TIKO DRINK BUEA DRUNK

Every journey has a starting point and mine is no exception. Travelling around the country covering local football stories has been the best part of my life as a journalist which has also seen me try my hand in other domains. From Buea to Bamenda, Yaounde to Garoua, Mbouda to Douala, I travelled. From the Centenary stadium to Stade Mbappe Leppe, Tiko Town Green to the Roumnde Adjia stadium, Mankon Municipal stadium to Nko’o Mvos- I covered, I covered all there could be as football story. From the old-fashioned regional Division Two Championship through the Interpools, to the then National Division One Championship, I covered. Then came the moment to take a break. Today I am back, back to where it all started. But where did it actually start? Tiko or Buea?

Did it really start in this overgrown Tiko Municipal stadium?

When I decided to return to this aspect of journalism which I cherish most, there was only one thought in my mind - go back to where it all started.  I was heading to Tiko to begin this new adventure because I always thought that it is where I began Professional Football writing/reporting. My first article about local football that appeared online was scripted in Tiko back in 2009 though I already had a few on the Indomitable Lions and other African countries. For a considerable period in time, Tiko seemed to be my base and I had every right to start this project there until my old notebooks proved me wrong - I actually started football reporting in Buea in 2003. So I had to drive past Tiko to Buea where it all started.

It actually started here

When I set foot in Buea that rainy Saturday morning, there was only one place I was heading to ― The Molyko Omnisports stadium. That stadium where I swapped my reporter duty for a ball boy just to push my team to victory, that stadium where I usually gave up early morning lessons back in my high school days to watch ‘’Veron’’, as we used to call Eyong Enoh, and co train for my school magazine, where we gathered every Monday morning to cheer our players in training when they recorded a brilliant victory the previous day and at times vent our frustrations when results didn’t go their way. Rain or sun, the stadium was very busy on Saturday with Second division and Sunday with First Divison matches. But this Saturday was very different.

 I surprisingly met an empty stadium

I stared at a very empty and inundated stadium in disbelief. I was not surprised by the pool of water that had covered the pitch; it was a familiar scenario. The surprising aspect was the uncharacteristic silence in the stadium. I pictured the scenario back in those days - I would have found young boys tussling for a piece of the athletics track for their ‘’Sante’’ or Deux Zero’’, whichever one you chose to call.  I would have found either Botafogo or Mount Cameroon FC of Buea in training. Not even a shadow of those teams could be found. So I began asking myself, where is Captain Malange’s Botafogo? What has happened to Calvin Foinding’s Mount Cameroon FC? In a bid to answer these questions, I drove straight down town Muea to find out what has become of the ‘’Lava Boys’’.

 

Old habits die hard? I met an inundated stadium

This is actually where our journey starts, in Muea. In what I have termed The Monday Report,  I will be bringing you a comprehensive report on the teams, players, figures and personalities that took the game to higher heights on the other side of the Moungo, beginning with Mount Cameroon FC. 

This is where our journey actually starts

While waiting for Monday, don’t forget to catch up with the latest football updates on MatchPack. I will be unfair if I sign out without making a stop in Tiko to see what the town has become. I leave you with pictures of the present state of the Tiko Town green while hoping you patiently wait for its turn on The Monday Report on MatchPack.

Welcome on board!!!