PROMOTION TO FIRST DIVISION A BIG MOMENT FOR OLD MUTUAL FC

Promotion is a big deal for most clubs, but for Old Mutual Football Club’s chairman, Paul Blows, the 2021 season marks a turning point for the club.

Mutual, whose promotion has come due to Atlantic Nacional withdrawing from the Association, will find themselves with trips to clubs like FC Kapstadt, Bothasig, Meadowridge and others for the first time in many years as they prepare for their first competitive fixture since finishing third during the 2019 CTTLFA Second Division.

“We set ourselves a goal a few years ago to qualify for the First Division and now we’re here,” proclaimed a visibly excited Blows. “I know some may say we don’t ‘deserve’ to be there but the truth is that we’ve done so many good things at the club over the past five years and this opportunity is one we’ll relish.”

The Insurers had become synonymous with their junior section which featured a football Academy sponsored by Old Mutual, but at the end of 2018 the Academy was disbanded and Old Mutual FC took control of the junior section themselves and started focusing on football from juniors to veterans.

But it wasn’t all rosy as Blows and his committee were effectively starting a new club, with new ambitions, leaders and short term objectives. One of those objectives, however, was being competitive at a senior level and turning the club into a force to be reckoned with.

Blows said: “We wanted to create an environment where players grow with us from junior to senior level. There’s a lot of facilities around the area but we have something unique at Old Mutual and we’re determined to make ourselves a club that can compete at the top.”

Mutual’s preparation for First Division has taken a massive knock with the facility unable to provide them with a training or match venue for the foreseeable future due to level one (Covid19) restrictions based on the Government’s response to the current coronavirus pandemic.

An anonymous source close to the club explained that the field has taken an absolute beating and looks “like a sandpit” while Blows confirmed his teams are training and playing “wherever they can for as long as they can” due to their home venue currently being unavailable.

Although the issue of fields may prove to be a stumbling block for the men in green, one thing is for sure – their determination and resilience has inspired their members to rally together and make it count after an entire 2020 without football – so expect to see the Old Mutual first team make waves as they compete in the LFA’s second most competitive division for the first time since 2014.