Napsa Stars began using the 60,000-seat capacity stadium for home matches in August 2022, midway through the season.
That came after the club’s CEO Ponga Liwewe announced that the Pensioners were looking to expand their fan base by taking advantage of the stadium’s location which is densely populated.
In order to attract fans to their home matches, the club launched a number of awareness campaigns, including door-to-door ticket sales in areas around the stadium, as well as free entry and snacks for children.
They have only lost one home game since moving to Heroes Stadium, against Zanaco in November. This has pleased coach Perry Mutapa who has praised the club’s media team for their efforts in attracting fans to home games.
“One of the scores this season was playing at Heroes Stadium. That’s where we collected a lot of points,” said Mutapa.
“When you just go there [on match day], you even feel that you’re going for a match. Gwen and Luka [the media team] have done well [to attract fans]. The fans have always been there to support us, and they have been the 12th player this season,” added the former Chipolopolo player during a pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s final Super League match against Prison Leopards.
Gwen Chipasula, the club’s public relations officer, also revealed that they have lined up programs aiming to expand their fanbase after the success of their efforts this season.
“We obviously have to intensify what we have done so far,” she said. “We have a lot of programmes lined up. It’s a very good project; obviously, it’s not something short-term, but we are hoping the fans stick around.”
Chipasula expressed hope for “more numbers next season”. She is confident that their fanbase will grow in the long run.
Mutapa on failing to finish second in the league
The club, whose target was to stay up in the top flight after gaining promotion from national division one is currently sitting third in the standings with 34 points ahead of the final clash of the season against Leopards.
With only five games left in the season, coach Mutapa said that Napsa would finish second. He stated that no one would do it than his team.
When asked about it, the coach said it’s good to be ambitious, and there was nothing wrong with his target towards the end of the season.
“I had to say Napsa was going to finish second because the two teams that were chasing for the same spot during that time, Power Dynamos and Forest Rangers, are both my former clubs, and I was not going to mention any of the two.”
He added: “There was nothing with that. I think it’s good to have ambitions and I think we had a fantastic season.”
Mutapa stated that he is not disappointed that his team did not finish second, but rather pleased that they had a fantastic season.
He hopes to build on that next season in order to qualify for continental football.
