I am not qualified to tell Manzini Wanderers what they should or should not do regarding their status deal with Red Rhinos.
That is a matter for the club’s leadership to consider carefully, taking into account the legal, financial and sporting implications.
However, from where I am sitting I believe the better option for the hub giants may now be to accept their National First Division (NFD) status and start afresh.
Buying a Premier League status is one thing. Playing in the Premier League under the name of another club is an entirely different matter. While I understand the motivation behind acquiring top-flight status, I do not believe Manzini Wanderers should have to sacrifice its name and identity simply to remain in the elite league.
There is nothing unusual about clubs buying or exchanging league status. It has happened in different football leagues and the motivation is usually straightforward: a club wants to remain in the top division rather than start from a lower tier. I have no problem with that concept.
What concerns me is the possibility of Manzini Wanderers playing in the Premier League under the Red Rhinos name.
For a club of Wanderers’ stature, that could dent the identity, culture and heritage of one of the biggest football brands in the country. The timing of the agreement also appears to have created a major problem, particularly because the registration window for changing the club’s name had already closed by the time the two teams entered into the status-exchange arrangement.
I want to make it clear that I am one of those who would love to see Manzini Wanderers playing in the elite league.
However, I would rather see the club competing in the NFD under its own name than playing in the Premier League under the name of another team.
In my view, going to the NFD with dignity would be far better than remaining in the Premier League at the cost of the club’s identity.
Manzini Wanderers is not merely a football team. It is a brand built over generations. It carries memories, rivalries, colours, stories and a culture that supporters have inherited from those who came before them. The Wanderers name means something.
You can change a league position. You can change a coach. You can rebuild a squad. But tampering with a club’s identity is a completely different matter.
Relegation to the NFD does not suddenly make the club a small team.
Football history has shown that big clubs can fall into the lower division and still return stronger.
Mbabane Highlanders, for example, have experienced relegation to the NFD before and subsequently returned to the Premier League. Their identity and heritage remained intact. The same can happen with Manzini Wanderers.
That is why I hope the Wanderers leadership will carefully consider whether taking the matter to court is the best course of action. If it is indeed true that the club is considering legal action against Red Rhinos following the withdrawal from the status deal, I would argue that this could be taking the matter too far.
Red Rhinos, from my understanding of the situation did not enter into the agreement with the intention of letting Manzini Wanderers down. The club apparently agreed to the status arrangement in good faith. The difficulty arose because the deadline for registering the proposed name change had already passed.
Red Rhinos’ decision to withdraw can, therefore, be viewed as an attempt to consider the wider implications of the agreement rather than simply abandoning Wanderers.
It would surely create an awkward and undesirable situation if Red Rhinos were to play as Manzini Wanderers in the NFD while Manzini Wanderers played as Red Rhinos in the Premier League.
At this stage, I believe Manzini Wanderers should channel its energy towards preparing for life in the NFD.
The players need clarity and the club needs to give them the confidence to understand that relegation is not the end of the road. It can instead be the beginning of a rebuilding process aimed at restoring the club to where it belongs.
There is also blame to be placed at the door of the Eswatini Football Association (EFA). The football authorities should arguably have provided clearer guidance to both clubs when the status deal was being negotiated.
EFA should have advised the teams about the possibilities and limitations surrounding the status exchange, particularly regarding the registration of a new name. The late response to correspondence concerning the proposed name change also raises questions about how the matter was handled.
In my view, EFA ultimately left both Manzini Wanderers and Red Rhinos with a raw deal.
But with the new season fast approaching, there is little value in dwelling endlessly on what could have been.
Manzini Wanderers now have an opportunity to make a difficult decision that could ultimately protect the club’s most valuable asset: its identity.
For me, the answer is simple. Let Manzini Wanderers go to the NFD, rebuild under their own name and return to the Premier League with their identity, culture and heritage intact.
