Is this a sad and painful ending of once mighty Chitipa United?

They once led the TNM Super League race last season, not for days. For weeks, for months, to be precise. “This may be the Leicester City of Malawi,” a football pundit warned or, let’s say, foretold. But as it turned out in the end, Chitipa United were no Leicester City who defied mind-bogling odds in 2016 to lift the English Premier League. Instead, United finished fourth which in itself was already an overachievement. They were a season old in the top flight, running on the tiniest of budgets, with a sponsor on the brink of meltdown. They were supposed to be relegated. And to finish ahead of 12 other teams was no shame at all, especially when you factor in the fact that some of those outdone clubs were  the likes of Moyale Barracks and Civil Service who are both backed by the might of the Malawi Government purse.  If that was not remarkable, then perhaps finishing 12 points behind champions Nyasa Big Bullets was a staggering miracle that cannot be forgotten. The general consesus was that, this was a determined and awesome force of nature that was here to stay. And stay they did except they won’t stay for long.

Flirting with relegation

1 W 2 D 5 L. This is the reality for them to grapple, their form in 2024/25 season. So dire are their performances that naysayers believe this is how far they could have gone, anyway.

“Their situation is bad, they have unpaid players, they have unpaid coaching staff. It will be worse, ” a source from their camp confided to us. It must go worse, indeed. This is Malawi and already, that can foretell what is to come: financial struggle. Financial numbers will never be up to standards we expect of a motivated staff. Not even at elite clubs like Bullets or Mighty Mukuru Wanderers. Now consider Chitipa United where highest paid players reportedly earn lower than K200, 000. And that is before we become aware of the fact that they go for months without being paid. Then there is the issue of coaches who have always come and gone both at the gaffers’ will and at the volition of the club, or both. There was once Christopher Nyambose and Gift Mkamanga and then Mac Donaldo Mtetemera before McNebert Kadzuwa took over in February. But sadly, Kadzuwa too has left after a poor start to the current season. And the universal feeling feeling is, this is the beginning of a mighty downfall: Chitipa United are 14th and they might sink deeper as the season rumbles on.

Players not giving

There is a narrative that poor tactics( lack of directness) have led to the current gloom; and that players are not giving much to the ambirions of the club. Of course, we will never know what the actual genesis could be but who will blame the players in their circumstances? They are a team without a real sponsor now, apart from the bony charm of well-wishers who can only give so much. Coaches and players have families to feed, have expenses to make. And football for them is the answer to their hopes. Yet when the very same football refuses to give them back, they are bound to be frustrated. And we can see where they are coming from–and the prognosis is there for us to see: the damnation is on the wall.

Will they come back

The hope is, Chitipa United, for all the club represents, should at least survive relegation. The league needs them as much as they do all others. The understanding is that, a club must exit the stage of the top-flight football if and when they deserve to–and that is, if their performance warrants that they be relegated. But the men from Chitipa, it appears, will be demoted for reasons other than those related to football. It is a pinch of salt that they must have to swallow and at this rate, they may be as good as gone. Gone to the second division, gone into oblivion which may be eternal.  Oh Hail Mary, Chitipa United, a once all-conquering juggernaut condemned to death. It shouldn’t happen, it could happen.

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :