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Zimbabweans for their resilie-nce and believes the domestic game is poised for growth following the bra-nding of the Premier Soccer League.
Bailey, now a football presenter on DSTV’s SuperSport channel, was in the capital yesterday to make a presentation on leadership and its significance to the game at a workshop that brought toge-ther football writers, administrators and sponsors.
The Premier Soccer League received a major boost when Delta Beverages – through their Castle Lager Brand – returned to sponsor the game, inking an initial three-year deal to bankroll the top-flight league.
Bailey noted that Zimbabweans had gone through a tough time because of an economic meltdown but had still remained “one of the best countries to visit with wonderful people.
“It is amazing that for all the hardships that the people here went through, they have remained hospitable, they are such a wonderful people and they can still afford a smile and I always tell people wherever I go about this,” Bailey said.
Bailey, who also had a stint with Kaizer Chiefs, noted that the staging of the first World Cup in Africa by South Africa last year had changed perceptions about the game on the continent and particularly in Southern Africa.
He was one of the World Cup ambassadors that drove South Africa’s bid to stage the global football showcase.
Bailey yesterday took the sports journalists and administrators through an inspirational leadership talk that focu-sed on Mancheter United manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s successes and his own FA Cup trials and tribulations in the English Premier League.
Bailey also spoke of the differences in the sporting culture between Africa and Europe, which he reckoned made it difficult for African goalkeepers to break into the European leagues in numbers.
In his presentation on leadership, Bailey elaborated on four areas of what he called the LEAD principle.
“This is not easy to achieve, as those with a strong will tend to want everyone to know and appreciate their skills, and often lack humility. Sir Alex Ferguson has both these qualities in abundance,” said Bailey.
The South Africa-born star, whose career was cut short by an injury, used personal experiences to elaborate on his presentation on leadership.
“I made my debut for Manchester United as a 19-year old from Johannesburg and it was not easy at first playing in front of huge and intimidating crowds.
“I remember well the FA Cup final we lost to Arsenal in 1979. It had an extra-ordinary last five minutes with United hitting back twice to level scores from 2-0 down.
“We ended up losing 3-2 and a lot of bad things were written about me concerning the third goal and when I came back to South Africa for holiday I contemplated not going back to play again in England.
“But sometimes you need to make tough decisions in your life. You need to strive constantly if you are to succeed.
“And after talking to my father I had to return to England and had to contend with the opposition fans who developed a habit of gathering behind my goal and sang about that 3-2 FA Cup incident each time we played.
“But I had to be positive because what you focus on is what you get, good or bad,” said Bailey.
He also used South Africa’s successful hosting of the 2010 Fife World Cup as an example of how people can succeed in big ventures despite their background.
Bailey, who revealed his love for Zimbabwe, said he was fascinated by the resilience and mental power of the locals.
“Zimbabwe is a nice country and probably one of the most beautiful Afri-can countries I have visited.
“The people are very hospitable and I am fascinated by your resilience,” he said.
Bailey, who now works as a television presenter for SuperSport, made 300 appearances but his career was ended prematurely at the age of 28 after picking up a knee injury.
After a final retirement, Gary turned his attention to the media and became the anchor soccer presenter at Supersport, covering the 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002 World Cups. He has been one of Southern Africa’s top speakers for the last 12 years.
He has also completed an MBA from Henley in Oxford.
Before Bailey’s presentation, Delta Marketing dierctor Maxen Karombo addressed the journalists and the administrators on the issue of sponsorship.
Karombo called on clubs to adopt strategies that would help them attract individual sponsorship to remain viable in the league.
He said while his company injected US$600 000 for this season clubs also needed to seek ways to sustain themselves. Delta is trying to bring glamour into local football and boosting the image of the game with different innovations aimed at bring the game to similar levels to that witnessed in South Africa and some European countries.
He gave examples of how clubs could use their club’s history to seek sponsorships with companies using a case study of Liverpool – one of the most successful clubs in England.
“Clubs must attract sponsorship. Clearly the Premiership sponsor cannot cater for everyone,” said Karombo.
Karombo also spoke on the role of the media in promoting football sponsorship.
“The media can be credited for attracting sponsors to the game because as more commentaries and editorials are published, the league, clubs and players get more exposure and mass appeal. Without media football would not be as popular as it is,” said Karombo.
Karombo added that while football sponsorship is now big business in the world it remains delicate and is threatened by scandal and controversy.
PSL chief executive Kenny Ndebele, in his capacity as the Fifa administrators’ instructor, took the delegates through the Fifa expectations on the competitions.
He exhausted the principles of competitions where he touched on the structure and organisation of the clubs, good administration and regulations.
Ndebele explored the need for clubs to have proper structures, which include club offices and proper executives.
He said there was need for regulations to be understood by the participants and administrators as well as being comprehensive.
On discipline and fair play, Ndebele said there was need to comply with the Fifa Disciplinary Code.
Ndebele acknowledged that local clubs were still to fully comply with the requirements of the professional game and Fifa’s expectations.