Over two decades ago, I made a statement that if I were given the sole responsibility to come up with the league fixtures for the season, I could give some advantage to some clubs and make winning the league difficult for other clubs. People laughed it off. To them, it didn’t make sense because in a league in which all clubs play each other (twice), things will ‘balance out,’ and the best club will win. I disagree, and I will explain.
In recent times, it seems Kumasi Asante Kotoko has more difficult first five games in the league than arch rivals Accra Hearts of Oak. Debatable? This is exactly one of the ways to make it difficult for a club to win the league (if a club is marginally better than the others). How can making the first matches in the league difficult for a club lead to a disadvantage for the club?
The club starts on a poor note and may struggle to catch up: Imagine a club playing its first five matches against its most difficult opponents. If the club draws all five matches, it will end up with 5 points. A rival club that plays its easiest matches in the first five games could end up with 15 points. It will not be easy for the club with 5 points to catch up with the club with 15 points because other factors will come into play.
Psychological ‘boost’ for the winning club and possible stress/’depression’ for the seemingly struggling club: The team that is winning gets a boost. They appear to be better. Their players get confident. Their strikers may be leading on the Goal King chart. Their goalkeeper(s) will be having more clean sheets – finishing matches without conceding goals. This will be the opposite for the team that played more difficult matches. The supporters may be demanding more from the players, putting them under more pressure. Some of the players may ‘crack’ under the pressure. New players are especially more difficult to settle down. They may end up on the bench for subsequent matches and may struggle to recover and come back into the first team.
The coach may be sacked or may resign/leave under pressure: The club that plays more difficult matches is likely to record more injuries among its players early in the season. Some players may miss the whole season through injuries. On the other hand, the club that plays easier matches earlier in the season will have the luxury to substitute and rest players when they are comfortably leading in matches. Players may not have to exert themselves so much, reducing the risk of injuries.
Supporters abandon the team that is not winning and may not go to the stadium to give home support: If a club is not winning, its supporters may not pay money to go to the stadium to watch matches. In fact, they may not even go to the stadium if they are asked to go and watch matches for free. This will not only have financial consequences for the club, but an almost empty stadium also takes away the home advantage from the ‘intimidation’ of supporters.
The above are all reasons why the first games in the league can give an advantage or a disadvantage to clubs. Once this is accepted, it means there must be fairness in coming up with the league fixtures if we want the best club(s) to emerge as winners who can represent the country and not disgrace the country internationally. A transparent way of coming up with the league fixtures is needed (like how balloting is done for knockout competitions). This way, clubs and individuals cannot complain that someone or some people decided to favour some clubs through the league fixtures.
