This is what it took for MaMkhize’s Royal AM to bend the ball their way

The unexpected success of Durban-based football club Royal AM is testament to the phrase “it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish”.

The team, owned by flamboyant businesswoman and socialite Shauwn “MaMkhize” Mkhize, had a chaotic start to life in the DStv Premiership, in contrast to, but in some ways in keeping with, the grand entrances for which Mkhize is known.

Royal were on the verge of promotion as champions of the 2020-21 second-tier GladAfrica Championship before an arbitration decision awarded points to Sekhukhune United ahead of the final round, denying the Durban team the title.

A protracted court battle saw defeat at every turn, right up to the Constitutional Court and international Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Mkhize bought Bloemfontein Celtic’s status and Royal had only two days to prepare for their opening top-flight match against Swallows FC, which they lost 1-0.

After Royal’s second loss to Cape Town City, many picked the team as obvious candidates for relegation. Purchases of top-flight franchises and the relocation of their squads to different cities can be fraught with pitfalls. They can result in unhappiness among players, which, combined with owners inexperienced in the pressures and requirements of the premiership, can become disastrous.

But Royal pulled one big surprise after another, and their enterprising and aesthetically pleasing football, under coach John Maduka, now sees them in third place, with two matches left, and on the verge of playing in the Caf Champions League or Confederation Cup next season.

Maduka, who crucially moved with the Celtic contingent to KwaZulu-Natal, has described that period as one of the toughest in his career.

“It was a very tough situation because the same week that we had to move to KZN was the same week we had to play the first game, and at the same time we had to merge two squads into one,” he recalled.

“It was not an easy thing, especially in professional football. You can imagine how the players were mentally at that time because remember there were players from Celtic, then suddenly they were in Royal, and psychologically they were not OK.

“The players we found here at Royal AM were also not OK [as they were unsure of keeping their places]. Before you even think of coaching them you have to start preparing them mentally so they understand that what has happened is just part of life and life has to go on. They had to focus on the job at hand.

“It was not an easy job, but we thank God that here we are today, and we thank the management for the effort they put in trying to make sure everyone settled in.”

It was not an easy job, but we thank God that here we are today, and we thank the management for the effort they put in trying to make sure everyone settled in.

—  John Maduka, Royal AM coach

Royal’s financial muscle certainly helped too. The club also has one of the best training facilities in the secluded Table Mountain area of Pietermaritzburg and management is believed to be taking good care of the players — financially and in the facilities the club is providing.

Football administrator and Royal CEO Sinky Mnisi believes Royal’s success in their first season in the top-tier is a direct result of successfully blending the business skills of Mkhize and the football knowledge of people such as himself and fellow official Richard Makhoba. He described the team’s success as a “victory against all odds” as he believes there were people working against Royal.

“This is a dream come true for me because when we started nobody gave us a chance. Everybody was saying this team would get relegated and they even said we don’t know what we are doing,” Mnisi said.

To me the players are the most important. You can say whatever you want, but at the end of the day you need your players to carry out your plans.

—  John Maduka

“The experience that I have in football and the experience MaMkhize has in terms of business worked for us. I think the combination of the two and the fact that we decided to go for continuity was a masterstroke. That’s why we had Maduka and the other people because they knew the players from Celtic better than anybody. We thought they could include our players in the team, which gelled very well.”

After everything he went through at Celtic, where players were sometimes not paid because owner Max Tshabalala, who sold the club to Mkhize, ran into financial troubles, Maduka was the right man to lead Royal out of a chaotic situation.

“To me the players are the most important. You can say whatever you want, but at the end of the day you need your players to carry out your plans,” Maduka said.

“I need to make sure all of them are on the same level. I don’t try to make one feel more special than the other. The way you treat [Ndumiso] Mabena must be the same way you treat [Zukile] Mkhize because if you don’t treat them the same way you will lose the other and no longer have a team.

“It all comes down to working hard and making sure the players understand the importance of the team remaining in the PSL and the team to be able to compete.”