We all have our favourite teams, but how many support a club just for the name?
Creativity in Africa knows no bounds when it comes to baptising football teams and within the continent, the tiny kingdom of Swaziland has no equal. My favourites were always Ten and One Young Dribblers, who had a brief sojourn in top flight football in the southern African country.
Then there are Eleven Men in Flight, a much more successful club who even got to play in the African Cup Winners Cup. They finished runners-up in the Swazi league a decade ago but sadly have since been relegated.
Sadly, Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs lost their premier league status in Ghana last year although Hearts of Oak are one of the continents giants. Not only are they among the oldest clubs, they have had Sir Stanley Matthews play for them and also won the African Champions League in 2000.
In Botswana, Mosquito Selibe-Phikwe just dropped down to the third tier of their league, showing little bite in a season in which they won just five of their 22 matches. But Naughty Boys just missed out on promotion to the top flight.
Two season ago, Touch and Go took the uncertainty out of the game and finished last in Namibias premier league standings to disappear back to the anonymity of the northern town of Otavi.
Elsewhere, I also look out for the results of Surinams Robin Hood and Joe Public in nearby Trinidad and Tobago. But they don’t come close to Ten and One Young Dribblers, who I am determined to watch live if I can find what happened to them.
Mark Gleeson, Johannesburg

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The UK’s favorite score line…..
East Fife 5 : ForFar so far 4
- Posted by JimI’ve always had a soft spot for Deportivo Wanka. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportivo_W anka
- Posted by LondonTeam names in Europe are very dull, generally. Young Boys and Grasshoppers aren’t bad and Sheffield Wednesday has a certain ring to it but not many more occur to me. I wish Liverpool could change their name to Maniacal Red Love or something.
- Posted by Rafa[...] Beware the Mysterious Dwarfs and other oddly named African clubs (Reuters Soccer Blog) [...]
- Posted by Daily Dose 09.17.07 - World Football - The Offside - Soccer News and Opinion from leagues around the worldWell, tallent in Africa is still plent, and plent indeed, but the problem is that there is no enough support from the governments. In Swaziland for example, you will never imagine what amount big players in the premier league get - discouraging to mention! Anys, keep yourself abrest with Swaziland developments by visiting http://www.aboutswaziland.com
http://www.aboutswaziland.com
- Posted by Harold