The marriage of opposites between majority shareholder Dieter Bock and Moroka Swallows, the one-time giants of South African soccer, is poised for the divorce courts following the shock announcement by the German business entrepeneur on Tuesday that the “Beautiful Birds” were up for sale.
Although Swallows received something of a lifesaver and achieved moderate success after Bock bought 90% of the Swallows’ shares from the late David Chabeli some six years ago and injected much-needed finance into the club, the old dynamism and charisma of
the Soweto glamour side, which came into existence in 1947, was never fully recreated.
In a statement released by Bock he says that with the many opportunities existing in the growing African soccer market, Swallows’ development would be enhanced by fresh co-owners buying into the club — or taking it over completely.
And few would quibble with this assesment. with the German owner and the Birds forming something akin to an odd couple, who at best enjoyed a cool and distant relationship under management who were well-intentioned, but never fully understood the Swallows credo or what the club stood for among its one-time massive support base.
The big problem now for The Birds, who were often likened to the mythical phoenix for an ability to return to full flight after seemingly being reduced to ashes at a funeral pyre, will be to find the right new owner — with Bock unlikely to let go of his potentially valuable asset cheaply.
In the 1980s under Chilean-born coach Mario “The Godfather” Tuani, Swallows boasted one of the most skillful and exciting club combinations yet seen in the South African soccer spectrum — with players of the calibre Thomas “Who’s Fooling Who?” Hlongwane, Aubrey “The Great” Magkopela, Ace Mnini, Sam “Happy Cow” Mnkomo, Aaron “Roadblock” Makhathini, Sulie Bhamjee and South American international defenders Mario Varas and Raul Gonzalez.
And while The Birds showed glimmerings of their former glory after Bock took over and annexed the Mainstay Cup and the Absa Cup only last season, the Cape Town-based management never fully came to terms with the club’s Soweto masses.
And now, it would seem, The Birds are truly at the crossroads — with the search for new viable ownership the key to this legendary soccer phoenix rising again. — Sapa