A Media consultant and an ardent supporter of the “Pride of the North”, Real Tamale United (RTU), Alhaji Razak El-Alawa, has called for a national congress of all stakeholders to chart a new course for the club that has experienced dwindling fortunes in the elite division in recent years.
He, therefore, appealed to the Patron of the club, who is also the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, to as a matter of urgency, call for the congress, which he suggested should be held before the close of August this year, sooner than the commencement of the annual Muslim Fast.
“The congress will review the past 30 years of the club’s participation in the elite division, find out what has gone wrong in recent times, analyse the problems, find solutions and look at the way forward,” Alhaji El-Alawa indicated.
According to him, when the club was established it was seen as a club for the people, formed by the people and for the benefit of the people, and that the time had come to involve the people who, he said, are the real owners in the running of the club. The supporters played significant roles in its past glories and that “it was no wonder that in those days, despite the limited resources, RTU was virtually invincible at home while the club performed creditably in her away matches”.
“Sir, the same cannot be said of RTU today, despite the sponsorship it enjoys from WIENCO. RTU still has the talents but it is no longer the fearsome side when playing at home while their away record has left so much to be desired,” the consultant further observed.
“RTU must be saved from collapse. The club must be able to survive in the Premiership in the next 30 years and now is the time to lay another foundation, since the one laid 30 years ago has become weak,”he stated.
According to Mr El-Alawa, “no true lover of RTU would like to go through the tension of the last few weeks of the last season”.
The club miraculously escaped relegation in the just-ended Onetouch Premier League by a hairs breadth when they came back from a goal down to beat Zaytuna United by 2-1.
The team was founded as a result of a merger between former Real Sportive and Northern United on September 26, 1976 through the instrumentality of the then Regional Minister, Colonel Bob Zumah. No wonder RTU were nicknamed the Zumah Babies in the early days.
A year after their qualification, RTU broke into the elite division but could not participate in the then Division One League because the 1977/78 league was adjusted in view of the Nations Cup which was hosted in Ghana.
RTU were compelled to go back to compete in the national middle league which they won successfully and rejoined the premiership for an unbroken 30 years.
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