Hearty send-off
Hordes of red-and-white clad Big Bullets fans on Monday lined up at strategic points between Lilongwe and Blantyre to salute their team for being officially crowned TNM Super League champions.
The Bullets spiced their crowning with a 3-1 victory over Civo United at Civo Stadium on Sunday.
The wave of happiness among thousands of delirious fans pouring out to wait for their team at trading centres along the M1 Road was a sight to behold.
Traffic came to a halt, or a snail’s pace, for many minutes on major roads in Lilongwe throughout the route the People’s Team victory convoy took on its joyous trip back to its base in Blantyre.
They earned the crown after a victory-laden gallop that saw them losing only two games out of 28 in the 15-team flagship league.
The heart of the convoy was a swanky coach in which most of the victorious players rode, many of them peeping out of the window and often waving to the hundreds of supporters and other well-wishers whose numbers grew by the minute, especially at road junctions or roadside business centres.
More than a dozen other players literally threw caution to the wind by riding atop the bus carrier, from where they effected melodrama by dancing, singing victory songs or waving the red-white flags and other such items the Bullets fans love their team for.
A dozen other minibuses and touring cars were on the convoy, sometimes criss-crossing as they honked and hoisted the club colours.
“Let us dance for deserving soccer champions in Malawi. Let the hearts of the jealous pretenders to the throne explode. They are babies; Bullets is untouchable!” one of the supporters’ songs chided their rivals, who must have been looking on sheepishly and green with envy.
Remarkably, as the Bullets convoy went around city streets and headed out of Lilongwe, the club’s popularity as “the People’s Team,” was unquestionable. Many drivers and passengers in minibuses and other vehicles coming from the opposite direction saluted the convoy by flashing lights or waving the team’s scarves and flags.
At one point, at least, a driver coming from the opposite direction stopped his pick-up vehicle, alighted and did a flamboyant dancing gig, as the Bullets convoy passed by slowly. The man jumped back into his vehicle later, much to the joy and whistling of fellow fans.
At Bunda Turn-Off, a record crowd turned up to give their beloved team a historic send-off from Lilongwe, which arguably has the second largest number of supporters. The road was closed for about 20 minutes, as hundreds of people created a ‘sea’ of a dancing frenzy.
It was only after a Bullets official took to the microphone—to thank the people for their “massive support and love” and to plead that the convoy be released on the long, 320-kilometre trip to Blantyre—that the fans let up and waved their heroes and heroines farewell, around noon yesterday.
After Bunda Turn-off, their next step was Chimbiya in Dedza, then they briefly stopped at Lizulu in Ntcheu and then Ntcheu Boma where the convoy was mobbed by ecstatic fans who sang in praise of their team.
Along the way, fans showered players with gifts in form of cash or food stuffs, in particular Irish potatoes.
Team manager Rahim Ishmael was overwhelmed with the reception accorded the team.
“The plan was that we should reach Blantyre before dark so that we can also celebrate with the fans there too, but it looks like we will arrive late in the evening,” said Ishmael from Balaka Market at around 4pm.
The fans were also overwhelmed by the raw beauty of the occasion that meant so much to each one of them. There were scenes so lovely that should have only been fit for the eyes of the angels in their flight.
“I am retiring from football a very happy man, you cannot ask for anything better than this. The fans have been amazing,” said midfielder James Chilapondwa who took his final bow after Sunday’s match.
Scores of fans drove from Blantyre to welcome their team at Zalewa Roadblock while others waited at Lunzu and Blantyre’s central business district (CBD). n
