photo with European Champions League replica trophy is pounds 25 (Sh75,000) with the gold flameVisiting the club’s new stadium costs £20 (Sh60,000) for adults while for juniors and students is £15 (Sh45,000) and a family £55. (Sh165,000).

If you want to visit the club during their match day and the Steven Gerald Collections, each adult will have to pay £22 (Sh66,000), each senior/student has to pay £18 (Sh64,000 ) and a family £65 (Sh195,000).

There are costs of touring legends and answering questions as well. Visiting the club stadium an adult has to pay £40 (Sh120,000), £30 (Sh90,000) for seniors/students and £20 (Sh60,000). Visiting the club’s UEFA replica trophy and the Steven Gerrard Collection costs £17 (Sh41,000) for adults, £14 (Sh42,000) for seniors/students and £11 Sh33,000 for 16 year-old child and a family £48.(Sh144,000).

There are also costs of a bronze package (One Framed Photo): £15.(Sh25,000), silver package (Two Framed Photo’s): £20 (Sh60,000) and gold package (Three framed photos and digital copies of all photos taken): £25. Sh75, 000).

Do our clubs generate their incomes from their visitors? Obviously, the answer is no.

DCG captain Raphael Kutoka says they have learned a lot after visiting the club and their Anfield Stadium, urging big clubs in the country to start adopting what Liverpool is doing.

Kutoka advises local clubs to put their awards in history, saying there are possibly many Tanzanians who want to visit them and at least pay Sh 5,000.

“The clubs (Yanga and Simba) lose lots of income as they do not use well their worth. It is a wastage of their treasure. Liverpool are making money via their treasuries,” said Kutoka.

For her part, Mramba of Standard Chartered comes up with the saying, “Money cannot buy experiences.”

Mramba says the bank’s task is to educate people through their tournament and open minds of the DCG players on how the giant team in the world use their treasuries to make money.

She said that the tour is a milestone for the players as apart from learning how to increase an income; they managed to visit the club’s academy and trained with qualified coaches including John Aldridge.

“We are stakeholders of sports in the country. Our involvement is to inspire young players, I think, they will deliver to the football stakeholders what they saw at the Anfield,” said Mramba.

She said the players have learned a lot of things apart from watching the English Premier League (EPL) duel between Liverpool and Bournemouth.

She said Liverpool‘s Academy is considered one of the best and one of the most prolific football academies both in England and in the world.

Various current and past Liverpool players have graduated through the academy with the likes of Billy Liddell, Ronnie Moran, Ian Callaghan and Phil Thompson.

Others are Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, Michael Owen, Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard and Trent Alexander-Arnold, among many others.